MARGOT HONORED AGAIN & NEW BOOK COMING SOON!
I hope you had a wonderful summer! One of the things that kicked mine into high gear was winning a Gold Hermes Award for my current novel, The Thing With Margot. In my last blog, I mentioned that Margot had been an “Editor’s Pick” by In D’ Tale Magazine. So to be honored with a Hermes Award is really icing on the cake.
Based in Dallas, The Hermes Awards are a national and international competition recognizing excellence in a variety of digital and traditional medias including books. The Thing With Margot won its Gold Award in the category of “Outstanding Published Book” and this marks the fourth time in four novels that I’ve been lucky enough to win a national and international honor. (My previous three books were recipients of MarCom Awards, a similar competition.)
During its over 20-history, the Hermes Awards have attracted entries from all 50 states and over 100 countries. So it’s a pretty well established and prestigious honor and I’m very grateful. As a fun fact, award itself is made by the same company that makes the Golden Globes, the Emmys and the MTV Awards. That's about as close as I'll get to Justin Bieber, but I figure that's a good thing.
As much as I love Margot though, I spent a good part of the summer finishing up my next novel, The Ambassador’s Daughter. That is, when I wasn’t binge-watching Gilmore Girls, a fabulously written show. The Ambassador’s Daughter is the story of young boy named Alex Tucker, whose mother abandoned him when he was nine-years-old. Twenty years later, she’s a major with the U.S. army overseeing a high security post on Dune Island, a remote community in the middle of Lake Michigan. So Alex leaves a promising career at the FBI to become Chief of Police on Dune Island in the hopes of getting to know her and finding out why she left him.
On the island, he meets and becomes attracted to Eleanor Engle. Eleanor and her father are scientists that do research for the army and live on the post his mother commands. But as their relationship develops, Alex discovers a secret about the Engles that his mother is sworn to protect, so their already strained relationship becomes even more so. The Ambassador’s Daughter is a deeply romantic, action-packed adventure that I hope will keep you turning the pages and reaching for tissues. It’s currently in the hands of my wonderful editor at TouchPoint Press and I hope it’ll be released before the end of the year. I’ll keep you posted on its progress.
Totally switching subjects, I discovered two wonderful vacation destinations this summer: Arches National Park in Utah and Taos, New Mexico. As its name implies, Arches features some 2,200 natural red-rock arches that are simply amazing to explore. The park has also been the setting for countless western movies featuring everyone from John Wayne to Kevin Costner. It’s hot as Hades in the summer, but you can drive through the park and pick highlights to explore at your own pace. Meanwhile, Taos has a robust artisan community and it's definitely worth spending a long day there. Two days are probably too much, unless you want to redecorate your home with some cool Southwestern art, in which case, staying longer is perfect. And by all means, check out the Catholic Church of San Francisco de Asis, built between 1772 and 1816, a really spectacular example of Colonial Spanish architecture.
Well, that’s all for now. Except to report I’m already outlining the plot of the next novel. Think, pre-World War II England and an expansive estate nestled in the lush countryside. More on this later and, as always, thank you for your interest and continued support!
Based in Dallas, The Hermes Awards are a national and international competition recognizing excellence in a variety of digital and traditional medias including books. The Thing With Margot won its Gold Award in the category of “Outstanding Published Book” and this marks the fourth time in four novels that I’ve been lucky enough to win a national and international honor. (My previous three books were recipients of MarCom Awards, a similar competition.)
During its over 20-history, the Hermes Awards have attracted entries from all 50 states and over 100 countries. So it’s a pretty well established and prestigious honor and I’m very grateful. As a fun fact, award itself is made by the same company that makes the Golden Globes, the Emmys and the MTV Awards. That's about as close as I'll get to Justin Bieber, but I figure that's a good thing.
As much as I love Margot though, I spent a good part of the summer finishing up my next novel, The Ambassador’s Daughter. That is, when I wasn’t binge-watching Gilmore Girls, a fabulously written show. The Ambassador’s Daughter is the story of young boy named Alex Tucker, whose mother abandoned him when he was nine-years-old. Twenty years later, she’s a major with the U.S. army overseeing a high security post on Dune Island, a remote community in the middle of Lake Michigan. So Alex leaves a promising career at the FBI to become Chief of Police on Dune Island in the hopes of getting to know her and finding out why she left him.
On the island, he meets and becomes attracted to Eleanor Engle. Eleanor and her father are scientists that do research for the army and live on the post his mother commands. But as their relationship develops, Alex discovers a secret about the Engles that his mother is sworn to protect, so their already strained relationship becomes even more so. The Ambassador’s Daughter is a deeply romantic, action-packed adventure that I hope will keep you turning the pages and reaching for tissues. It’s currently in the hands of my wonderful editor at TouchPoint Press and I hope it’ll be released before the end of the year. I’ll keep you posted on its progress.
Totally switching subjects, I discovered two wonderful vacation destinations this summer: Arches National Park in Utah and Taos, New Mexico. As its name implies, Arches features some 2,200 natural red-rock arches that are simply amazing to explore. The park has also been the setting for countless western movies featuring everyone from John Wayne to Kevin Costner. It’s hot as Hades in the summer, but you can drive through the park and pick highlights to explore at your own pace. Meanwhile, Taos has a robust artisan community and it's definitely worth spending a long day there. Two days are probably too much, unless you want to redecorate your home with some cool Southwestern art, in which case, staying longer is perfect. And by all means, check out the Catholic Church of San Francisco de Asis, built between 1772 and 1816, a really spectacular example of Colonial Spanish architecture.
Well, that’s all for now. Except to report I’m already outlining the plot of the next novel. Think, pre-World War II England and an expansive estate nestled in the lush countryside. More on this later and, as always, thank you for your interest and continued support!
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