Well… this is huge news: A memoir by one of my longtime clients has been named a 2013 Indie Book Awards finalist!

I have worked with Jay Lefevers, the founder and president of the Phoenix-based appraisal company Viewpoint Group, since all the way back in 1998, and a couple years ago I became involved with his autobiography, Cancer on the Brain. I helped edit the book, I manage Jay’s website and I’ve been handling P.R. for the memoir for the past year.

In the book, Lefevers takes readers through the bewildering world of surgeries, treatments and endless rounds of doctor visits and hospital stays with humor, irreverence and a no-nonsense, no-self-pity attitude. A large part of the memoir is dedicated to telling the story of the young Phoenix-area Little League players whom Lefevers coached throughout 2005 and 2007. Lefevers writes movingly of the bonds he and his family established with the players, all while he struggled with surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

I love the book, and apparently so does the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, which named it a 2013 general nonfiction finalist. The Indie Book Awards is the nation’s largest independent book awards organization, and it recognizes and honors the most exceptional independently published books in 60 different categories each year. Congratulations, Jay!