Paranormal novels vie for Amazon Breakthrough (YA) Novel Award

Young adults like strange stuff. Want proof? All three of the finalists in the young adult category of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest involve the paranormal – ghosts, psychic powers and mind-reading computers.

“This year was the biggest ever for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest, and there were many fantastic submissions,” said Nader Kabbani, Director of Independent Publishing at Amazon.

Lainey Young, a junior at Northbrook Academy, has a secret. She’s not the only one. A fact she finds as shocking as most people would find her ability to see how someone died or will die (hmm, a future career in law enforcement perhaps?). Other psychically gifted characters, all members of a secret society, by the way, are Jenna, the Sensor (guess what her gift is) and Carter Penrose, the Historian, an Academy graduate with secrets and gifts of his own. Author Cara Bertand of Sturbridge, MA, chronicles the adventures of Lainey, Jenna and more in Lost in Thought, a paranormal novel the former middle school literacy teacher and new mother completed in just six months as a personal challenge.

Devolution by Richard Larson is a futuristic thriller that features Dimas, a master thief as he navigates a futuristic society where computers are built directly into the human brain. When a debilitating and unknown virus strikes, Dimas delves into the underworld attempting to locate the source of the virus before it wipes out the minds of the world. Author Larson will soon begin his junior year at the University of Alberta. He lives in Grand Prairie, Alberta, Canada.

NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) attracts thousands of writers each years and produces hundreds of drafts of novels. Many never see the light of day. Spookygirl by Jill Baguchinsky of Marco Island, FL, is one that has. In this supernatural tale, Violet Anderson has moved into an apartment above her father’s funeral home where she regularly converses with ghosts. It isn’t the haunts that scare Violet however. It’s starting her sophomore year at a new school. Not only does she face unknown classmates and teachers, Violet also confronts rumors of her father’s involvement in her mother’s death and the evil forces inhabiting the girls’ locker room.

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest is sponsored by Amazon.com, Penguin Group and CreateSpace, part of the Amazon group of companies. Two grand prize winners, one in general fiction (where none of the finalists were paranormal) and one in young adult (YA) will receive a publishing contract from Penguin Group (USA) including a $15,000 advance. Winners will be announced in Seattle, WA on Monday, 13 June, 2011.

Malfoy still villain of choice at 2011 MTV Movie Awards

MTV Movie Awards' Best Villain Tom Felton

When it comes to being bad, Tom Felton, who plays Draco Malfoy in the popular Harry Potter film franchise, does it well. His sneering arrogance has worked its magic, earning him more golden popcorn at the 2011 MTV Movie Awards.

“I’ve reduced a few minors to tears,” Felton admitted in a backstage interview.

Despite defending his infamous “Best Villain” title again this year, Felton seems a very decent guy. Not only has he tweeted his thanks to Harry Potter fans

Tom Felton Fan Appreciation Tweet

He also acknowledged it during an interview after his win, saying how amazing he found it that Harry Potter fans get more and more passionate with the years rather than diminishing.

MTV Movie Awards: Gentlemen Wolves

Say what you like about vampires that sparkle. At the 2011 MTV Movie Awards it was the wolves that shone as consummate gentlemen. With rain falling, the backstage interviews were interesting, to say the least. Members of the wolfpack, however, rose to the occasion, gallantly filling the role of umbrella for their lovely Twilight Saga costar who got to wield the microphone.

The Gentlemen of the Twilight Sage Wolfpack

The Twilight Sage: Eclipse collected the most golden popcorn at the event. The film won in five categories: Best Movie, Best Female and Best Male Performances, Best Kiss and Best Fight.

Director David Slade and Producers Wyck Godfrey and Karen Rosenfelt took home the golden popcorn for Best Movie for their efforts in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

Robert Pattinson and costar Kristen Stewart walked away with the golden popcorn for Best Male Performance and Best Female Performance respectively and shared the golden popcorn for the Best Kiss.

Pattinson also shared the golden popcorn with Bryce Dallas Howard for the Best Fight.

 

Writers and Illustrators of the Future Fete Tonight

All of the judges, that’s more than 20 internationally acclaimed writers and artists, will be on hand 15 May, 2011 to celebrate the winners of the 2011 Writers and Illustrators of the Future contests.

The event will be streamed live on the internet from the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel beginning with pre-event festivities at 6 p.m. (Pacific). The awards ceremony itself will kick off at 6:30 p.m. (Pacific)

Dr. Pete Worden, Director of the NASA Ames Research Center and an advisor to the Space and Physical Sciences Track of Singularity University is the keynote speaker for the evening. The relationship between science fiction and science fact, as well as the role science fiction plays in providing direction to the future is only a part of what Dr. Worden will discuss.

Also scheduled to be on hand to present awards to the 12 writer and 12 illustrator winners are:

Writers

• Kevin J. Anderson - Author of 46 bestsellers and contributor to numerous popular anthologies including Blood Lite with Charlaine Harris and Sherrilyn Kennison.
• Doug Beason
• Gregory Benford
• Eric Flint
• Nina Kiriki Hoffman
• Dr. Yoji Kondo
• Rebecca Moesta
• Larry Niven
• Jerry Pournelle
• Tom Powers
• Mike Resnick
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch
• Robert J. Sawyer
• K.D. Wentworth
• Dave Wolverton

Artists

• Robert Castillo
• Vincente Di Fate
• Dave Dorman
• Stephen Hickman
• Cliff Nielsen
• Ron Lindahn and Val Lackey Lindahn

Every quarter three writers and three illustrators are selected by a panel of leading authors and artists of science fiction and fantasy. With no entry fee and judging done on an anonymous basis, the criterion is strictly merit. Beside first time publication, benefits include over $30,000 in cash prizes and royalties, a week-long workshop with top professionals of the genre as well as book signings, radio and TV interviews organized by the contest administrators to assist winners with launching their careers.

Video from the 2010 event…

Best Book of 2010: The Beads of Lapis Lazuli

The best book of 2010, according to Outskirts Press, is a mystery novel mixing history and obsession with a liberal dose of the paranormal. The self-published work of author Doris Marcotte, The Beads of Lapis Lazuli was selected from among the three Colorado Independent Publishers Association EWY award winner to take home the top honor and the $1,500 Grand Prize from Outskirt Press.

“What a joy ride,” Marcotte enthused upon learning of her win. “It’s still hard to believe my little book has been so well-received!”

Prior to picking up her pen to write The Beads of Lapis Lazuli, Marcotte had studied the Minoan civilization for decades. Her extensive research and passion for the ancient civilization took her to the Athens National Museum, the British Museum in London and the Heraklion Archeological Museum on the island of Crete.

Beads made of lapis lazuli

That The Beads of Lapis Lazuli is a work of fiction, perhaps the most competitive genre among publishing award categories, makes Marcotte’s victory even sweeter and more impressive. Besides the $1,500 Grand Prize, The Beads of Lapis Lazuli will also be extensively promoted by Outskirts Press, one of the world’s fastest growing self-publishing and book marketing companies.

“What an accomplishment,” said Brent Sampson, president and CEO of Outskirts Press. “Doris has demonstrated the possibilities that exist when a talented and tenacious writer sets her mind on a goal. Her book is a product of excellence — a finely woven story with rich characters encompassed within a package brimming with production values: professional copyediting, a gorgeous custom cover, an enhanced interior, cover scribing and more.”

Psychics win 2 Edgar Allan Poe Awards

Poe's Raven

The Mystery Writers of America (MWA) held their 65th Gala Banquet last week at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City. The Edgars® Banquet, as it is known, recognizes and celebrates the best crime writing (fiction, non-fiction, TV and playwriting) of the previous year. An Edgar is one of he most prestigious awards in the genre. This year the preternatural collected one Edgar and Simon & Schuster’s Mary Higgins Clark Award.

The Psychic by Sam Bobrick took home the Edgar Award for Best Play. As the name implies, this comic mystery takes audiences on an entertaining ride through the life of a down-on-his-luck writer, Adam Webster, who tries to make ends meet by offering psychic readings. He gets more than he bargained for and so do audiences. As luck, and basic mathematical odds, have, some of his prognostications turn out to be accurate (no, we aren’t sharing which ones). Surprise twists and an entire school of red herrings keep everyone guessing. The winning performance of the script was at The Falcon, a 130-seat performing arts space founded by Garry Marshall in Burbank, CA USA.

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths received the Simon & Schuster – Mary Higgins Clark Award. When archaeologist Ruth Galloway gets tangled up in a murder case, she’s quickly out of her depth. Something the murderer counts on as he (or she) deftly manipulates the situation to present a villain, and a crime, outside the norm for such heinous events. Is it just a predator’s uncanny skill at reading people and situations or is some thing more, something preternatural, at work here as well. You’ll have to read it and find out!

MWA is the premier organization for mystery and crime writers. A non-profit organization, members include the entire spectrum of individuals involved in writing crime fiction or non-fiction including, editors, publishers, authors, journalists, screenwriters, librarians, directors, dramatists, booksellers, agents, producers, attorneys, publicists and more.

Vampire/Romance tops Famous Monsters screenplay competition

Leave it to vampires to walk away with the win in the Famous Monsters of Filmland screenplay competition at the first Imagi-Movies Film Festival this month.  The genre prestige organization announced this year’s winner, The Romanian Tomb, by Erik von Wodtke on 15 April, 2011.

“It’s such an honor to be selected out of the gazillions scripts this year. I have been very intrigued by the Twilight fan craze phenomenon and so I took on the ambitious challenge of writing a vampire/romance of my own,” Erik von Wodtke expressed. “Though this movie is geared toward the same audience as Twilight, it is a bit scarier, a bit sexier, and a bit more edge-of-your-seat thriller. What is most interesting about Vampires to me is that they live so long an experience a phenomenal amount of history. The Vampire Symphony Orchestra would be the most magnificent performance imaginable because they logically have had hundreds of years to practice and get it right. Now that’s a date!”

The Romanian Tomb is the first of three neo-gothic romantic thrillers featuring Dr. Joseph West. This first adventure takes Dr. West and two research assistants to Romania where they discover the frightening true horrors of Romanian vampire culture. With the tagline “Discover the Vampire Symphony Orchestra” and set 90 percent on location in Romania the films, which hopes to find it’s way into production soon, will take theatergoers on a romantic thrill-ride to see the ancient philharmonic.

Famous Monsters of Filmland Voldemort cover

Famous Monsters of Filmland was initially conceived as a one-shot publication capitalizing on the widespread success of a package of old horror movies syndicated to American television in 1957. The first issue was so successful, a second printing was required to satisfy public demand. Today, Famous Monsters of Filmland is one of the leading sources for sci-fi, horror and fantasy-genre entertainment.

The Imagi-Movies Film Festival, held earlier this month in Los Angeles, CA, USA, is the official film festival of the Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine. It celebrates the legacy of editor Forrest J. Ackerman as well as his devotion to inspiring and facilitating the imagination of storytellers.

Paranormal novel competes for Best Book of the Year

Voting begins today (15 April, 2011) for Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award for 2011. Three authors, among them Doris Kennedy Marcotte, whose novel The Beads of Lapis Lazuli is the only work of fiction nominated for Book of the Year, vie for a Grand Prize of $1,500.

“Our Best Book of the Year Award recognizes one talented self-published author with the talent to write and award-winning book and the marketing tenacity to promote it, ” said Outskirts Press Director of Author Support Kelly Schuknecht.

Marcotte’s The Beads of Lapis Lazuli is an exhilarating read bridging time and space in the search not just for truth but also for the unknown strength lying within every individual. Part mystery and part psychodrama, The Beads of Lapis Lazuli weaves together disparate strands of Greek and Minoan history, obsession and the paranormal to create an engaging though perhaps somewhat predictable story about chasing ones dreams. What makes this novel stand out, is the incredible level of factual and historical detail often avoided in fiction out of fear of “drying it out”.  Not surprising from an author who spent decades studying Minoan civilization and conducted research at the Athens National Museum, the Heraklion Archeological Museum on Crete and the British Museum in London.

The Beads of Lapis Lazuli faces off against the non-fiction works of Robert J. Mignone, M.D., F.A.P.A. and Frank B. Leibold, Ph.D. Mignone’s newest book, Psych Consults provides practical information about mental health and illness.  In The Key to Job Success in Any Career, Leibold defines the Lifelong Transferable Competencies required for success in any job as well as suggestions for enhancing future employment options.

Anyone and everyone is encouraged to vote for the author of the Best Book of the Year Award in the open poll on the Outskirts Press Self Publishing News blog at: www.selfpbulishingnews.com Ongoing results will be publicly available throughout the voting period which ends at the end of April. The winner of the Outskirts Press will announce the winner of the Best Book of the Year Award in the first week of May .

Alcide is the only preternatural NewNextNow winner in 2011

It’s seems there’s not much new happening in the preternatural world. Well, at least there’s not much new that the mainstream media and mundane human population knows about. One thing they have noticed is True Blood’s Alcide Hevereaux.

 

Alcide is HOT!

Alcide, a Were (werewolf) has the distinction of being the only preternatural winner of a NewNextNow award in 2011. He walked away with the Cause You’re Hot award, defeating, among others, Zombieland’s Amber Heard.

 

Despite two preternatural nominees in the Cause You’re Hot category (animal magnetism, perhaps?) there were few other non-human nominees and no other winners. Other nominees included:

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in the Next Must-See Movie category (winner was Bridesmaids)
• The CW’s Vampire Diaries in the TV You Better Watch category (ABC’s Pretty Little Liars won)
• Nicholas Hoult of the X-Men: First Class was nominated along with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone of Spider-Man in the Brink of Fame: Actor category (all were defeated by Darren Criss from Glee on FOX)

The live NewNextNow Awards event was held in Los Angeles last week. Recent-breakthrough celebrities, pop culture phenoms and those on the cusp of making it big, partied at The Avalon in downtown Los Angeles on 7 April, 2011. Logo‘s fourth annual spectacle was hosted by James Van Der Beek and featured performances by Robyn, Panic! at the Disco, Oh Land and Wynter Gordon. Lady Gaga remotely accepted the Always Next, Forever Now award from Paula Abdul in one of the evening’s most anticipated moments.

The televised version of Logo’s NewNextNow Awards 2011 premieres Monday, 11 April at 10/9C on Logo.

Shorty Awards (Twitter’s Oscars) winners are…

When it comes to utilizing Twitter in a marketing campaign, nobody do it better than True Blood. The HBO original series based on the popular Sookie Stackhouse Chronicles/Southern Vampire Mystery novels by Charlaine Harris not only spawned countless fan and roleplay groups on twitter in 2010, it figured out what to do with them and secured a place in Twitter history by walking away with the Industry Shorty Award for Best Use of Twitter in a Marketing Campaign. #TrueBlood won a Shorty Award for entertainment in 2009.

True Blood Shorty Award Winner

Last year’s marketing blitz for the True Blood Season 3 Premiere was a stroke of genius. The @TrueBloodHBO digital media campaign revolved around “The True Blood Ultimate Fan Experience”. Fans used a Facebook application to play for tickets to midnight screening events which included the Season 2 finale, an exclusive Season 3 sneak peak and a live simulcast Q&A with the cast and series creator Alan Ball held in 50 cities across the U.S. The Twitter campaign kicked in when it came time to select 50 “Ultimate Truebie Sheriffs” to represent each city. Fans were asked to tweet why they should be chosen as their Area sheriff. Taking things one step further, True Blood’s blog, Bloodcopy.com transformed itself into a Twitter microsite displaying show-related Twitter lists. Topping things off, Kristen Bauer van Straten (Pam) and Joe Manganiello (Alcide) hosted a live Twitter chat on Bloodcopy.

Sounds great, right? But did it work?

Boy, did it. The True Blood Season 3 Premiere pulled more than 5 million viewers compared to the 3.7 million viewers for the True Blood Season 2 Premiere. A Sunday night replay of the premiere episode pulled in another 1 million viewers. We should also mention the True Blood Season Premiere  beat FOX and NBC in it’s time slot.

Shorty Awards

The brilliant Twitter campaign defeated @BGConOxygen Season 6 Premiere and @nyjets Playoffs Sweepstakes to take home the Shorty Award for Best Use of Twitter in a marketing campaign.

The Shorty Awards, which honor real-time content creators on Twitter, Fasebook, Foursquare and Tumblr, were presented at a celebration at TimesCenter in New York City this weekend. During the ceremony, guests received a video greeting from space, courtesy of astronaut Palo Nespoli (@Asto_paolo). Musical guest Amanda Palmer (@Amandapalmer) performed a unique song whose lyrics consisted of the best/worst tweets of the previous year that she composed specifically for the ukulele and the ceremony.

Four new awards were introduced this year:

• Foursquare Location of the Year awarded to South By Southwest
• Foursquare Mayor of the Year awarded to Baratunde Thurston @baratunde
• Microblog of the Year on Tumblr awarded to The Daily What
• Best Brand Presence on Facebook awarded to Carnival Cruise Lines

Award presenters included, Kiefer Sutherland (@RealKiefer), Jerry Stiller & Anne Meara (@StillerandMeara), comedian Jim Gaffigan (@JimGaffigan), CNN Anchor Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi), Stephen Wallem (@StephenWallem) from Showtime’s Nurse Jackie, Miss USA 2010 Rima Fakih (@TheRealMissUSA) and Miss Teen USA 2010 Kamie Crawford (@TheRealTeenUSA). Foursquare co-founder and CEO Dennis Crowley (@dens) presented the two new Foursquare awards.

The winners of the 3rd Annual Shorty Awards (listed alphabetically by category):

Actor: Neil Patrick Harris @ActuallyNPH
Actress: Stana Katic @Stana_Katic
Apps: COLOURlovers @colourlovers
Art: One Stop Poetry @Onestoppoetry
Author: Shawn S. @TreatWomenRight
Author: John Green @realjohngreen
Celebrity: Kim jae joong @mjjeje
Charity: The Trevor Project @TrevorProject
Connecting People: Shannon Miller @shannonmmiller
Cultural Institution: Tyneside Cinema @tynesidecinema
Cultural Institution: Science Gallery @ScienceGallery
Customer Service: Research In Motion @BlackBerryHelp
Design: Codeorama @Codeorama
Entertainment: Barney Stinson @Broslife
Fashion: Ann Li @thisisAnnLi
Finance: Slow Money @SlowMoney
Food: Epic Meal Time @EpicMealTime
Foursquare Location of the Year: South By Southwest
Foursquare Mayor of the Year: Baratunde Thurston @baratunde
Gaming: Adam Montoya @SeaNanners
Government: Cory Booker @CoryBooker
Green: Mud Baron @Cocoxochitl
Humor: The Dark Lord @Lord_Voldemort7
Innovation: Rene Silva Santos @Rene_Silva_RJ
Journalist: West Wing Report @WestWingReport
Microblog of the Year on Tumblr: The Daily What
Music: Jonas Brothers @JonasBrothers
News: Lei Seca RJ @LeiSecaRJ
News: The Young Turks @TheYoungTurks
Nurse: Ronivin Pagtakhan @ronnievinn & Matthew Browning @MatthewBrowning
Politics: Marina Silva @silva_marina
Politics: The Bloggess @TheBloggess
Real-Time Photo of the Year: Moon from Space by Douglas H. Wheelock
Science: MythBusters @MythBusters
Social Media: Facts About Boys @FactsAboutBoys
Sports: New Orleans Saints @Official_Saints
Tech: SoldierKnowsBest @SoldierKnowBest
Television: Attack of the Show @aots
Television: Sesame Street @sesamestreet
Travel: JD Andrews @earthXplorer
Weird: Alli Speed @allispeed
Weird: I do this too! @omgidothistoo

Special and Industry Awards:
Lifetime Achievement: Conan O’Brien @conanobrien

Best Brand Presence on Facebook: Threadless

Best Brand Presence on Facebook: Carnival Cruise Lines

Best Brand Presence on Twitter: Threadless @threadless

Best Integration of Social Media with Traditional Media: MTV’s 2010 VMAs Twitter Tracker

Best Location-Based Marketing: Bravo’s Top Chef Just Desserts

Best Social Game: Gillette’s Blade Change Challenge

Best Use of a Video as Part of a Social Media Campaign: Daniel Radcliffe Video for The Trevor Project

Best Use of a Video as Part of a Social Media Campaign: Ken Block’s Gymkhana Three, Part 2

Best Use of Facebook in a Marketing Campaign: Chick-fil-A Spicy Chicken Sandwich

Best Use of Twitter in a Marketing Campaign: @TrueBloodHBO Season 3 Premiere

Best Use of Twitter or Facebook for E-Commerce: Benefit Cosmetics’ Bazaarvoice Ratings & Reviews
Best Viral Campaign: The Last Exorcism’s Chatroulette Reactions

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners of the 3rd annual Shorty Awards!