Back on August 30, 2019, I started what will be a series of posts with Award-Winning Books Edited by Lane Diamond, in which I posted the first 5 (alphabetically) “active” award-winners edited by me. Today, I continue that thread with books 6-10.
THE CONFESSIONAL – A Short Story by A.K. Kuykendall
Altar Boy Reinhold Commons Webster was an innocent child—scholarly, devout—whose trials and tribulations weighed heavily upon him. He continually prayed for deliverance, but in the end, only Lucifer answered.
WINNER: Literary Titan Book Awards – Gold Medal
The Websters were devout Catholics who, like all the families within their parish, stood steadfastly in service of the church. They even prayed that their only son, Reinhold, would one day become a priest. When he became an Altar Server, it seemed as if their dream might come true.
Yet deep within the church lay secrets too painful to consider, too scary to fathom—a horror too excruciating for anyone to dare seek give it an audience.
EVOLVED PUBLISHING PRESENTS a short story with a peerless message, based on true events—an execrable horror parable that will take the reader into the darkest corners of the mind, where fictional events may be just a bit too real for comfort.
CONUNDRUM by Isu Yin & Fae Yang
Everything that has happened, is happening, will happen again.
WINNER: Pinnacle Book Achievement Award
Reviewer Sheila D. says: “What a magnificently woven puzzle, like a spider’s web. Each strand offering a path of answers/clarity while raising even more questions. I felt like some of the answers to my questions were well hidden in plain sight….right under my nose..while raising new questions .Do YOU know who the spinner is? Are the black smokey wisps part of a web? Then who is the fly? It created a satisfying chaos of the mind. It provides an itching curiosity for Book 3.”
In a world where light has taken reign, the Queen’s Dog, Akira, seeks true balance, but only the righteous may thrive. Driven by malice, he fights his need for blood, his desire to live, and his assignment to solve the murders occurring throughout the Empire. Amidst the strife and warring factions, Akira leads a commanding third party, the Organization, to power. Their drive to raise a New World of misfits is tireless, brutal, and costly. In order for this vision to come to fruition, Akira must first conquer his mother, his fate, and his one true obstacle, the Mortal Affliction.
THE DAUGHTER OF THE SEA AND THE SKY by David Litwack
A thought-provoking look at the line between faith and fantasy, fanatics and followers, and religion and reason.
WINNER: Pinnacle Book Achievement Award – Best Fantasy
WINNER: Awesome Indies Seal of Excellence
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” ~ Albert Einstein
A mysterious nine-year-old from the Blessed Lands sails into the lives of a couple in the Republic, claiming to be the Daughter of the Sea and the Sky. Is she a troubled child longing to return home, or a powerful prophet sent to unravel the fabric of the Republic? The answer will change the lives of all she meets… and perhaps their world as well.
“…a fully imagined, gripping read….” ~ Kirkus Reviews
“Author David Litwack gracefully weaves together his message with alternating threads of the fantastic and the realistic…. The reader will find wisdom and grace in this beautifully written story.” ~ San Francisco Book Review
WINNER: Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal – Young Adult: Coming of Age
WINNER: League of Utah Writers – Gold Quill Award
FINALIST: The Kindle Book Review Awards – Literary Fiction
When Sam meets “Jesus”—who smells an awful lot like a horse—in the park, life takes a different turn. He saved her once, and may be willing to save Sam and her brother again, if only they admit what took place that fateful day in West Virginia. But Sam doesn’t remember, and Jacob isn’t talking.
Moslimah says, “I’m a VERY difficult reader to please and this isn’t a book I would typically read but I read it and boy was I blown away. This novel captivated me, not from the first page but from the very first sentence, where we are brought smack in the middle of the action.”
Tina says, “From the opening chapter to the very last word, the book was a masterpiece of storytelling, presenting me with a barrage of twists and turns that kept me riveted to the book.”
Timeosanthos says, “I’d heard a lot about this book before reading it, so I worried it wouldn’t live up to my expectations. I needn’t have worried at all–it not only lived up to them, it surpassed them. While this book is heart wrenching and painful to read at times, it’s also brilliant, poignant and beautiful.”
DREAM WARRIORS by D. Robert Pease
In the dream world, not everyone is what they appear to be.
WINNER: Pinnacle Book Achievement Award — Best Young Adult Fiction
Joseph Colafranceschi is a fifteen-year-old, self-described geek, living in the Bronx. The second youngest of twelve sons of the former U.S. ambassador to Italy, Joey discovers that a small Egyptian statuette, given to him by his father, endows him with power to control his dreams.
After his brothers throw him down a manhole, Joey is drawn into a hidden society of warriors who have been battling a reincarnated Egyptian Pharaoh for over 3,000 years. In the dream world, it’s impossible to tell who to trust. As Joey slips deeper into a world of gladiator battles and clandestine missions within other people’s dreams, he catches the eye of a beautiful Egyptian princess.
The only thing that keeps him grounded in reality is his best friend Alex, but even she may not be who he thought she was.
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Well, those are numbers 6-10 (alphabetically), all of which I heartily recommend. I’ll be back soon with the next five.
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