2022 Book Award Finalists

Allison was born and raised in Taiwan and arrived in the U.S. at twenty-two as a university student. That’s when she realized her school English wasn’t much help when asking for directions on the street or opening a bank account. By recording each of the classes she took––including physical

Valeria Aloe is a speaker, award-winning author, and founder of the Rising Together Movement, a global community with the mission of driving economic inclusion and closing the leadership and wealth gaps for Latinas and other women of color. Through in-culture talent development programs, Rising

P.J. Roscoe is the international award-winning author of historical, paranormal novels and the 'Adventures of Faerie folk' series for young children. Her latest award, January 2021, winning the best Women's Fiction at the Firebird Book Awards was yet another reason for readers to find her work and

Megan is a long-time resident of queer romance and keeps herself busy reading and writing it. She is often accused of fluff and nonsense. When she’s not involved in writing, she likes to cook, harass her wife and cats, or watch movies. She loves to hear from readers and can be found all over the

Better known for being an awesome father, devoted husband, impassioned employee, and candidly, being way too impressed with himself; Ron Randall has been in love with words from a very early age. He whiled away entire seasons exploring the worlds of Tolkien, Donaldson, Kurtz, Eddings, Anthony

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

Cristina started her career as a newspaper reporter for L’Eco di Biella and La Provincia di Biella, in Piedmont, Italy. After a spell running the press office of an MP, she moved to London, where she worked for several years as a public affairs and media relations professional, advising major

John Espie holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing, as well as a few other "higher up" pieces of paper for less interesting matters. In addition to spending the past 25 years as a public educator, he has roamed the corridors of Hollywood, broken his left arm on a snowboard, gotten lost while

T. L. Coughlin is a dreamer. One who loves to imagine and explore new worlds. As a child, she would often get in trouble for staying up until the bright hours of the morning to read books. She would consume novels upon novels, jumping from one land to the next. Her hope is to deliver that same

Cathy Hayward trained as a journalist and edited a variety of trade publications, several of which were so niche they were featured on Have I Got News for You. She then moved into the world of PR and set up an award-winning communications agency. Devastated and inspired in equal measure by the death

JP McLean is a bestselling author of urban fantasy and supernatural thrillers. She is a Global Book Award winner, a CIBA finalist, and has received honours from the Eric Hoffer Book Awards, the Wishing Shelf Book Awards, the NIEA Awards, and the Whistler independent Book Awards. JP is a graduate of

Ian Conrey is both a teacher and student of history and theology, who actively fights against human trafficking and is working toward an M.A. In his free time, he enjoys reading biographies and ancient mythology, discovering early American folk songs, and exploring the Cohutta Wilderness. He lives

I moved to Manhattan straight out of college because my sister lived there and I could crash on her couch. Six years later (after a quick jaunt in London), I moved to Los Angeles, where I wrote a lifestyle column for the website Examiner.com. When I struggled with pregnancy, I did what I always do

Battalion Chief David Hollenbach (retired) is the author of “Fireproof: Your Grand Strategy for Transforming Failure into Fuel for Your Future.” He is a motivational speaker, coach, and mentor. He owns and operates David Hollenbach Consulting, LLC, and hosts the popular podcast “From Embers to

Victoria Gemmell lives in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Her debut Young Adult mystery thriller novel Follow Me was published by Strident Publishing Ltd. in 2015, with her second (stand-alone) Young Adult mystery Promise Me independently published in October 2021. Victoria also writes contemporary flash

Ragini Elizabeth Michaels Transformation Leadership Coach, Behavioral Change Specialist, Mindfulness/Consciousness Mentor, Author Ragini is the founder of Facticity® Trainings, Inc., a training and consulting company established in 1988 offering certification training in Paradox Management, Neuro

35 year old indie author of paranormal, fantasy, historical fiction/fantasy, and steamy romance. My characters are quirky and meddlesome, and I thrive on lavish and flowers descriptions. When not writing I'm working in the medical field as a workers compensation specialist. I read, take walks, play

I've always loved creative writing and one of my earliest memories is being sent to the headmaster to receive a commendation for a comic book I wrote. For most of my life, I worked in offices writing training and technical manuals. In my spare time, I would be starting (but rarely finishing) science

Dan Rice pens the young adult urban fantasy series The Allison Lee Chronicles in the wee hours of the morning. The series kicks off with his award-winning debut, Dragons Walk Among Us, which Kirkus Review calls, “An inspirational and socially relevant fantasy.” While not pulling down the 9 to 5 or

Bob Palmer has been, in chronological order, a construction worker, town planner, rock drummer, graphic designer, award-winning adman, entrepreneur, scriptwriter and movie producer. He gets bored easily. In his spare time, he's been caught in a Utah desert flash flood, set off the alarms at Area 51

Autistic author Nicole Adrianne is a full-time volunteer, cat lover, and tech enthusiast. She lives in Stockholm, Sweden, with her four cats. When she’s not busy creating lush dystopian worlds, she’s probably cooking an adventurous new recipe, learning a foreign language, reading a thrilling novel

Jessica lives in a small suburb of Minneapolis with her husband and their four children. In addition to her full-time day job and occasionally moonlighting as a birth doula, she has discovered an interest in writing and hopes to find more time to work on the projects endlessly mulling around in her

Joel B. Randall graduated from Brigham Young University–Idaho in December 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in communication (an emphasis in news/journalism) and an English minor. As a former tutor with his university’s writing center, Joel has a deep appreciation for English grammar and aspires to

Jinny Uppal is no stranger to driving contrary and innovative thinking. Uppal’s 20+ years of experience driving transformational growth by challenging existing norms in business is key to her success working with Fortune 500 telecom, ecommerce and retail companies. As a business and tech growth

Laura West is a Registered Nurse, energy healer, intuitive, and psychic medium dedicated to both the sciences and spirituality. She has taken part in multiple international spiritual summits, has taught about intuition on several virtual platforms to students from all over the world, and has been

MADELEINE D’ARCY is a fiction writer based in Cork City, Ireland. Her linked short story collection, LIBERTY TERRACE, was published by Doire Press in October 2021. Her début short story collection, WAITING FOR THE BULLET (Doire Press, 2014), won the Edge Hill Readers’ Choice Prize 2015 (UK). In 2010

Julie Carrick Dalton’s debut novel WAITING FOR THE NIGHT SONG was named to Most Anticipated 2021 book by CNN, Newsweek, USA Today, Parade, Buzzfeed, and others, and was an Amazon Editor’s Pick for Best Books of the Month. As a journalist, Julie has published more than a thousand articles in

Author Barbara Pinke loves to create stories and spice them up with adventure and fun – especially if it involves discovering new places! Born and raised in Hungary, Barbara later moved around Europe and currently lives in Germany with her family.

Dan Pontefract is the founder and CEO of Pontefract Group, a firm that improves the state of leadership and organizational culture. He is the best-selling author of four books: LEAD. CARE. WIN. How to Become a Leader Who Matters, OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT and FLAT ARMY. A renowned speaker

Dan Pontefract is the founder and CEO of Pontefract Group, a firm that improves the state of leadership and organizational culture. He is the best-selling author of four books: LEAD. CARE. WIN. How to Become a Leader Who Matters, OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT and FLAT ARMY. A renowned speaker

Joel Shoemaker has been a librarian for a decade and a magician for three! He lives in central Illinois with his husband and his dog, Maximus. He consumes an inordinate amount of cheese.

I am a concert flutist and the founding artistic director of Mistral Music, a chamber music series which is known for its virtuosic artists, imaginative programming, and the personal rapport we establish with our audiences. (www.MistralMusic.org) In earlier years, I was a busy freelancer, performing