WE DID IT!!!

I am so incredibly proud and excited to announce that, thanks to all of you who helped me by pre-ordering and getting the word out, I WON (as in 1st place!!!) the Inkshares Publishing Prize for my novel-in-progress "The Shift."

It feels surreal. The Inkshares page says I am already the #2 Best Seller in Science Fiction and Fantasy. There’s only one thing you can deduce here: I have THE best friends and family in the world, hands down. From Milford friends, to UConn friends, to elementary school teachers, to coworkers from my days at HBO, Fresno, my Crisis Counselor days at Rosemary Children’s Services (one of my old favorite residents even purchased a copy--I cried, whatever), I just feel like so many people from so many different times and places in my life came out to show me a little bit of love. And of course my parents, sister, future brother-in-law, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, my oldest and best friends and their families, and of course my beautiful girlfriend who was the first to pre-order, and HER family... I mean it when I say I have never felt so supported and loved in all my life, and I am lucky enough to be able to say I have actually felt supported and loved throughout the entirety of my life. But THIS takes the cake. I can only hope you all get to experience something equally touching in your lives some day, and that I have the opportunity to be a part of that somehow. Whatever it is--I am IN. So what now? Now I write a book! And when that’s done it will be available in hundreds of book stores across the country, not to mention as an e-book on Amazon and all the other major e-book retailers. This has the potential to change my life, and like I’ve been saying all along in these (probably annoyingly frequent) posts--make my childhood dream come true. I remember telling people when I was in first grade I wanted to grow up and be a baseball player AND an author. I’m pretty sure I only threw "baseball player" in there to sound cooler, which worked out just as well as my baseball skills seemed to peter out around the time everyone else caught up to me puberty-wise. No, I’m much more suited for the professional author life. So, this is it. This is what I’ve wanted all along. So thank you, thank you, thank you for helping me make this a reality. I hope I can live up to the enormous opportunity you’ve all had a direct hand in presenting me.

I am going to write the hell out of this book. I love you all. And by the way, the book is and will remain available to order on the Inkshares page--tell your friends! (Had to one last time).

So much love, Paul