A year ago, I saw a listing for the W.Y. Boyd Award in Poets & Writers magazine. I don't apply for many awards. It seems like such a roll of the dice to me. But the Boyd tracked well for the new novel I had coming out, REBEL FALLS.
Only novels set during 'a period when the U.S. was a war' are eligible and my book fit that criteria. But then I looked at the list of past winners, which included Ralph Peters, P.T. Deutermann, and Jeff Shaara, and I almost turned the page. Still, I contacted the marketing people at Cornell University Press, my publisher, and to their credit we decided to go for it.
Flash forward to last weekend at the American Library Association annual conference, where several thousands were in attendance at the main ballroom. That's where REBEL FALLS was named the Boyd Award winner for 2025. I walked across the largest stage I've ever been on to accept the Boyd, and the ceremony preceded keynote speaker Brene Brown. Yep, somebody pinch me. I'm dreaming.
Special thanks to Beth McGuire, who chaired the jury for the Boyd. So good to meet her and other hard-working librarians. These good folks are on the front lines in our tumultuous age.