What is better than good news on a Monday morning? I have a number of friends, family, and fellow writers who have had some recent success, and I want to give them all a shout out.

Here it goes:

Kevin Fenton: My friend and fellow University of Minnesota MFA graduate just won the AWP Award for his novel Merit Badges! I can’t tell you how thrilled I am for Kevin. He is a wonderful writer, his prose tight and lyrical. There is a lot of beauty in Kevin’s stories and essays, but also a great deal of loss—not catastrophic loss, but the everyday, ordinary losses that make up the human experience. I will be talking more about Kevin’s writing as the publication date for Merit Badges nears…Congratulations, Kevin!

Richard Wiswall: My cousin-in-law and organic farmer extraordinaire has written a book, The Organic Farmer’s Business Handbook, to help new and experienced organic farmers look at their farms as businesses. Richard and my cousin Sally have successfully farmed Cate Farm in Montpelier, Vermont, for almost three decades. Go, Richard! The book will be out at the end of September. The perfect gift for all the organic-farmer wannabes in your life.

My dad: Okay, so this might seem like nepotism, but I have to give a shout out to David H. Hopper. Raise the roof! His fourth book, Divine Transcendence and the Culture of Change, is forthcoming from Eerdmans. Not exactly the type of book I usually read—or even mention here—but he’s my dad. Come on. I don’t know when it will be out, but I’ll link to it when it happens. (And also try to get him to develop a website.) Go David H!

Bonnie J. Rough: My dear friend and wonderful writer, Bonnie J. Rough, just placed her memoir, Carrier, with Counterpoint Press. Carrier is a memoir about a genetic disorder that runs in Bonnie’s family, and the dilemmas that she and her husband faced when they decided to have children. Bonnie’s writing is stunning. (If you haven’t read her blog, The Blue Suitcase, you should.) I’ll be writing about Carrier when it’s released, but I want to raise my glass to Bonnie right now. You go, girl!

And one last thing: There is a great interview on Kimberly Zook’s Zook Book Nook with children’s author Ann Whitford Paul. You can read that here!

Okay, I’ve spread some love, now I have to get to work!