Welcome to the RPLA Showcase
2016 Unpublished Autobiography/Memoir
Resolve, Courage, Hope by Alison Nissen
In Resolve, Courage, Hope, discover the true story of murder, aftershock, court trials, and picking up the pieces.
At the 2016 Royal Palm Literary Award Banquet, author Alison Nissen won First Place in the Unpublished Autobiography/Memoir category. Each year at the RPLA Banquet, authors experience the joy of earning accolades for all the hard work that is often done in the privacy of the home with little to no recognition. We’re showcasing the best of the best with our First Place winners spotlight. Not only does RPLA recognize extraordinary talent, but we’re giving readers an opportunity to sample excerpts from the winning stories.
Click the link to read a sample:
Excerpt from Resolve, Courage, Hope
Q & A with Alison Nissen
Q: Where do you get your story ideas?
A: As a ghostwriter, I might not have the original idea; however, it takes creativity to “see” someone else’s project and make it great for both the author and the audience. In the memoir Resolve, Courage, Hope, my co-author told me his story through a handful of interviews. Like all writers, I had to decide what was good and what was not, then write a compelling story based on that information.
Q: Anything in particular about your award-winning RPLA entry that you’d like to share?
A: When I won the RPLA, I didn’t know my heart could beat so fast! It was joy beyond belief, and I was grateful for the opportunity to share someone else’s story and have it be so well received.
Q: Whom do you credit with inspiring your writing?
A: I suffer from dyslexia, and my 9th-grade English teacher thought I would never be a good writer because I was a bad speller. When spellcheck came along, I set out to disprove her opinion. Conversely, I had a professor in college who told me, “that’s what editors are for.” Now I work professionally as both a writer and an editor. I’ll tell everyone to do what you love and figure it out along the way.
Q: Any tips for new writers?
A: Writing takes time and perseverance. My biggest advice to all writers is to write, rest, read your work out loud, then repeat. Allowing your work to rest lets your brain recharge; reading your work out loud allows you to hear how your work sounds. The writing and repeating get the job to the finish line.
Thank you for sharing, Alison, and congratulations! Visit her website: www.alisonnissen.com
A message about supporting literacy in Florida:
If every member of FWA went to Smile.Amazon.com, chose Florida Writers Foundation, Inc. as their charity and, instead of logging into Amazon.com, logged into Smile.Amazon.com, FWF would receive 0.5% of the purchase funds. Every time.
We could significantly fund the literacy efforts of our organization. No money out of your pockets…just some invested time to set this up.
How easy for us to make a difference. To see all of our work, please read the pages of our website www.floridawritersfoundation.com. You’ll be proud.
Tom Swartz, President, FWF
Ken Pelham
Congratulations on the award, Ms. Nissen! Richly deserved.