This past year, WNFIN offered those participants who started and finished a book during the challenge the chance to pitch their books to a panel of four judges. We had a small field of participants in this year’s pitch slam, but I’m happy at this time to announce the winners.
The winners of the first post-WNFIN Virtual Pitch Slam are:
1st place
Everyone knows a “crazy dog,” but most people don’t realize over-excitement, fear, and aggression are often variants of the same root issue — and it isn’t an attitude problem. Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out: Training the Crazy Dog from Over the Top to Under Control is real behavior science made simple and accessible, teaching pet owners to use training sessions of just one minute to transition their agitated dogs from emotional to thoughtful. Author Laura VanArendonk Baugh CPDT-KA KPACTP is an award-winning trainer with international speaking credits and a specialty in reactive and anxious dogs.
Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Indianapolis, IN
2nd Place
This memoir, Welcome to Brazil, Bitch, is about one woman’s journey traveling South America by bus, which tests whether the relationship she left at home is stronger than one she might find on the road. It’s also about her quest to battle some of her demons along the way, and all the crazy characters that lend a hand.
Kelly Lewis, Tucson, AZ 85710
3rd Place
Invisible Grandparenting: Leave a Legacy of Love Whether You Can Be There or Not details how millions like the author, who because of their children’s careers, complicated custody issues or choices made long ago, have been kept from seeing their grandchildren as much as they’d like, can rise above circumstances out of their control and heal separation. It is a gripping heartwarming story, much of it told in letters to those grandchildren, some to be saved for a hypothetical future date, others to be released and transform negative energy into forgiveness.
Pat Hanson, Marina, CA
Thank you to all participants and to our distinguished judges: Verna Dreisbach, April Eberhardt, Michael Larsen, and Deborah Herman Levine.
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