So who do you think you are? Celebrating my B.R.A.G. Medallion.

I live in a country that embraces moderation in all things. One should not be too loud, too self-confident, too successful, too beautiful – well, you get the picture, I suppose. Here in Sweden we believe in conformity, and just so you know,  this does NOT make us socialists. In actual fact, we combine this desire to blend with a fierce individualism – go figure. (Want to know more about the worlds most feminine and yet strongly individualistic country? Click here)

Very anathema is to toot one’s own horn. Older Swedes will frown discouragingly at the idea of self-promotion – boasting, they’d call it. As a consequence, Swedish people are bad at celebrating their own successes. Someone wins an Olympic Gold, and the bashful Swedish athlete will mumble something along the lines that  “it was all due to my team, really. I’m nothing special, but it all came together, and so…”

Today, I’m going to put my big foot right in the middle of all that. Today. dear people, I have no wish to blend (to be honest, I rarely do). No, today I’m going to shout it out loud that I have won a B.R.A.G Medallion. (And isn’t that an excellent name?) I am going to be blatantly boastful by bragging ’bout my book. I may, of course, take the risk that this hubris of mine will come back and bite me, but today I don’t care. MY BOOK , THE PRODIGAL SON, WON A MEDAL

So what is the B.R.A.G Medallion? Well, first of all, this honour is indicative of just how full the world is of nice, book-loving people. Book Readers Appreciation Group (B.R.A.G.) has taken it as its mission in life to identify and honour self-published authors that meet their standards, using as their basic premise “would you recommend this book to a friend”. (On a side-note, of course you’d recommend my books to your friends, right?) They have a set of criteria and a number of readers through which the book must pass prior to being awarded a medallion, so in brief, I suppose the B.R.A.G. Medallion is a quality stamp. Sheesh! Proud mama has been battling tears of pride since she found out (alternating by celebrating with… da-da! Chocolate and tea) Click here for more info about B.R.A.G.

Anyway; it feels good to have offloaded all this bubbly joy on you. I fizz, I float, I soar and grin. Definitely a good day. A fantastic, marvellous, unforgettable day. Did I mention I was soaring?

Tomorrow, of course, I will endeavour to be back to my normal, somewhat more controlled me. (Why do I hear so much laughter? I work hard on trying to keep a low profile – the key word here being “trying”…) Tomorrow – or maybe the day after, so as to allow this bragging post of mine a couple of days in the limelight – I will post on something else entirely. I’m thinking battle and death, victorious kings and unhappy queens. But that’s tomorrow. Today is today, and as already the old Romans were so fond of saying, “Carpe Diem”. I’m “carpeing” alright 🙂