Former Yarmouth area resident's book wins award

Mark David Gerson’s The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write was named one of the top writing books of the year last month in the Independent Publisher Book Awards, also known as the IPPYs. Gerson is a former Yarmouth County resident. Gerson's silver medal in the "writing/publishing" category was awarded in New York in conjunction with BookExpo America.

The 2009 competition, the 13th for the Independent Publisher Book Awards, attracted 4,000 entries from the Canada the U.S. and 10 other English-speaking countries and included winners published by Yale University Press and Kent State University Press. “The excellence of the books was amazing and made judging very difficult,” said Jim Barnes, one of the organizers. “The independent spirit of publishing is alive and well, as demonstrated by the creativity, originality and courageous spirit these books display.”

The Voice of the Muse is distilled from Gerson’s 33 years as a writer/editor and 17 years as a writing teacher and coach. While living in Yarmouth and Kings counties, Gerson facilitated writing workshops at Acadia, St. Francis Xavier and Mount Allison universities, at Th’ YARC in Yarmouth and at various Nova Scotia community centers.

The writing group that formed from his Yarmouth workshop still meets in the area today, 15 years later.

Lauded by critics as “the wise guide any writer would dream of” and a “phenomenal guide to overcoming writer’s block and unleashing your creative potential,” The Voice of the Muse has been been equally praised by novice and published authors alike.

Gerson has also recorded The Voice of the Muse Companion: Guided Meditations for Writers, a two-CD set that includes powerful exercises to free up and deepen creative flow. It’s sold separately from the book.

This was Gerson’s second IPPY. He won a gold medal last year for his novel, The MoonQuest: A True Fantasy, written largely in Nova Scotia and which continues to win awards in the U.S. His screenplay adaptation of the book is in active development toward feature production.

Both Gerson’s books are available from Amazon.com and other online retailers and from the publisher at lightlinesmedia.com. The CD is available from LightLines Media and Amazon.com.

Mark David Gerson now lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he’s working on a sequel to The MoonQuest.