Author Spotlight: Our Foreword INDIES Book Awards Finalists
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Each year, thousands of books are evaluated by over 100 librarians and booksellers for the Foreword INDIES Book Awards. They highlight some of the best works from independent authors, celebrating creativity, originality, and the courage to share a story with the world.
This year, two FriesenPress authors, Rick Tucci and Maureen Young, earned finalist spots for their books! Rick Tucci offers practical guidance for leaders looking to transform ideas into action in organizations, while Maureen Young takes readers on a thrilling underground adventure with a gopher named Bernard.
We asked both authors to share their journeys: where their projects began, what inspired them to write, why they chose to self-publish, and what being a Foreword INDIES finalist means to them. Let’s hear from Rick and Maureen, in their own words, about the stories behind their books:
Author Rick Tucci – Ideas to Action
About the Book: Ideas to Action is a practical guide for leaders who want to stop managing change from the top down and start turning employee ideas into action and results. Drawn from more than 35 years of work across business, government, and nonprofits, it lays out the Ideas-to-Action Process™—a simple, repeatable way to help teams move faster together while building leadership talent along the way. Even in the age of AI, the best consultants are already on your payroll.
When people ask where Ideas to Action began, the honest answer is that it grew out of decades of watching the same leadership problem repeat itself. Organizations would invest heavily in change, improvement, and engagement efforts, yet the people closest to the work were often left on the sidelines – even though they usually had the clearest sense of what needed to improve.
Most organizations do not have an idea problem nearly as often as they have an ownership problem. People have ideas. Leaders often have good intentions. But without a simple, reliable way to turn employee ideas into action, momentum fades and the opportunity is lost.
I wrote Ideas to Action to put into one place a practical process leaders could actually use – one that had already been proven through more than 35 years of work helping organizations move faster together, produce meaningful results, and build leadership talent along the way. It was important to me that the book remain grounded in real work, not drift into abstraction or theory for its own sake.
In the age of AI, that feels even more relevant. Organizations can generate more ideas, more data, and more strategy language than ever before. But AI cannot create ownership. Only people do that. And execution still stalls where leadership intent meets frontline reality. That is the gap the book was written to help close.
That is why the Foreword INDIES finalist recognition means so much to me. It is encouraging, of course, but it also feels validating in a deeper way. To know that librarians and booksellers found the book worthy of attention suggests that the message is resonating beyond my own clients and professional circles. For a book built around practical usefulness, that matters.
I chose to self-publish because I wanted to retain control over the message and bring the book into the world in a way that stayed true to its purpose. As a first-time author, I found FriesenPress invaluable in helping me navigate the publishing process and bring the book to market professionally, while still allowing it to remain direct, clear, and true to its purpose.
What this recognition means to me, more than anything, is encouragement. It tells me that leaders are still looking for practical ways to engage their people more productively, execute change more effectively, and unlock more of the problem-solving capacity already inside their organizations.
In the end, strategy sets the direction – but ownership is what drives results.
Author Maureen Young – Bernard and the Blackguard
About the Book: In Bernard and the Blackguard, the underground world of gophers and owls collide in an urban tale of mystery and friendships. Bernard, a young gopher from the urban Eastside gopher town sets out to find his beloved grandfather. An abandoned tunnel leads Bernard to the forbidden realm of the Blackguard - a secretive group of military owls. Not only is grandfather in the hands of the Blackguard but Bernard learns of the Blackguard's plan to attack his gopher town. Bernard of the Blackguard is a heart warming, fast paced, urban adventure. A warm story of friendships and courage that the young reader will love.
It was November. Staring out my living room window at a snow-covered patch of lawn, two white hares came into view. They were beautiful. I asked myself: “what are they doing here in the middle of the city?”. And that’s when my “Eastside Series” for middle readers began.
The Eastside Series focuses on urban wildlife and the hidden worlds they have created. I have always felt that there is much more going on in this world than we can see. Wildlife is all around us and many animals are not only living but thriving in our big cities. I wanted to bring some of these worlds to life and hopefully in doing so encourage kids and kids at heart to look not only ahead, but up, down, and underneath.
There’s such joy in reading. There is nothing better than being eleven years old and immersed in a great book. The friends you make, the worlds you visit, and the truths you discover are yours that will last a lifetime.
Writing, to my surprise, has brought me a lot of satisfaction. I particularly like developing the personalities for my characters and no, they are not based on people I know. I don’t think…well, I didn’t do it on purpose. There may be some traits in common!
Being a finalist in the 2025 Forward INDIES book awards is so validating. It has prompted me to get my “head in the game” and finish the third book in the series, titled Arty the Apprentice. A direct spin off from book one, Sunny and the Border Patrol. FriesenPress offered endless patience and direction through the process of manuscript to book. I could not be more pleased with the end results. Thank you FriesenPress!
