Houlton native’s book garners fourth award

5 years ago

THOMPSON’S STATION, TENNESSEE – Best Book Awards has tabbed “Wheels of Wisdom: Life Lessons for the Restless Spirit” as the winner in the Christian Inspirational genre of its 2018 contest.

The book, penned by Houlton native Tim Bishop and his wife, Debbie Bishop, has now received eight book awards.

“It’s amazing. I never dreamed I would co-author a book that has won eight awards,” Debbie Bishop said. “We just hope it touches the people who read it. That’s why we wrote the book.”

“It’s very gratifying,” Tim Bishop said. “We had so much help on this book. These awards would not have been possible without great editors and designers. Then, there were the many other people who pitched in for nothing — simply because they believed in what we were doing — from family and friends to people we met on the project.

“These generous people have blessed us beyond measure,” he added.

“Wheels of Wisdom” captures 52 “Aha” moments from the Bishops’ bicycling adventures across America. With the tagline “Inspiration for Your Own Adventure,” the book won the 2017 National Indie Excellence Award for Inspiration, the gold medal for Christian Devotional in the 2017 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards contest, and the 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Award for Christian Nonfiction.

It also earned a bronze medal in the 2018 Illumination Awards behind devotionals by luminaries Sarah Young and Christine Caine. In September, the book earned its second e-book award when the annual Kindle Book Awards contest selected it as a semifinalist in the broad nonfiction category.

The Bishops were first-time newlyweds at age 52 and have since bicycled over 11,000 miles throughout America. In 2013, they released “Two Are Better: Midlife Newlyweds Bicycle Coast to Coast.”

Tim Bishop is a Houlton native who lived in the Bangor area for over 30 years before moving out of state.

In announcing the results of its 16th annual competition, sponsor American Book Fest chose from over 2,000 books to name winners and finalists in 98 categories. Behind “Wheels of Wisdom” in Christian inspirational were six finalists.

For more information about the Bishops, visit www.openroadpress.com.