The Eric Hoffer Award Short List

Kudos to Charlene Costanzo for winning a spot on the Eric Hoffer Award Shortlist with her fantastic book, Twelve Gifts from the Garden.

Eric Hoffer Award Grand Prize Short List

As the annual judging draws to a close, the Eric Hoffer Award announces a small set of grand prize award finalists. This small list or “short list” of finalists is an honored distinction of its own and is announced publicly during the spring of each award year prior to the grand prize announcement. Below are the current and previous short-listed entries in alphabetical order by book.

2021

A Journey Through The Darkness, Frank Goulet, Trafford
A San Joaquin Almanac, Don Thompson, Main Street Rag
A Single Tear, Nemo James
A Trail of Pearls, D.M. George, Amazon
A Wife in Bangkok, Iris Mitlin Lav, She Writes Press
A Wild Day at the Zoo, Victor D.O. Santos, Linguacious
Against My Better Judgment, B.T. Polcari, The Wild Rose Press
Alaska Spark, Lolo Paige
Alice in Ruby Slippers, Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas, Kelsay Books
All of Us Warriors, Rebecca Whitehead Munn, She Writes Press
Amnesia, Hal Y. Zhang, Newfound
An Incomplete List of Names, Michael Torres, Beacon Press
And So Was Was Made & Also Honey, Amy Beeder, Tupelo Press
Animal Wife, Lara Ehrlich, Red Hen Press
Ava, Janet Perroni, iUniverse
Babies Bond, Phoebe Fox, Mamafox Books
Ballad of a Sober Man, J.D. Remy, M.D., AnnElise Publications
Beasts and Gods, Roslyn Fuller, Zed Books
Behind the Lines, Jeffrey B. Miller , Milbrown Press
Believe, Julie Mathison, Starr Creek Press
Believe in the Magic, Ann DeFee, Bellastoria Press
Bitter’s Run, Rod Collins, Bright Works Press
Camper Girl, Glenn Erick Miller, Fitzroy Books
Childhood Canceled, Mishka Migacz
Cooking Coach, Jan Plummer, iUniverse
Coral Gardens, Patricia Gleichauf, Page Publishing
Corner Shrine, Chloe Martinez, Backbone Press
Cracked Piano, Margo Taft Stever, CavanKerry Press
* Cyber Privacy, April Falcon Doss, BenBella Books
Don’t Mess with this Mama, Missy Maxwell Worton, Author Academy Elite
Dream Big, Kat Kronenberg, Stephanie Dehennin (illustrator), Greenleaf Book Group
Eagle vs Bear, Emile Millar, EvB Media
Entanglement, John Danenbarger, StormBlock Publishing
Eve of Awakening, Alisa Hope Wagner, Marked Writers Publishing,
Everyone Dies Famous, Len Joy, BQB Publishing
Exodus of Chaos, Steven Kent Olson, XlibrisUS
Face, A Memoir, Marcia Meier, Saddle Road Press
Feather River Country Adventure Trails, Tom DeMund, Know DeFeet Publishing
Finding Solace at Theodore Roosevelt Island, Melanie Choukas-Bradley, Tina Thieme Brown (illustrator), Changemakers Books
Finding Venerable Mother, Cindy Rasicot, She Writes Press
Fractal Shores, Diane Louie, University of Georgia Press
Ghost Dogs, Dion O’Reilly, Terrapin Books
Ghost Lake, Nathan Niigan Noodin Adler, Kegedonce Press
Ghost of Tomorrow, Maya Rushing Walker, Apollo Grannus Books
Grief’s Country, Gail Griffin, Wayne State University Press
Growing Up and Getting Old Behind the Wheel, William Schiff, Urlink Print & Media
Have Snakes, Need Birds, Travis Klempan, Köehler Books
Hinterland, LM Brown, Fomite
Hire Purpose, Deanna Mulligan with Greg Shaw, Columbia Business School Publishing
Homespun Mercies, DJ Hill, Light of the Moon
Idia of the Benin Kingdom, Ekiuwa Aire, Alina Shabelnyk (illustrator), Our Ancestories
In the Orbit of Sirens, T.A. Bruno
It Happened in Tuscany, Gail Mencini, Capriole Group
It’s OK to Say “They”, Christy Whittlesey, Dave Burgess Consulting
Jacob Lawrence Lines of Influence, SCAD Museum of Art, Scheidegger & Spiess
James H. Critchfield, Lois M. Critchfield, AuthorHouse
Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths, Joseph N. Abraham, MD, Hidden Hills Press
Leaning Out, Monica E. Pierce
Malcolm and Me, Robin Farmer, SparkPress
Master, Pupil, Follower, Robert Randolf Coleman, Nelda Damiano, Benedetta Spadaccini, Georgia Museum of Art, Univ. of GA
Merged, Jim and Stephanie Kroepfl, Month9Books
Mia and Nattie, Marlene M. Bell, Ewephoric Publishing
Monsters in the Water, Dylan D’Agate, Maria DeCerce (illustrator), Sixth and Spring Books
My Favorite Letter, Susan Gilpin, KDP
Non-Obvious Megatrends, Rohit Bhargava, Ideapress Publishing
Now in Color, Jacqueline Balderrama, Perugia Press
Once Removed, Colette Sartor, University of Georgia Press
One of God’s Chosen Vessels, Bill Mehr, AuthorHouse
Over the Hills of Green, E.V. Svetova, Ananke Press
Overshot, Susan Falls and Jessica Smith, UGA Press with Sarah Mills Hodge Fund
Parrot & Firefly, Jules Murphy, Gabriella Cadli (illustrator), Spotty Dot Books
Places We Return To, Joan Cusack Handler & Gabriel Cleveland (editors), CavanKerry Press
Poetic License, Gretchen Cherington, She Writes Press
Probably Someday Cancer, Kim Horner, UNT Press
Red River Reunion, John Layne, Labrador Publishing
Relax… You’re Not Going to Die, Pt.1, Darryl J. Philip, Austin MacAuley Publishers
Remote, DJ Lee, Oregon State University Press
Rooke’s Island, SK Whalen, iUniverse
Saving Species on Private Lands, Lowell E. Baier with Christopher E. Segal, Rowan & Littlefield
Scavenger Hunt, Dani Lamia, Level 4 Press
Secretariat’s Meadow, Kate Chenery Tweedy and LeeAnne Ladin, Dementi Milestone Publishing
Seriously! Are We There Yet?!, Paolina Milana, Whitney (illustrator), Madness to Magic
Simple Absence, Nancy Fitz-Hugh Meneely, Antrim House Books
Sing Like Never Before, Justin Stoney, Mark Pate (Illustrator), Mission Point Press
Smoke but No Fire, Jessica S. Henry, University of California Press
Some Good Sweet Treats, Jessica Mitton, Breakwater Books
Soul Afterlife, Bud Megargee, KDP Amazon
Starlina and the Magic of Believing in Yourself, Kari Faarup, Marissa Cook (illustrator), Bishop-Howell Publishing
Step It Up and Go, David Menconi, University of North Carolina Press
Storytellers, Bjørn Larssen, Joseph Tailor
Sunrise in Florence, Kathleen Reid, Koehlerbooks
Sweet Jane, Joanne Kukanza Easley, Black Rose Writing
Talland House, Maggie Humm, She Writes Press
The 10 Greatest Gifts We Give Each Other, Barbara Lynn-Vannoy, Admont Press
The Agent, Marsha Roberts, Easy Riter Press
The Chemistry of Fire, Laurence Gonzales, The University of Arkansas Press
The Curist, Vinent Calfapietra & Julie Donofrio
The Devil’s Bookkeepers 3, Mark H. Newhouse, Newhouse Creative Group
The Doctor Who Fooled the World, Brian Deer, Johns Hopkins University Press
The Elizabeth Walker Affair, Robert Lane, Mason Alley Publishing
The End of Aphrodite, Laurette Folk, Bordighera Press
The Full Moon Herald, Phyllis Klein, Grayson Books
The Grand Gypsy, Ottavio Canaestrelli with Ottavio Gesmundo, Lulu Press
The Identity Thief, Alex Bryant , K&M Books
The Last Dance of Dynamite, Ayman Baroudi, Xlibris
The Last Lumenian, S.G. Blaise
The Mammals of North Dakota, 2nd Ed., Robert Seabloom, North Dakota State University Press
The Mountains of Paris, David Oates, Oregon State University Press
The Perpetual Now, Jerome J. Bourgault, Tellwell Talent
The Reckoning, Book One, Jeffrey Pierce, Jai Mitchell (illustrator), Black Rose Writing
The Rented Altar, Lauren Berry, C&R Press
The Secret Music at Tordesillas, Marjorie Sandor, Hidden River Press
The Snow’s Wife, Frannie Lindsay, CavanKerry Press
The Sound Between the Notes, Barbara Linn Probst, She Writes Press
The Things I Didn’t Know to Wish For, Linda Hillringhouse, NYQ Books
The Torchbearers, Bairbre Higgins, Terra Nova Books
The Truth That Lies Between, W.D. McComb, TreaShore Press
The Twelve Gifts from the Garden, Charlene Costanzo, Mango Publishing Group
Thrive Through the Five, Dr. Jill M. Siler, Dave Burgess Consulting
Tigers Love Bubble Baths & Obsession Perfume, Mary K. Savarese, Koehlerbooks
Time to Fly!, Valerie Wiebe, Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing
Tokyo Traffic, Michael Pronko, Raked Gravel Press
Torched, Joe Edd Morris, Black Rose Writing
Typescenes, Rodney A. Brown, Unlikely Books
Underprivileged Overachiever, Y.A. Salimu, Telemachus Press
Unfettered Journey, Gary F. Gary F. Bengier, Chiliagon Press
Unglued, Jeffrey Zuckerman, Boyle & Dalton
Unlock!, Abhijeet Khadikar, Vicara Books
Viatorem, Urvasi Pauvaday, Amazon
Vortex Street, Page Hill Starzinger, Barrow Street Books
What is REAL Love?, Harry A. Flannery, Urlink Print & Media
What Remains, Sandi Gelles-Cole and Kenneth Salzmann (editors), Gelles-Cole Literary Enterprises
Who’s Jerry?, T.M. Jackson, Scrubs Like Us for Us
Words Whispered in Water, Sandy Rosenthal, Mango Media
Your Child is Smarter Than You Think, Wanda Draper, Urlink Print & Media


The Twelve Gifts from the Garden

Life Lessons for Peace and Well-Being

Translating the beauty of botany. If you look closely, plants sprout with willpower and bloom with determination. Drawing from the beautiful nature of trees and flowers, Charlene crafts garden-inspired messages from her experiences with healing and understanding. Inside, find quotes, reflections, and bonus material:

  • Pen-and-ink line drawings with illustrations of flowers, leaves, and garden plants
  • Charlene’s Twelve Gifts resource and lessons learned in the garden
  • An epilogue from two other locales─Sedona, AZ and St. John, VI

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