2021 Book Award Shortlist

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

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.

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

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

Carol E. Anderson is a woman, writer, spouse, coach, and world-class friend who is grateful for the life she’s been given and ever curious about human beings and their purpose on Earth. She is also a former organizational change consultant with 35 years of experience in large and small corporations

Lisa Skinner is a behavior expert in the field of Alzheimer's disease and other related dementia. In the past 25+ years, Lisa has been a community counselor, a regional director of senior care facilities, a trainer, speaker and private adviser; helping thousands of families and caregivers understand

A Wall Street Journal bestselling author, Larissa writes the award-winning Cherry Tucker Mystery, Maizie Albright Star Detective, and Finley Goodhart Crime Caper series. She loves to tell funny stories about sassy, Southern women looking for love (and dead bodies) in all the wrong places. Her books

Toni Bird Jones’s love of adventure infuses her writing. She spent years diving in the Northwest’s Georgia Straits before moving to South Florida to pursue a life on the water. While living for over ten years in the sailing community of the Caribbean and delivering boats to the Lesser Antilles

Justin Warren is a high school teacher who has dreams of one day becoming a full-time novelist. His love for writing came when he picked up a copy of Michael Connelly's Blood Work, and couldn't put it down. Like Connelly, Justin's work has a strong sense of "place," transporting the reader into the

Patti Larsen is an international, multiple award-winning writer with a passion for the voices in her head. Now with over 150 titles across a multitude of genres in happy publication around the world, she lives on her beautiful island paradise, Prince Edward Island, Canada, with her abundance of

Hayley Louise Macfarlane hails from the very tiny hamlet of Balmaha on the shores of Loch Lomond in Scotland. Having spent eight years studying at the University of Glasgow and graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Genetics and then a PhD in Synthetic Biology, Hayley quickly realised that her long-term

Sarahlyn Bruck is the author of Daytime Drama (2021), which Kirkus Reviews called “A fun, frothy tale that will leave readers excited for a sequel.” Her debut novel, Designer You (2018) won the 2019 Indie Star Book Award and was included on the 2018 “35 Over 35” list. Sarahlyn grew up in California

Michelle Winkler was convinced by her husband to live in the Arizona desert. While skeptical at first, she realized if she could survive hitchhiking halfway cross country at 20 years old, spend eight years in the Navy, and raise two sons, as long as she had air-conditioning, she'd probably be okay

NICOLE BEA wears many hats in the writing community, from the editor-in-chief of an online literary magazine to acquisition editor with a small press. She has written several novels for middle grade through to adult audiences, and her poems and stories have appeared or are forthcoming in a variety

Siobhian R. Hodges is a Young Adult fiction writer based in Leicestershire UK, author of the supernatural thriller Killing a Dead Man and upcoming anthology Untitled Decade. She is now currently co-directing a music video for Killing a Dead Man. The song, “Witness”, is performed by singer-songwriter

Dr. Meadows is an Honors graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and studied at Duke University. He later held faculty positions at both institutions. He was recognized internationally for his work in cancer research, receiving both grants and awards; he authored numerous

Before publishing "The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon" Marcha Fox wanted to confirm her portrayal of Native American culture and the story's protagonist, Charlie Littlewolf, was accurate as well as not offensive in any manner. She was fortunate enough to find Pete Risingsun, an enrolled member of the

Jerry Furnell is a '56 model Englishman replanted in Australia in '58. He lives on the magnificent Gold Coast in sunny Queensland. A business owner and self employed for the last thirty years, this avid reader is semi-retired and writes most days. He supports and is supported by two beautiful women

Deborah has worked as an occupational therapist, a health service manager, a freelance journalist, and management consultant in health and social care. The Borrowed Boy, her debut, was self-published on 1st August 2020, after being shortlisted for the Deviant Minds Award 2019. Since publication, it

Laura Davis is the author of seven non-fiction books, including The Courage to Heal, Becoming the Parent You Want to Be and I Thought We'd Never Speak Again. Her groundbreaking books have been translated into 11 languages and sold more than 1.8 million copies. In addition to writing books that

Zarina Macha is an author, blogger, and musician born and raised in London, UK. She studied Songwriting and Creative Artistry at The Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) in Guildford. She regularly writes a social commentary blog titled ‘The Zarina Macha Blog.’ In her spare time, she loves reading

Nava R. Silton, Ph.D., a Developmental Psychologist, received her B.S. from Cornell University in 2002 and her M.A. and Ph.D. from Fordham University in 2009. Silton has worked at Nickelodeon, Sesame Workshop, and Mediakidz, and has consulted for Netflix, Blue’s Clues & You and The Autism Seaver

E A Carter is a multiple award-winning, Amazon #1 bestselling author of epic alternate historical fiction, sci-fi, and high fantasy love stories. Her newest release I, Cassandra came out Aug 26, 2021, a sci-fi drenched in the dystopian atmospheres of Blade Runner, Ex Machina, and Elysium. She is a

Peter Gajdics is an award-winning writer whose essays, short memoir and poetry have appeared in Huffington Post (Canada), Maclean’s, The Advocate, New York Tyrant, The Gay and Lesbian Review / Worldwide, Gay Times, Manhattan Book Review, and Brevity, among others. He is a recipient of several

Michele E. Gwynn is an award-winning Bestselling Author and former freelance journalist from San Antonio, Texas. She has worked in newspaper and contributed online to sites like Examiner.com, Yahoo Voices, and Salon.com. She has also worked as a senior editor for FashionErotica.com, written for Film

Claire Merchant is an Australian author and storyteller. She is best known for her collection of fantasy, contemporary, and romance novels set in fictional South Coast. In 2019, Claire won ‘Top Female Author’ in the Fantasy and Romance categories as voted by The Authors Show.

Born and raised at Porton Down in Wiltshire and currently working for the NHS in Salisbury, J A Higgins has always been fascinated by crime, history and the unexplained. 'A Long Time Burning' is the second in the Nell Montague mystery series. J A Higgins always wanted to write a paranormal themed

ANDREA WILSON WOODS is a writer who loves to tell stories, and a patient advocate who founded the nonprofit Blue Faery: The Adrienne Wilson Liver Cancer Association. Andrea is the CEO and co-founder of Cancer University, a for-profit, social-benefit, digital health company. With Cancer U, Andrea