IRDA Winning Author Brad Fawley: “Neither fame nor fortune motivate me. Rather, I love writing because it affords me the freedom to disappear into the story and the minds of my characters.”

The story is a celebration of human resilience, honor, sacrifice, and triumph over loss. One does not need to be a runner to enjoy or find meaning in it.

Continue ReadingIRDA Winning Author Brad Fawley: “Neither fame nor fortune motivate me. Rather, I love writing because it affords me the freedom to disappear into the story and the minds of my characters.”

IRDA Winner Martina Gruppo on the best part of being Indie: “Having the autonomy to decide what you want to write is very liberating, especially on such a personal subject…”

The brutally honest story of how a seemingly strong and independent individual can be broken down by hidden  manipulation and coercive control.

Continue ReadingIRDA Winner Martina Gruppo on the best part of being Indie: “Having the autonomy to decide what you want to write is very liberating, especially on such a personal subject…”

IRDA Winning Author Patrick Finegan: “The financial crisis of 2008 set me adrift but also set me free. I am a great fan of new beginnings.”

Things go horribly wrong when the world’s most successful online teaching company replaces staff with artificial intelligence so adroitly that its cast of cartoon educators begins thinking on its own.

Continue ReadingIRDA Winning Author Patrick Finegan: “The financial crisis of 2008 set me adrift but also set me free. I am a great fan of new beginnings.”

IRDA Winner Heather Joy on her motivation: “…readers finding a connection.” 

MMMM: and the music that made me can make a reader cry, laugh, and yell at the author for being an idiot - all in one chapter! The essays range from motherhood to men, media to motorized vehicles, and more. Perhaps there is something for everyone. 

Continue ReadingIRDA Winner Heather Joy on her motivation: “…readers finding a connection.” 

IRDA Winner Colleen Mitchell: “Independent stories like this one don’t have big marketing teams—they thrive because of readers who crave something real, raw, and different.”

Passion and peril collide when Rowan narrowly escapes execution for a crime she didn’t commit, with the help of Casimir—a vampire knight seeking redemption.

Continue ReadingIRDA Winner Colleen Mitchell: “Independent stories like this one don’t have big marketing teams—they thrive because of readers who crave something real, raw, and different.”

Author Karl Sebastian Tells All About His IRDA Winning Book

Although most might want to boil down the book to a seemingly impossible story of overcoming extreme obesity. At it's base value, the book is a story of my life. Destroying it until it was nothing but one person in isolation weighing over 750 pounds. Then, what it took to fight back from that.

Continue ReadingAuthor Karl Sebastian Tells All About His IRDA Winning Book

First Place IRDA Winner Ana Hebra Flaster: “I think if you’re born to write, you can’t not write. I think I’ve always had this story in me, and I’ve been telling it all my life.”

Property of the Revolution is about losing your home, family, and identity in the span of 24 hours and recreating yourself again out of cold, foreign earth.

Continue ReadingFirst Place IRDA Winner Ana Hebra Flaster: “I think if you’re born to write, you can’t not write. I think I’ve always had this story in me, and I’ve been telling it all my life.”

First Place IRDA Winner Cynthia Reeves: “When I was very young…I used to hunt and peck these tales on my mother’s old manual Remington typewriter, imagining that I was a writer.”

Set against the haunting beauty and brutal extremes of the Arctic, The Last Whaler is a gripping tale of survival, love, and loss. The novel follows Tor Handeland, a beluga whaler, and his wife, Astrid, a botanist specializing in Arctic flora, who are stranded during the dark season of 1937-38 at his remote whaling station on Svalbard.

Continue ReadingFirst Place IRDA Winner Cynthia Reeves: “When I was very young…I used to hunt and peck these tales on my mother’s old manual Remington typewriter, imagining that I was a writer.”

IRDA Winners Lisa Peachey and Carol Elizabeth Long Tell All About Their Book

When Lisa’s beloved dog Miley passed, the world became a cold and dark place overnight - not just for her, but for her husband Dene and their dog Sprout. That all changed when animal communicator Carol Elizabeth Long entered their lives and opened the door to something extraordinary.

Continue ReadingIRDA Winners Lisa Peachey and Carol Elizabeth Long Tell All About Their Book