In , the characters choose to play the best game they can with the cards they've received. For some, it's making the most of the circumstances in which they find themselves, even if it's not the life they planned. For others, it's following an unconventional path-not the easiest course or the one that others would take, but the one that's right for them. But they never lose hope that life will get better if they can just hold on. ​ was a finalist in the 2021 Eric Hoffer Book Awards, a finalist and Bronze Award winner in the 2020 Foreword INDIES competition, a finalist in the 2020 N.N. Light Book Awards (short story), and won second place in the Florida Writers Association 2018 Royal Palm Literary Awards (RPLA) competition, with three of the stories having also earned contest placements.