A Realm Awards Finalist? Yes! It's True!

I'm not even joking.  My book A Noble Companion is a finalist for this year's Realm Awards!!!  

This little Ugly Duckling retelling was such a challenge to write.  For one thing, it was the first time I had been part of a multi-author project.  For another, I had never written fantasy before, so I struggled with that aspect of the book a lot.  And also, every book in this series focuses on a side character of the fairy tale being retold, not the usual main character, but... there aren't any other named characters in The Ugly Duckling.  In fact, even the main character is only referred to by that description.  That made figuring out who to focus on pretty tricky.

I freely admit that I'm not a fantasy writer, I'm a historical fiction writer.  I did a lot of praying that God would help my imagination and writing skills grow and change to suit this new project.  And I did find ways to make it truly a fantasy book, but the story rests solidly on a foundation of historical research for the setting. 

I never really expected that it could compete against more obvious fantasy books for the Realm Awards, which are for Christian fantasy and sci-fi.  The fact that it made the long list last month felt like a really amazing honor, and I really didn't even hope that it would go farther.  But it did!  It's a finalist now!  Wow.

If you want to see who all the finalists are, you can find the official list here.  If you want to know more about A Noble Companion, check out my page about it.

"A Rose in West Egg" by Storm Shultz

This book was such a fast, fun read!  I love stories where people get to go inside a book and experience it a little bit, whether it's the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde or even movies like Austenland where a person is only kind of pretending to mimic an experience from a book.  Or even the movie Inkheart, where things and people from books get out into the real world.

In A Rose in West Egg, a librarian named Rose has always wanted to go on some kind of big adventure.  Not that she doesn't love her life as a librarian, but she's shy and lonely and a bit bored.  Also, she has alopecia and often worries she will never find a guy who doesn't care that she wears wigs.  

During a big library party to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Rose ends up accidentally sliding inside the book itself.  She narrowly escapes getting murdered, meets a handsome but irritable detective who's hunting a serial killer, and finally finds her way back out of the book.

And if you're saying to yourself, "I've read The Great Gatsby... what serial killer?!?" then you are realizing what Rose realized, that there is something wrong going on inside the book, and she might be the only one who can fix things because she's from the real world.  And besides, if she goes back inside the book, she might meet up with that nice detective again...

This was a total treat for me as a lover of literature.  Rose has a fresh, upbeat, and softly quirky personality that made me like her so much.  And I really liked the message of needing to share the Good News of God's love and forgiveness to all people, including those who do not want to hear it at all.

I'll definitely be rereading this fun book!  I'll be adding the paperback to my shelves as soon as it releases.  Full disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher.  I was not asked to provide a review, positive or otherwise.  All opinions here are my own, and freely given.

Particularly Good Bits: 

He smells like cedar soap and something comforting that I can't place yet.  I relax a little.  I mean, would a murderer smell like cedarwood?  Possibly, I suppose.  I don't think stores ban crazy people from buying nice soap.

"It's not failing to ask for help."

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It: PG-10 for some mild violence, alcohol use and abuse in the Gatsby world, scenes where an old woman is injured and then taken to the hospital, discussions of murders, and mental illness that results in violence.  No smut or bad language.