Katie Hart Smith Nominated for 51st Georgia Author of the Year Award for Couch Time with Carolyn

Georgia author and former City of Lawrenceville Council Member, Katie Hart Smith announces that her latest book, Couch Time with Carolyn, has been nominated for the Georgia Writer’s Association 51st Georgia Author of the Year Award (GAYA) in the Memoir/Autobiography category. The book, set in Georgia, is a memoir about strong, Southern, sassy women that delivers a multi-layer story about Smith’s relationship with Carolyn, her best friend’s mom who was a former model in the 1950’s and the enduring bonds with her close-knit, gregarious, childhood girlfriends known as the Dunwoody Girls - more simply the DGs. After learning that Carolyn, who was a like a second mother to Smith, had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Smith reflects on how “couch time” sessions with Carolyn empowered her to take control of her destiny during a time in Smith’s life when she was divorced, lost, and struggling to pick up the pieces. Carolyn offers priceless advice and inspirational life lessons about love, life, and friendship while they drink wine, sample chocolates, and reminisce. It is through Carolyn that the DGs learn that neither life nor love is random and that even hilarious one-liners can brighten the darkest days.

Smith states, “I am truly honored and humbled to be nominated for the GAYA award.  Life events in May, 2012 spurred the idea to begin journaling about my relationship with my best friend's Mom, Carolyn and reflecting on the over 30 years of stories and life adventures with my best friends, dubbed the Dunwoody Girls. I am thrilled to hear that readers are relating to Couch Time with Carolyn because it addresses many of life’s challenges that range from finding one’s true love, faith, friendship, the circle of life, to the intergenerational mentoring of an older Southern woman. I wrote Couch Time with Carolyn with a heart-felt honesty that will make you laugh out loud and also bring tears to your eyes.”

The Georgia Writer’s Association hosts the GAYA Awards and recipients will be announced at a ceremony to be held on Saturday, June 6, 2015.  Couch Time with Carolyn is available at www.katiehartsmith.com, Books For Less - Buford, Sikes and Davis Interiors, and via major online book retailers. The paperback version of Couch Time with Carolyn sells for $15 and the e-book retails for $8.99. Individuals can also sample an audio reading from the first chapter at http://katiehartsmith.wordpress.com/2014/07/01/couch-time-with-carolyn-exclusive-chapter-1. Organizations and others should contact Smith for speaking engagements and additional information through her website or Facebook author page at https://www.facebook.com/katiehartsmith.