HOLLYWOOD BOOK FESTIVAL SELECTS “SECRETS” NOVEL FOR TOP HONORS

HOLLYWOOD, CA _ A novel about a struggling man who magically transforms into a Silicon Valley billionaire is the grand prize winner of the 11th annual Hollywood Book Festival, which honors work worthy of consideration by the film, television and multimedia industries.

“Secrets of Men…in a Lifeboat” by Todd R. Baker (Aqueous Books) traces the path of Luke Morrow, whose life crumbles thanks to the twin plagues of divorce and ageism. Just when the pain becomes too great, a mystical transformation ensues, and Morrow becomes a fantastically wealthy but utterly callous man whose megalomania is boundless. Finally, he is left with a choice that pits decency against his imagined power in a moral showdown for the ages.

Baker and other winners, runner-ups and honorable mentions in the competition will be honored in a private ceremony in Hollywood this August.

Other winners in the competition:

BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY

WINNER: “Diary of a Shanghai Showgirl” – Amelia Kallman

RUNNER-UP: “Immigrant Soldier – The Story of a Ritchie Boy” – Kathryn Lang-Slattery

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• “Cold Case to Closed Case” – Rich Little/Beverly Folstad
• “The Host with the Most” – Todd Newtown
• “The Sibold Effect” – John David Miller
• “A Connisseur’s Journey” – Dr. Jeffrey Lant
• “Sexy Liberal: Of Me I Sing!” – Stephanie Miller
•  “The Space Between” – Virginia A. Simpson
•  “Garth Jeffers Recalls His Father, Robinson Jeffers” – Audry Lynch
•  “Soul Explosion” – Dr. Rick Scarnati

HISTORY

WINNER: “Ravished Paradise, Forced March to Nothingness” – Mardig Madenjian

RUNNER-UP: “Out-of-Style: A Modern Perspective” – Betty Kreisel Shubert

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

•  “Immigrant Soldier – The Story of a Ritchie Boy” – Kathryn Lang Slattery
•  “Cold Case to Closed Case” – Rich Little/Beverley Folstad

GENRE-BASED

WINNER: “Islands” – Sara Stamey

RUNNER-UP: “Blood Sports” – Jeromie Carr

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

•  “The Outhouse” – David W. Gordon
•  “Fatal Seductions” – Mark Boyden
•  “Beleagured Truth” – William Messenger
•  “Behind the Mask” – David Ridenour  
•  “Veil of Deception” – Michael Byers Lewis
•  “Three Loves” – William Deters
•  “The GreenSeed Conspiracy” – Philip Benz
•  “A Search for Family” – Murray Eiland 
•  “Missing Mona” – Joseph Klingler
•  “Dust” – Beaux Cooper
•  “Fashion Queen: The Dying to be Beautiful Book 2 – M. Glenda Rosen
•  “Silent Cats: Deadly Dance” – J.D. Wallace
•  “The Soul Retrieval” – Ann W. Jarvie
•  “Zeus is Dead” – Michael G. Munz

WILD CARD

WINNER: “Buccaneer – The Provocative Odyssey of Jack Reed, Adventurer, Drug Smuggler, and Pilot Extraordinaire” – Jack Carlton Reed/MayCay Beeler  

RUNNER-UP: “The Lobby” – Randi Sherman

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

•  “Oubliette” – Vanta M. Black
•  “The Alexandrite” – Rick Lenz
•  “Rats” – Joseph Klingler
•  “The Box – A Memoir – Lynne Lorine Ludwick
•  “A Life Without Living” – S.C. Alban
•  “Creole Moon The Betrayal” – Suzon Holmes
•  “Not Just a Game” – Doug Zipes
•  “Hollywood Heartbreak/New York Dreams” - Kody Christiansen
•  “67 Letters to Sasha” – Julia Fox
•  “Crowning Glory” – Stacy Harshman
•  “Villa Fortuna” – Cat Gardiner
•  “The Grid 1: Fall of Justice” – Paul Teague
• “Mercury’s Titan” – J.C. Chapman
•  “Amina: The Silent One” – Fiza Pathan
•  “Primal Sympathy” – Dee Silverstein  
•  “Brittany’s Rose” – Kimberly Degen
•  “Dark Incidence” – A.G. Liam
•  “Illuminarium” – Truth Devour

HOW-TO

WINNER: “Quantum Inventing” – Stephen Malak

RUNNER-UP: “Quintessential Bellydance” – Evyenia Karmi

HONORABLE MENTION:

•  “Don’t Date a Dud!” – Victoria Lowery

GENERAL NON-FICTION

WINNER: “Movie Star & The Mobster” – John William Law

RUNNER-UP: “Police Wife: The Secret Epidemic of Police Domestic Violence” – Susanna Hope/Alex Roslin

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

•  “Tesserae: A Memoir of Two Summers” - Mathias B. Freese
•  “A Stone’s Throw: Memoir of a Dope Fiend” – Scott Spackey
•  “Beverly Hills Concentration Camp” – Randi Maggid
•  “Make a Wish for Me”- LeeAndra M. Chergey  
•  “Navy Seals and Their Unabashed Humor” – Billy Almon
•  “Forever Changed” – Cheryl Helstrom
•  “The Magical Guide to Bliss” – Meg Nocero

GENERAL FICTION

WINNER: “Secrets of Men…in a Lifeboat” – Todd R. Baker

RUNNER-UP: “In the Event Of” – Harvey Goodman

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

•  “A Northern Gentleman” – Lane Everett
•  “The Arc (series I-V)” – Angelina Hart
•  “Saving Faith” – Wes Dodd
•  “The Novelist” – L.D. Boulanger
•  “Dark Surf” – T.C. Zmak
•  “Even Angels Fall” – F.L. Darbyshire
•  “Conquest” – Jaime Boust
•  “Savior’s Day” – Alan A. Winter
•  “First Born” – Janelle Gaby
•  “A Secret Muse (Book 1)” – Mandy Jackson-Beverly
•  “Slow Children” – Michael J. Vaughn
•  “The Life & Mimes (& Alien Invasion) of Ripper the Clown – Jake Aurelian
•  “Curveballs & Change-ups” – K.P. Kmitt
•  “The Torch is Passed” – William Powers
•  “Angels Around Her” – Jennifer Cusimano
•  “Games of Mind” – Dennis Quiles
•  “Inside Out: One Actor’s Nightmarish Journey of Incarceration” – Jack Kearney
•  “Jester: Memoirs of a Retired Hippie” – Warren Troy
•  “Raising Unicorns” – K.M. Dal
•  “The Committee” – Terry E. Hill
•  “Goodbye Beaver Lake” – Irwin Wolfe
•  “Windward Grace” – Nicole Higgins
•  “The Reunion” – Pat Fero
•  “Loss Angeles” – Mathieu Cailler
•  “There is Always More to Say” – Lynda Spiro  
•  “The Velvet Rope: Based on Real Events” – Brent Lymer
•  “Hot Tea…Cold Case” – D.G. Stern
•  “Children of Italy” – Christine Simolke
•  “A Secret to the Grave” – Jane Blythe
•  “Erin Moynahan” – Brian George
•  “Scars” – Christina Mutch
•  “The Cruel Romance” – Marina Osipova
•  “The Lilac Bush is Blooming” – Jan Surasky
•  “A Secret to the Grave” – Jane Blythe
•  “Tzippy the Thief” – Patricia S. Rohner
•  “Kisimba” – Gillian M. Mercurio
•  “Four Ways to Pharaoh Khufu” – Alexander Marmer
•  “Beyond the Bitter Sea” - J.G. Knott
•  “The Velvet Thorn” – Olivia Villa-Real
•  “And Face the Unknown” – CD Harper
•  “Black and White: Vol. 1 of the Lincoln County Law Trilogy” – Jerri Blair
•  “A Charleston Yankee” – Michael D. Mercurio

BUSINESS

WINNER: “Letters to my Child’s Guardian” – Virginia C. Antipolo-Utt



YOUNG ADULT

WINNER: “Zilla” – Leann Sage

RUNNER-UP: “Like a Hero: Courage Can be Costly” – Michael Bowler

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

•  “The Changing Season” – Steven Manchester
•  “The Scrapbook” – G. R. Calcagni
•  “Book of Secrets” – Ernest Burnett
•  “Circulus de Potentia” – Jim West
•  “When the Music Stops – Dance On” – Paddy Eger
•  “Emotional Map of Los Angeles” – edited by Keren Taylor
•  “Novus” – Crystal Marcos
•  “Love Spell” – Mia Kerik
•  “The Essence – A Ghost Story in Three Days” – Vel Grande
•  “The Whispering of Trees” – C.Y. Bourgeois
•  “Jurassic Earth” – Logan T. Stark
•  “Hair in All the Wrong Places” – Andrew Buckley

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

WINNER: “The Reading Promise” – Troy Kent

RUNNER-UP: “Fairy Tales for Life” – Linda Champion

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• “The Family Tree – The Night of the Storm” – Laurie Copmann
• “The Ride of Doom” Anthony Pardoe
•  “The Raging Torrent” – Anthony Pardoe
•  “Have You Filled a Bucket Today? 10th Anniversary Edition” – Carol McCloud/David Messing
•  “The Ride of Doom” – Anthony Pardoe
•  “The Raging Torrent” – Anthony Pardoe
•  “Lucky Penny and the Little Dark” – Dennis Maloney
•  “Curio A Shetland Sheepdog and Her Pals” – Jeanette A. Griver
•  “The First Birthday Party” – Keith Johnson
•  “My Friends” – Semini Pabodha Samarasinghe
•  “Excursion to Mars” – Christina V. Kueppers
•  “Exploration of Commander Josh – Book 1” – Donna Leblanc
•  “The Amazing Adventures of Melissa Bee” – Aimee Lissantheia

SPIRITUAL

WINNER: “Why is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling?” - Lama Tsomo

RUNNER-UP: “Rise Up!” – Connie Harris

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

•  “And It Was Very Good” – Ed Olfert
•  “37 Seconds – Dying Revealed Heaven’s Help” – Stephanie Arnold
•  “God’s Light – Dr. Rick Scarnati
•  “You Don’t Die – You Just Change Channels!” – Chuck Swartwout
•  ”Parents Without Rights Can Still Fight” – Carla Burks

PHOTOGRAPHY/ART

WINNER: “Living Mollusks” – Charles Rawlings



POETRY

WINNER: “Where Do I Sit” – Dr. Neal Hall

RUNNER-UP: “New Nails” – Eve Packer

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “Reverberations” – Charles Rawlings

SCIENCE FICTION

WINNER: “Cool Brain” – Paul Black

RUNNER-UP: “The Future’s Dark Past, The Time Forward…” – John Yarrow

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “Aramid” – Paul Haddad

UNPUBLISHED

WINNER: “Hop on the Next!” – Rosemary Rudland

RUNNER-UP: “Libido Tsunami” – Cate Burns



SEQUELS

WINNER: “About a Snowball’s Chance” – Nicole Higgins

RUNNER-UP: “Tesseract Resurrection” – Vicki Ebeling



SCREENPLAYS

WINNER: “Christopher Marlowe” – Francis Hamit

RUNNER-UP: “The First Birthday Party” – Keith Johnson

HONORABLE MENTION:

• “GalveStorm: A Story of Twin Flames” – Ervin Mendlovitz