HOLLYWOOD BOOK FESTIVAL HONORS “SIMONE’S GHOSTS” WITH TOP PRIZE

HOLLYWOOD, Ca_ The story of a 15-year-old girl with unusual gifts and her struggle to keep them under control is the grand prize winner of the 2017 Hollywood Book Festival, which honors books worth of further attention from the film and TV industries.

Author Roberta L. Smith’s “Simone’s Ghosts” (CreateSpace) is the story of Simone, who thinks her abilities to move things with her mind, see ghosts, and sometimes read people’s thoughts make her weird. She keeps to herself as she starts her sophomore year in a new high school. That plan goes awry when a couple of ghosts befriend her and the jealous girlfriend of a boy who shows interest in her plots against her.

The book offers a fresh and intriguing take on the well-worn path of paranormal abilities, displaying a keen eye for the trials that all teenagers endure.

Smith and other authors and publishers will be honored at a private ceremony in August.

Other winners in the competition:

WILD CARD

WINNER: Days to the Gallows: A Novel of the Hartford Witch Panic – Katherine S. Basto

RUNNER-UP: Magnificats: Return of the Demon Wind – Gwyn Dolyn

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• The Dog That Laid Eggs – Jonathan Maas
• Memoir of a Slightly Mad Mystic – Lawrence Furman
• Big & Fabulous – Randi M. Sherman
• Gaia's Majesty - Mission Called: Women in Power – Roger Burt
• Dead Secrets: A Jack Mango Murder Mystery – L.A. Toth
• Special Task Force Green Majik - Pretty Hate Machine – Don Templeton
• I Am Free – Del Suelo
• Library Lust – N.S. Navla
• Riverspill – Barbara L. Thomas
• Reflections of a Soul – June Marie Davis

YOUNG ADULT

WINNER: Simone’s Ghosts – Roberta L. Smith

RUNNER-UP: How To Set The World on Fire – T.K. Riggins

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• The Whizbang Machine – Danielle Vann
• The Feral Sentence – G.C. Julien
• Ms. Vampy’s Teen Tawk – Brooke Lewis
• Mistasiniy: Buffalo Rubbing Stone – Mary Harelkin Bishop
• The Emperor of Dragons – Logan Stark
• Running from the Gods – Diann T. Read
• The Paranauts – Logan Stark
• Talk to Me – Donna Malacina
• The Scroll of Suratican – Vincent James
• Letters to Follow – Paddy Eger
• South of Main – Robert Gately

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

WINNER: S is for Safari – Jeryl Abelmann/Miriam Kronish

RUNNER-UP: Norse Mother’s Tales: Freyja’s Fat Cat – Kristin Valkenhaus

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Off the Hook: A Christmas Ornament Adventure – John Arvai III
• Cub’s Wish – Angie Flores
• Whoa! - Sherry Meinberg
• Feronia – The Little Girl Who Learned to Fly Free – Nola Hennessy
• Fireball Summer – James Lynn Durham
• Norse, of Course! Bragi’s Silent-Song – Nick & Kristin Valkenhaus
• Tripi Takes Flight - Lori London

GENERAL FICTION

WINNER: Unassimilated – Michael Benzehabe

RUNNER-UP: Ashes – Steven Manchester

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• The Boston Castrato – Colin W. Sargent
• Father, Who Art – Drew O’Brien
• The Conspiracies of Dreams - Sandra Biber Didner
• Cameron’s Quest – David Carraturo
• Book of Birds – Lisa Bryski
• Scandalous Hoe Fiction – Ashley Hardy
• The Nine Assignments – Glenda Winders
• The Secret Kept – Herbert C. Robinson
• The Search for Zarahemla – Terry Neal
• Never Summer – Tim Blaine  
• Shari’s Secret – Patricia Rohner
• So Complicated – Rumki Chowdhury
• Kubrick’s Game – Derek Taylor Kent
• Drift and Hum: The Great Canadian/American Novel – Robert O. Martichenko
• The Garrington Garden – Benjamin Lederer
• Forced Reaction – Steve Allen
• Body Politic – Glyn Godwin
• Jasper Spring – James T. Hughes
• A Private War – Perry Cockrell
• The Criminalist – John Houde
• Professor Flintwick's Dream Machine – Dominic R. Daniels
• The Unexpected Daughter - Sheryl Parbhoo
• The Sparks Fly Upward – Jon Correll
• Cries of the Eagle – Michael Nathanson
• Forced Reaction – Steve Allen
• Tamburlaine: A Broadway Revival – Gregory A. Kompes
• Going Home: Hope Lives Where Reason Dies – Michael Morrow
• Felicity in the Jungle – Russ Espinoza <li>Deadly Serious – A.J. Thibault

SEQUELS

WINNER: Reclaiming Ravished Paradise, Aftermath Armenian Genocide - Mardig Madenjian

RUNNER-UP: Rising – TC Zmak

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Letters to Follow – Paddy Eger
• Into the Mindfield – Steve Allen
• Endurance – Gwendolyn Sutton

HOW-TO

WINNER: Do You Quantum Think? – Dianne Collins

RUNNER-UP: The Renegade Writer – W.G. Griffiths

HONORABLE MENTION:

• Bodysculpting for Bombshells – Vivi Stutz

SPIRITUAL

WINNER: Miracle on Hammertown Road – Jim “Bubba” Bay/Mic Ruzich

RUNNER-UP: How to Create Positive Energy in Your Space – Kasi Kaye Ilipoulos

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Discovering the Joy in the Journey – Debbie Mitchell
• Memoir of a Slightly Mad Mystic – Lawrence Furman
• Do You Quantum Think? – Dianne Collins
• Living in Light, Love & Truth – Kasi Kaye Ilipoulos
• God’s Light Abridged Audiobook – Dr. Rick Scarnati

SCIENCE FICTION

WINNER: Barren Waters – Julia Shupe

RUNNER-UP: Maya Rising – Melissa Roen

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

•  Ishtaq: The Second Vial – Thomas Fournier  
• Moonstroke – Blaine Readler
• Olympia – Kris Kramer <li>Tomorrow’s End – Geoff Morris

GENERAL NON-FICTION

WINNER: Growing-up Twice: Shaping a Future – Aaron Kirk Douglas

RUNNER-UP: Reclaiming Ravished Paradise, Aftermath Armenian Genocide - Mardig Madenjian

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Code 10-71: Victim to Victor – Madeline Morehouse
• Shielded Suffering – A.J. Nystrom
• The Music of Gilbert Artman & Urban Sax – Archie Patterson
• Post-Traumatic Stress: Not A Life Sentence – Nola Hennessy
• Bullied: from Terror to Triumph, My Survival… - Tensie J. Taylor
• Urgent Care: 10 Cures for America's Ailing Healthcare…- Minda Wilson

BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY

WINNER: The Repatriate: Love, Basketball, and the KGB – Tom Mooradian

RUNNER-UP: Code 10-71: Victim to Victor – Madeline Morehouse

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Unconditional Love: On Loan from God – Don Landy
• The War Within, the Story of Josef – Patricia Walkow
• Why Not? Conquering the Road Less Traveled – John Brown
• My Sister, My Daughter, and Me – Shirley Rose Webb

GENRE-BASED

WINNER: The Promise of Cedar Key – Rick Robinson

RUNNER-UP: Madam of My Heart: A Tale of Love, Loss and Redemption – Gini Grossenbacher

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• One Chance, One Moment: Book One – The Mandy Story – Judith Ann Kohnen
• The Old Cape Hollywood Secret – Barbara E. Struna
• The White Tower (The Aldoran Chronicles, Book I) – Michael Wisehart
• Tune-up: The Secrets of Mylin: Book 1 – Joe Klingler
• The Redemption of Brian O'Connor – N.H. Roncolato
• Deadly Decision – Nancy Mangano

HISTORY

WINNER: Turbulent Times – Stephen G. Yanoff

RUNNER-UP: Reclaiming Ravished Paradise, Aftermath Armenian Genocide - Mardig Madenjian

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Days to the Gallows: A Novel of the Hartford…. – Katherine S. Basto
• Fidel Castro y el Directorio Revolucionario – Jose Alvarez
• Building 8 – Anthony C. Mazzella

BUSINESS

WINNER: Rule # 1 Don't Be #2 You Get What You Work For, Not… - Daniel Milstein

UNPUBLISHED

WINNER: Brutal Intent – Betty Briggs