2023 Writing Award Finalists

Page Turner Awards is delighted to announce our 2023 Writing Award finalists, shown in random order!

Please join us in congratulating these rising stars by leaving them a comment at the bottom of their finalist submission. Click 'see more' to read their submission. And you can also congratulate the finalists in our forum.

Wherever you see duplicate faces, it's not a mistake, those writers are to be applauded for having more than one submission reach the finals!

Find entrants by adding a first name or surname into the search box below, don't search for the submission title.

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Amanda Poll for "Beth Death"
Genre: Young Adult

Hi! I'm Amanda and I live in London, UK. :) Having spent ten years working as a Barrister in Criminal Law, I live and love all things crime! Hence all my books have a strong crime element, based on murder cases I prosecuted and are embedded with twists and conspiracies. As I have teenage children

Amanda Poll for "Stay And Watch Me Die"
Genre: Young Adult

Hi! I'm Amanda and I live in London, UK. :) Having spent ten years working as a Barrister in Criminal Law, I live and love all things crime! Hence all my books have a strong crime element, based on murder cases I prosecuted and are embedded with twists and conspiracies. As I have teenage children

Bruce Franchi for "The Duneboys"
Genre: Suspense & Thriller

I live in the Philadelphia suburbs with my wife, two young children, and mischievous yellow lab. I am a high school social studies teacher with a background in United States government and a great affection for Revolutionary-era history. I wrote this book because in this age of international

Tracey Shillito for "Throwing Starfish"
Genre: Suspense & Thriller

I was born into a working-class family in the North of England. My family on my father's side are Romany Gypsies who lived a travelling lifestyle. Education wasn't a priority in my family but I was fortunate in that I attended a grammar school which enabled me to get a university education. I have

Julia Galosy for "The Bequest"
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Thirty years experience as a behavioral scientist served me well to write of people facing life's challenges. My writing encompasses a novel, flash fiction & short stories. My thanks to my collaborator, Tino Juarez, for giving me the idea for Dodge City Dude my first Irish comedy. Currently I am

Sylvia Bluck for "The Ministry of Time"
Genre: Historical Fiction

I've been writing fiction for five years and I've just finished my first novel which began as a story told around a campfire, imagining walking into the woods and out into a different time. What might happen? Who would you meet? What would you do? At first, it was an an exciting story to tell the

Stevie Turner for "Tina's Diary:1997"
Genre: Paranormal & Supernatural

Stevie Turner is a British author of Romantic Suspense, Humour, Paranormal, and Women’s Fiction (family dramas). She won an inter-schools' essay competition at the age of 11, and this gave her encouragement to write further. She has now written 15 novels, 6 novellas, 1 memoir, and 18 short stories

John Davis for "Reluctant to Lead: Overcoming Fear of Failure"
Genre: Creative Non-Fiction

Steve conveys perspectives and emotions in poems and songs. His draft memoir, Galvanized, tells how he overcame timidity as an air cavalry officer in the Vietnam War. A tuxedo cat from a shelter encourages him from a perch over his PC keyboard. Steve assists disabled veterans in getting government

Jennifer Newbold for "On Wounds of Woe"
Genre: Historical Fiction

Author of "The Private Misadventures of Nell Nobody," and "On Wounds of Woe," Jennifer Newbold came to fiction writing from a historical perspective, with a belief that history can be immediate and relevant, and that fiction can be a means to making history accessible. But fiction can do so much

Eric Vasallo for "The Mysterious Disappearance of Colby Blue"
Genre: Sci-Fi

I am an LGBT son of Cuban immigrants. My experience of being a double minority (queer & latinX) and son of a national psychologist radio host/author for Latin Americans (Dr. Isabel Gomez-Bassols) taught me to have a high level of compassion for others. My mother has consistently used her national

chris berg for "THE BLEEDING"
Genre: Crime

Chris Berg and Paul James Smith are award-winning authors who craft crime thrillers inspired by true events. The retired police detectives are former partners and lifelong friends. Their partnership has yielded critical acclaim, including a Claymore Award and recognition as Pageturner Award

Kevin Neill for "A Cypress Tree Has No Shadow"
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

I recently completed a 20-year career in public health. Prior to that, my life varied from a period spent in the military as a United Nations Peacekeeper in the Middle East to employment as a refugee relief worker in a camp for Bosnian Muslims in Croatia. To date, excerpts from my novel, A Cypress

Len Cobb for "Cemi Precious"
Genre: Suspense & Thriller

Len Cobb is an emerging author and recovering structural engineer. He has completed one novel and is polishing his second. Len lives in Puerto Rico with his wife, two dogs, and three paddleboards. When not writing or stuck in his day job, he can be found surfing small waves or bicycling. He is not

Julie Weary for "Crazy"
Genre: Women's Fiction

My work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, The Christian Science Monitor, Writer’s Digest and Family Circle. A Pushcart Prize nominee, I won the Grand Prize in the annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition and received a Finalist Award in Prose from the Illinois Arts Council. I graduated with a

Darrell Bowling for "All's Lost in Love and War"
Genre: Action Adventure

Darrell Bowling, after a career in corporate aviation spanning fifty-five years, I now follow my favorite pastime, storytelling. With a thirty-year history as a pilot, part-time dealer, and pit boss for Nevada casinos, my background lends me to a life most only dream of. An old Chinese proverb reads

Robin Korb for "The Other Half of Me"
Genre: Childrens Middle Grade Books

I was born in Wisconsin, raised in Southern California, then moved back to Wisconsin, where I’ve lived for the last 35 years. Having four seasons instead of two has been one of the many benefits of living in Northwestern Wisconsin. So is living in the country, because I get to enjoy its beauty and

WILLIAM KAUFMANN for "Radical Contact"
Genre: Sci-Fi

My first published novel was “The 2nd Coming of Orlando Rock,” a 2023 Page Turner Finalist. “Radical Encounter” was also a 2024 Page Turner Finalist and continues the Orlando Series. Earlier work includes the Hummingbird Short Story Contest Editor’s Choice Award for “The Bruised Peach.” Even before

Alicia Doyle for "Magic in Her Blood"
Genre: Fantasy

Alicia Doyle is a voracious reader and lover of large cups of tea. Taking her love of the written word a step further, she published a small collection of her poetry in 2021 and had the pleasure of having one of her short stories published in the online magazine, Short Fiction Break, in 2022. In

Tom Gaisford for "THE MUSE & THE MOLE"
Genre: Romance

Tom Gaisford is a barrister in the field of immigration and asylum law, and a freelance contributor to The Independent, The Tablet and Open Democracy. In 2021, he froze his practising certificate and moved with his young family to Guernsey, where he has since completed his first novel, SANCTUARY

B. Romero for "Me."
Genre: Horror

B. Romero is a writer, teacher, student, wife, mother, activist, and everything in between. Writing has been her passion since a young age and she is also a lover of all things horror. When she is not writing, B. enjoys reading, gaming, and watching horror movies. During school hours, you can catch

Philip John for "Memoirs of a Gambler"
Genre: Memoir

A Welsh poet and author from the Rhondda Valleys, Philip M John graduated from the University of South Wales in 2014 before working and living across the border in Bristol. He has since returned to Wales and now resides in Monmouthshire. Philip has published four volumes of poetry – Home Truths

David Imrie for "The Lost Piece"
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

David Imrie is a British author and literary editor who lives in Galicia (NW Spain). His two novels to date are 'The Lost Piece' and 'Ghosts' (both 2024). Born in Oxford in 1973, during his childhood David's family moved first to Dorset and then to Thurso in the Scottish Highlands, where he went to

Mikey Jackson for "Disordinary"
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Mikey Jackson is a versatile scriptwriter and novelist from the seaside town of Worthing, near Brighton, United Kingdom. The first ten pages of his novel Disordinary made the final shortlist in the Page Turner Awards 2024. His debut play Cruel was performed at Etcetera Theatre, Camden Town, London

Katherine Powlett for "Between Us"
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Katherine writes about fundamental human choices – how to live, how to die, whether to create a new life or remain child-free–and what happens when people who love each other are in conflict over those choices. She lives in North Norfolk and was once a lawyer.

Erin Swann for "Awakener"
Genre: Sci-Fi

Erin L. Swann is an avid home cook who has taught visual art for eighteen years in Central Maryland. She recently became an online writing instructor for Authors Publish and has given several free online lectures through them as well. Her work appears in numerous anthologies and publications

Kate Ker for "Slender As The Willow"
Genre: Non-Fiction

At last, I am retired and can concentrate full-time on writing. Inspired by my work as a psychotherapist, my novel, Raven's Wing, is now complete and is submitted here. It's very loosely based on a true story and set in 1980s Scotland, during the final years of the large psychiatric hospitals and

Meg Gaertner for "THE FORGOTTEN"
Genre: Young Adult

I am a managing acquiring editor of middle grade and young adult fiction for Jolly Fish Press and Flux, the author of several children’s nonfiction and fiction books, a 2019 Pitch Wars mentee, and a graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program at Antioch University L.A.

Meg Gaertner for "THE VOID HAS NEON EYES"
Genre: Young Adult

I am a managing acquiring editor of middle grade and young adult fiction for Jolly Fish Press and Flux, the author of several children’s nonfiction and fiction books, a 2019 Pitch Wars mentee, and a graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program at Antioch University L.A.

Meg Gaertner for "A VERY STRANGE ENCHANTED"
Genre: Young Adult

I am a managing acquiring editor of middle grade and young adult fiction for Jolly Fish Press and Flux, the author of several children’s nonfiction and fiction books, a 2019 Pitch Wars mentee, and a graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program at Antioch University L.A.

Meg Gaertner for "WIND RIDER"
Genre: Young Adult

I am a managing acquiring editor of middle grade and young adult fiction for Jolly Fish Press and Flux, the author of several children’s nonfiction and fiction books, a 2019 Pitch Wars mentee, and a graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing program at Antioch University L.A.

eugene AUCOIN for "You and God - a Unique Friendship"
Genre: Christian

Eugene Aucoin is a published author whose first book won Asia’s Best Book of the Year in Theology in 2020: The Cardinal Sin Award. His book, "Has Science Killed God? – Three Powerful Ideas that Will Reignite your Faith" (Manila: St Pauls’ Books, 2019), was also published in French in Canada in July

eugene AUCOIN for "The Beatitudes - Eight Steps to Inner Peace and Happiness "
Genre: Christian

Eugene Aucoin is a published author whose first book won Asia’s Best Book of the Year in Theology in 2020: The Cardinal Sin Award. His book, "Has Science Killed God? – Three Powerful Ideas that Will Reignite your Faith" (Manila: St Pauls’ Books, 2019), was also published in French in Canada in July

Masha Shukovich for "THE TASTE OF NAMES"
Genre: Contemporary Fiction

Masha Shukovich (she/they) is a writer, poet, storyteller, folklorist, teacher, independent scholar, and intuitive chef with ancestry and indigenous roots in the Balkans; the Mediterranean; and West, Central, South, and Northeast Asia (Siberia). She is a mother, demigirl, neurodivergent person

Karen Milner for "Devil's Claw Bay"
Genre: Suspense & Thriller

I have always written and though I have never been published, I’ve been placed in many writing competitions: most recently I have been longlisted in the CWA’s Debut Dagger, The Yeovil Literary Prize, Flash 500 Novel Comp, The Joan Dempsey First Chapter Contest and shortlisted in The Retreat West

Sophie Neville for "LOVE IS FOR THE BRAVE"
Genre: Historical Fiction

After gaining a degree in Anthropology, Sophie went into television production directing her first documentary for Channel 4 when driving from London to Johannesburg. Having produced an INSET series for BBC Education, she set up wildlife films in Botswana and a BLUE PETER exploration of South Africa

Karin Maatman for "The Second Choice"
Genre: Young Adult

Karin is an autistic mathematician, and writer of (cosy) science fiction, fantasy and thrillers. After twelve moves within the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and the UK, she settled in the Garden of England (a.k.a. Kent). As a writer/reader, she is passionate about diversity – any kind – but, more