Andrea Wilson Woods, who lives in Birmingham, US, was announced as the Book Award winner for non-fiction in the Page Turner Awards. This was announced at a glittering online ceremony, where Paul Michael Glaser, from Starsky and Hutch fame, was a special guest to announce the winners.
The Page Turner Awards, sponsored by ProWritingAid and Campfire, offers authors, writers, and screenwriters the chance to enter the first 10 pages of their writing project, where a judging panel of literary experts and film producers will read the work.
Woods is an entrepreneur, patient advocate, speaker, podcaster, and author. She’s also the CEO and Co-founder of Cancer University, a for-profit, social-impact, health-tech start-up, plus the president and founder of the non-profit Blue Faery: The Adrienne Wilson.
Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days is a memoir featuring the story's hero—15-year-old Adrienne—who shows strength and courage as she faces a diagnosis of advanced liver cancer with her older sister and guardian Andrea by her side.
When Woods was 22 years old, she gained custody of her then eight-year-old sister Adrienne. She raised Adrienne all through her twenties until one month after Adrienne’s 15th birthday, when she was diagnosed with stage IV liver cancer.
Her cancer journey only lasted 147 days. Losing Adrienne was a big loss, but Woods channelled her grief into worthy ventures including a national non-profit dedicated to primary liver cancer and a new health tech start-up for all cancer patients and caregivers.
Published in September 2019, the medical memoir Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days about raising and losing Adrienne to cancer was a bestseller on Amazon in multiple categories and has received many awards.
Woods said: “I am honored to win the Page Turner Award Book Award and I dedicate it to my sister Adrienne. If she had survived liver cancer, she would be 35 years old today.”
This year aspiring writers walked off the red carpet with life-changing prizes. One new unpublished writer won literary agency representation while a screenwriter won literary management. Another new writer won a publishing deal, seven independent authors won an audiobook production from Spectrum Audiobooks, plus one other won a publishing package (including an edit, book cover and book trailer), and another author won a book adaptation.
The Page Turner Awards winners can be found here: https://pageturnerawards.com/2021-winners
Submissions for the 2022 Awards will open in January 2022. Find out how you too can enter your writing into The Page Turner Awards: https://pageturnerawards.com.
