CENTRE HALL— Centre County native Jeffrey R. Frazier received the Literary Titan Gold Book Award, for his book “Pennsylvania Fireside Tales Volume 2,” celebrating Frazier’s writing due to his work writing about Pennsylvania.
Frazier was born and raised in Centre County. He discussed how he grew up exploring the nature of Centre County exploring caves, climbing mountains, hunting and fishing. He eventually went on to attend Penn State and moved to New Jersey after graduating, which is when he started writing.
“I tell people it’s all due to homesickness,” Frazier said.
Frazier found solace in the Firestone Library at Princeton University where he would browse through the books. It was there he discovered books by Henry W. Shoemaker about Pennsylvania.
“Although later I found out he was known to embellish and even invent some of the stories he collected,” Frazier said “His stories brought home to my lap. I recognized the places, the family names and it kind of alleviated my homesickness.”
Frazier soon decided to become a collector — like Shoemaker — to learn more about Centre County and Pennsylvania. He currently has 12 books, eight being part of his “Pennsylvania Fireside Tales” series.
Sunbury Press, Frazier’s publishers suggested that he submit “Pennsylvania Fireside Tales Volume 2” to the Literary Titan. When finding out that it had received the Literary Titian Gold Book Award, he explained that he was completely blown away.
The Literary Titan Gold Award is given by The Literary Titan, an organization that reviews different fiction and nonfiction books. The organization gives out awards almost every month.
“One of the sentences in that review said, ‘The collection of folk tales, the second of Frazier’s series, evokes the spirit of classic American storytellers like Mark Twain and Washington Irving,’ and that’s pretty heavy company to keep you know,” Frazier said when discussing the review the Literary Titan gave his book.
The Literary Titan gave “Pennsylvania Fireside Tales Volume 2” five stars along with comparing him to extremely talented American authors and also gave praise to how Frazier’s writing was able to place readers in Pennsylvania surrounded by the characters he wrote about.
“The tales are imbued with the no-nonsense, hardworking ethos of Pennsylvanians, but also their whimsical imaginative nature,” the Literary Titan review said. “The state’s rugged landscape serves as the perfect backdrop for these inventive and fascinating stories.”
Frazier is currently in the process of writing the fourth volume of his series “Pennsylvania Mountain Landmarks.” These books highlight some of Pennsylvania’s interesting hiking trails, how to hike them and what you may find on them.
“An armchair journey to some of the most unusual and inaccessible landmarks in the Pennsylvania mountains,” Frazier said when describing the series.
After writing a large number of books, Frazier had some words of wisdom for people who want to become authors, to be consistent with their work.
“I try to write every day and that’s what you’ve got to do if you’re going to be a good writer,” Frazier said.
