Nonfiction Author & BJJ Enthusiast Wins Third Award for Her Inspirational Book "Flowing with the Go"

SEATTLE - Oct. 20, 2013 - PRLog -- When author Elena Stowell recently won a Bronze Medal in the Grieving/Death & Dying Category of The Living Now Awards, it was the third award she has received for her inspirational book Flowing with the Go: A Jiu-Jitsu Journey of the Soul. The book was written after Stowell lost her daughter in 2007 to an unexpected arrhythmia.

In addition to The Living Now Award, Stowell has also received a Finalist Award from the Indie Book Awards, the largest nonprofit awards program for independent authors and publishers, and a Silver Medal in the eLit Awards, which illuminate digital publishing excellence.

After her fifteen-year-old daughter died, Stowell thought she would not survive her grief until she stumbled across Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and found inner strength and grief-support through her time on the mat. After a soul-searching journey through physical soreness, mental exhaustion and emotional overload, her therapist and coach encouraged Stowell to share her moving and potent story with the world. Flowing with the Go was born.

In addition to helping Stowell heal, Flowing with the Go has become a gateway to helping local Seattle youth, as well as those in Brazil, through two charitable projects. Stowell and her husband, Chuck, started a nonprofit organization in Carly’s name in 2007, The Carly Stowell Foundation http://carlystowellfoundation.countmein.com. The mission is “to provide enhanced education in athletic and music performance to youth who show a passion for learning and commitment to excel.” A portion of the proceeds from Stowell’s book are donated to the foundation. Stowell also created “Jammin’ BJJ: Give the Gift of Gi,” which collects BJJ clothing and donates them to families in Brazil.

Because of its popularity among the BJJ community, Stowell’s book was translated into Brazilian Portuguese and is available internationally in both English and Brazilian Portuguese through: www.bqbpublishing.com, Amazon, Barnes & Noble online, and can be ordered through any Barnes & Noble store or independent bookstore anywhere in the country. The eBook is available through Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Sony, iTunes, and Overdrive. Booksellers can order the book in either language through Ingram, Baker & Taylor, or New Leaf Distributing.

For more information or to schedule Elena Stowell for an interview, book event, or speaking event, please contact Terri Leidich at terri@bqbpublishing.com

About the Author
Elena Stowell, a high school biology and AP biology teacher with a master’s degree in animal science, lives with her family in Kent, Washington. She is a National Board Certified Teacher and is part of a small collaborative group of teachers who facilitate workshops and symposia about food safety and nutrition for a week during the summer each year in Washington, DC, for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Elena’s daughter Carly suddenly died in April of 2007 (a week from her fifteenth birthday), and Elena was devastated as any mother would be. The rest of her life became about surviving the grief. With the support and encouragement of her family and friends, she took a first step off of the couch and back into life. Needing an outlet for the suffocating turmoil of emotions that losing a child causes, Elena found Foster Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She learned that, like many martial arts, Jiu-Jitsu had a spiritual aspect and would provide the guidance she needed to work through her grief. Her coach, James Foster, sometimes without even knowing it, made statements that she took deeply to heart.

About BQB Publishing
Founded in August of 2010, BQB was created to be “the writer’s publisher,” focusing on quality writing from new authors. An independent hybrid publisher, BQB combines the quality processes of traditional publishing with hands-on author involvement to bring today’s new writers and tomorrow’s best sellers into the hands of booksellers and the reading public. To learn more about BQB, visit www.bqbpublishing.com.