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