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 Kerry Germain, Haleiwa writer, and owner of Island Paradise Publishing, included for the third time in Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
“Dream Home,” written by local Haleiwa resident Kerry Germain, is included in the new Chicken Soup for the Soul Home Sweet Home. The book featuring 101 stories about hearth, happiness and hard work will hit bookstore and virtual bookstore shelves May 27, 2014.
“When I got a call from a very nice person telling me that my first story had been selected from thousands of submissions, I thought, ‘Awesome maybe I’m on the right track,’” Germain says. “When I received a call for the third story, I couldn’t stop smiling for that entire day.”
Early in her writing career she attended the Maui Writers Conference. One of the most memorable sessions for her was listening to Jack Canfield’s story about years of trying to get a publisher interested in the Chicken Soup for the Soul concept. After eighty or so rejection letters, one publisher decided it had possibilities not that it was great or anything that encouraging but, had possibilities. Germain admired Canfield’s fighting spirit of knowing what he wanted, staying positive and not giving up. Something she too was also trying to do while at the conference, where she was pitching her first children’s book, Surf’s Up For Kimo. At that conference, she connected with the Chicken Soup for the Soul books and Canfield’s story has helped her many times since. His experience inspired her while forming her publishing company, becoming a self-publisher (before it was cool) in addition to eventually submitting her first published Chicken Soup for the Soul story, “Bad Hair Day,” for Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul 2.
Germain considers living in Hawaii for 32 years, absorbing the Hawaiian culture, has enlightened her as Hawaiians believe important messages come through ones dreams and should be acted upon.
“This new story, ‘Dream Home,’ is a feather in my hat,” Germain says. “For the writer longing to make a living from writing well… the positive side is, I really like hats!”
A new goal at this point in her writing adventure, as she calls it, is finding a like-minded literary agent to work with. She hopes to team up with one for a new series she’s written for both print and e-books. So, once again she will go back to the inspiring story of knowing what you want, staying positive and not giving up. For more information, please visit www.islandparadisepublishing.com
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