People ask what motivated me to write "Crying Mountain." I have been carrying this book in my heart since I was a child. It is a part of who I am. I am deeply honored by the positive impact and inspiration that my writing has created in people's lives. Written words and the stories they tell can be very powerful, especially when they affect the soul in a positive way. If I can uplift one person's spirit by telling my strories then I have achieved one of my greatest personal goals. This book is about believing in oneself, about love and about forgiveness. It's about appreciating being alive. I feel that as long as you are breathing and alive on this planet you have no choice but to live your life-so why not live it the best way you can under any and all circumstances. Tilou, the protagonist of Crying Mountain, shows us how to deal with our challenges in a more effective way. She also teaches us how to live our best lives and how to love ourselves in spite of the daily difficulties that we encounter. Through her, we learn that each of us has our own special set of gifts and enough personal apparatus to rise against our overwhelming odds. If we search for what is best, and most capable about ourselves, we shall find it. Like Ton Pifo, who rescued Tilou after the hurricane would say, pa gin pwoblem: there is no fret.

Lili Dauphin is the recipient of the Irwin Award for her inspirational book entitled:"I Will Touch The Sun."