2021 Book Award Finalists

Bryan Crosson grew up in Frederick, Maryland and was commissioned as a Marine Corps officer after graduating from The Citadel. He served as a military advisor in Sangin District, Helmand Province, Afghanistan as a part of Operation Enduring Freedom. After the military, Bryan completed his MBA at

Scott Semegran is an award-winning writer of eight books. BlueInk Review described him best as “a gifted writer, with a wry sense of humor.” His latest novel, The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island, is about four middle school friends who sneak away to an abandoned lake house to evade the wrath of

Brian O'Hare, MA, Ph.D., is a retired assistant director of a large regional college of further and higher education. He is married, has three children, ten grandchildren, one great-grandchild. He plays golf three times a week and does a lot of voluntary work. Any writing he has previously done was

Justin & Alexis Black are both proud foster care alumni, college graduates, serial entrepreneurs and speakers. Together, they’ve published an award-winning, bestselling book titled Redefining Normal: How Two Foster Kids Beat The Odds and Discovered Healing, Happiness and Love that has impacted over

Kathleen Jae has been writing in one form or another for almost twenty-five years. Her greatest success story is her daughter, Katie, whom she refers to as “my hero,” and their journey is chronicled in Kathleen’s first book, From Prompting to Shaping to Letting Go: My Love Affair With ABA and How

Ian Graham is an author, screenwriter, and entrepreneur with an interest in politics, history, and religion. The stories and characters he writes about are centered on the explosive conflicts created when the three intersect. He is a firm believer in being yourself … unless you can be Batman. Always

Devyn Bakewell has a natural drive for equality and making a difference in the lives of others. She has worked toward her BA degree in English and minor degree in African studies at Howard University and continues to be an advocate for change based on this experience. She is known for her activist

Study dominated P.D. Blackwell’s early life: theology, ancient languages, physics, and astronomy. A variety of incidents early in his life led him down that bookish, spiritual path. His time away from study has taken different turns: martial arts, backpacking, guitar playing, photography, digital

Seth David Branitz has been writing and recording songs as Seth Davis since 2001. He’s the winner of multiple Moth Story Slams and Woodstock StorySlams. He’s read his personal essays to thousands and is a painter, father, began chef and restauranteur. His first book, The Trouble With Kim, is

Ruth Badley is an author, speaker and ghost writer with a background in drama, education and journalism. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and worked in secondary and further education before establishing a successful career as the arts editor and features writer for a

Emma lives with her husband Darren, two young children Toby and Chloe and fur baby Arthur in Devon. Lawyer by day, representing nurses, she is now an author by night, inspiring patients having written and shared her story following an unexpected breast cancer diagnosis in 2019. Throughout treatment

Colette Sartor grew up a nice, New Jersey Italian girl looking to escape the trajectory expected from nice, New Jersey Italian girls: marriage, three-kid minimum, Sunday mass followed by a sit-down dinner for the entire extended family that she alone would cook, serve, and clean up. After fleeing to

Lilianne Milgrom is an internationally acclaimed artist and author. She was born in Paris, grew up in Australia, and now lives in the United States. In 2011 she became the first artist authorized by the Orsay Museum in Paris to copy Gustave Courbet’s infamous L’Origine du monde (The Origin of the

N. B. Hankes is a writer, scientist, and combat veteran. He is the founder and director of the Veteran Artist Residencies nonprofit, which provides paid artistic residencies for post-9/11 veterans. He lives in the Pacific Northwest. Hankes is currently working on a manuscript entitled, The Tao of

M. A. Fréchette writes the darker side of romance. Being an extremist, she loves both the dark aspects of life and everything sweet. All her stories are either set in Canada where she lives or in alternate worlds she made up while living within her imagination. When not writing, she thinks of the

Randall Krzak is a U.S. Army veteran and retired senior civil servant, spending almost thirty years in Europe, Africa, Central America, and the Middle East. His residency abroad qualifies him to build rich worlds in his action-adventure novels and short stories. Familiar with customs, laws, and

Dixon Reuel is the author of "Rise of One - Blood Brute Series #1" She writes about vampires, zombies, and other SFF elements at dixonreuel.com. She has been runner-up in The Patrick Kavanagh Poetry Award, The James White Award, and The Aeon Award. She was awarded a residency at The Tyrone Guthrie

My first book, SUDDEN WIDOW, A True Story of Love, Grief, Recovery, and How Badly It CAN Suck! recounts my happiest and most trying times as a wife and widow. This debut memoir offers validation, support, and even humor to help other widows and widowers navigate life after tragic loss. I am a

JT Salen is an award-winning author who resides in the suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her passion for storytelling comes to life in her debut contemporary romance novels of the Stillwater Series. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, watching

Arjay Lewis: actor, magician, and multi-award-winning author. I have spent my life as an entertainer, amusing people as a street-performer in the 1970s; a Broadway and casino artist in the 1980’s; a party performer in the 1990s and 2000s; a cruise ship performer in the 2010s. Stories have always

Rachael Clarke is a former police officer turned stay-at-home-mom living in Portage la Prairie, MB, with her sport-aholic husband, two mischievous kids, and dog. She's always working on a little bit of a lot, which includes her first novel, and writing/illustrating children's books. Rachael also

Bethany writes because it's the one thing she can't stop doing. She loves exploring stories and the different worlds and characters that live in them. And with all the books she read growing up, it was inevitable she would write some of her own. Author of The Girl Gingerbread in the Woods of Winter

Author of AMR Series. See mikehilliet.com for details.

Corina Douglas lives at the bottom of the world in the paradise of New Zealand. She is mother to four crazy kids and wife to a wonderful husband. When she isn’t kiddo wrangling or running her editing business, Burning Legacies Publishing, she can be found exploring the forest, doing that stretchy

Corina Douglas lives at the bottom of the world in the paradise of New Zealand. She is mother to four crazy kids and wife to a wonderful husband. When she isn’t kiddo wrangling or running her editing business, Burning Legacies Publishing, she can be found exploring the forest, doing that stretchy

Corina Douglas lives at the bottom of the world in the paradise of New Zealand. She is mother to four crazy kids and wife to a wonderful husband. When she isn’t kiddo wrangling or running her editing business, Burning Legacies Publishing, she can be found exploring the forest, doing that stretchy

K.N. SALUSTRO is a science fiction and fantasy author who loves outer space, dragons, and stories that include at least one of those things. When not writing or working at her day job, she runs an Etsy shop as a plush maker and makes art for her Redbubble shop, both under the name DragonsByKris.

Laurie Holding lives with her husband in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, USA, a village not at all like the Greenwich Village described in her first solo cozy mystery, Planted on Perry Street. She is the author of two children's books, Tyrion's Tale and Tyrion's Town, both about her dog Tyrion who is a

I am a nineteen year breast cancer survivor and my paying profession is Technology Project Manager. I wrote the first draft of my memoir, Perfectly Negative, after being impacted by my employer’s downsizing effort and it turned out to be the best thing that had ever happened to me up to that point

Julie Hall is a USA Today bestselling, 12x award-winning author. She writes YA paranormal / fantasy novels, loves doodles, and drinks Red Bull, but not necessarily in that order. Julie's daughter says that her super power is sleeping all day and writing all night... and well, she wouldn't be wrong

Alan David Pritchard is a multi-award-winning novelist, playwright, poet, and creator of poetry videos/films. His novel, ‘The Pebble Champion’ was the WINNER of the Best Book Award at the Miracle Makers International Film and Writers’ Festival, 2021. In addition, it received an HONORABLE MENTION at

Lewis Kempfer published his first book, "Don't Mind Me, I'm Just Having a Bad Life: A Memoir," in September 2019. The book has won four awards: the 2021 IndieReader Discovery Category Award for LGBTQ+ Non-Fiction; the 2020 Gold Medal from Literary Titan; and the 2021 and 2020 Silver Medals from