YvonneIt is a genuine pleasure and privilege to announce that one of my reviewed books, by a new and aspiring author in the world of YA fantasy writing, has won a prestigious and national award in the USA, with his debut book.
THE AWARD
The ‘Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards’ is an annual event, now in its sixth year, designed to bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and to support childhood literacy and life-long reading. Awards are given in categories covering the full range of subjects, styles and age groups that children’s books are written and published in today.
The contest is designed to honour the year’s best children’s books, authors and illustrators. The 2012 Moonbeam Awards program is open to authors, illustrators, and publishers of children’s books written in English or Spanish and intended for the North American market. All 2011 and 2012 copyrights and releases are eligible.
The judging panel includes experts from the fields of editing, design, reviewing, bookselling and library.
Gold, silver and bronze medals will be awarded in each category. Gold, silver and bronze award seals will be available to all in their appropriate award levels. Each winning book receives a medal, a personalized certificate, and 20 sample seals.
Awards for 2012, will be presented during the third annual Traverse City Children’s Book Festival in early November, in Traverse City, Michigan.
‘Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards’
“Celebrating youthful curiosity, discovery and learning through books and reading”
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THE WINNING AUTHOR … Pre-teen fiction – fantasy
Richard Due, knew from an early age that he enjoyed story-telling, although he never set out to write YA fantasy, with his initial decision being to write science fiction noir, and science fiction short stories.
He first imagined the Moon Realm while telling bedtime tales to his children and once the idea for the series entered his head, he had no choice but to get it into print, although he is eternally grateful that it didn’t demand to be written in first person, because he is the first to confess that he just doesn’t have the skills to write epic fantasy in first person.
‘The Moon Coin’, the first episode in ‘The Moon Realm’ series, did not come easily and with some major reworking of the storyline necessary before Richard was happy with the adventure and its outcome, some six years had past from inception to publication.
Following some difficult encounters with various publishers and editors, Richard took the brave step of setting up his own small press and self publishing ‘The Moon Coin’ as an ebook. He now has the distinction of being the founder of ‘Gibbering Gnome Press’, a division of Ingenius Inventions Run Amok, Ink.
Richard currently hails from Southern Maryland, a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US, where he is also the co-owner of ‘Second Looks Books’
‘The Moon Coin’ has now successfully transitioned into print, with the second episode of the series ‘Dragondain’, flowing much more easily for Richard and already available as a Kindle edition, with the print edition well on its way to publication.
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THE WINNING BOOK … ‘The Moon Coin’
For Lily and Jasper Winter, the Moon Realm began with a single secret bedtime tale. As the children grew older, Uncle Ebb enthralled them with thrilling tales of the Dragondain riding horse-sized, catlike Rinn; mysterious tales of peerin-wielding lunamancers manipulating the magic that lies just beneath the surface of reality; exciting tales of flying dragons, swimming merfolk, stomping giants, and troublesome faeries. But as the magic of their childhood faded, so too did the tales. Eventually, they were just . . . good stories.
Or were they?
Now, nine years after it all began, Uncle Ebb is missing.
Lily and Jasper search for clues, but their uncle’s mansion is full of distractions. A Tesla generator thrums in the basement. Prismatic electrimals flit around walls resembling underwater reefs. Then a most unexpected friend comes to their aid, leading them to a hidden room where they find a mysterious coin—the moon coin. Before the night is out, Lily is transported to the real Moon Realm. But the moons are in trouble. The Rinn of Barreth are under siege, and the lunamancers of Dain are beset by the very dragons they once loved. Most horrifying of all, the moon Darwyth has fallen to a villain named Wrengfoul, whose creeping evil now threatens to overshadow all the Realm.
Are Lily and Jasper too late to save the Moon Realm, or will they have enough time to write an ending of their own?
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Congratulations on your well deserved success, Richard!!
My thoughts about ‘The Moon Coin’ can be read here.
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I have also heard from Richard about this well deserved award and you have taken my plans for a post right out of my hands, mouth or what ever. My post would just seem like plagiarism after reading this so If you do not mind I will be much more brief than intended and just send readers over here!!
Hi Linda,
It is good to have you back after your blogging break, I hope that all is well with you?
It has been so long since Richard emailed me with the news of his success, that I had assumed that I would probably be the latest in a long stream of bloggers publishing a post congratulating him.
It most certainly won’t be construed as plagiarism if you want to publish a post about the award, at least not by me anyway! After all, your review and comments were as pivotal to the book’s success, as anyone else’s!
Anyway, whatever the technicalities, it is wonderful news for Richard and he is understandably thrilled with his success. I have ‘Dragondain’, the second installment of ‘The Moon Realm’, sat in my TBR pile, however I am not sure how long it is going to be before I get to read it.
I checked out Richard’s website earlier and see that he is well on the way to getting ‘Dragondain’ out in print, so I can only assume that things have progressed well for him and that, after his initial experience of releasing a book to the marketplace, he has learned some valuable lessons and the second book has progressed much more swiftly and smoothly.
I wish him well in all his future endeavours.
Thanks for taking the time to stop by and I hope that you are enjoying your weekend.
Hi Yvonne, All is well in our part of the world, thanks as I hope it is in yours also. What a coincidence that we both decided to post about Richard’s honour at the same time. I am holding mine back till Monday now, as you beat me to it and have shortened it but linked to this great tribute of yours. Thanks also for calling by and commenting on my Travel Tales blog much appreciated. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, we have glorious autumnal warmth and sunshine so making the most of it while it lasts.
Hi Linda,
All is well down here in our corner of deepest Somerset, although torrential downpours have seen flooding misery for many, especially down towards Devon.
The weather today has taken a decidedly mild turn, which is forecast to last into next week, although I have to say that sunshine is a very limited commodity!
We are off to the local music theatre shortly, to see Stacey Kent in concert. We are both great jazz fans, so her annual performances are much awaited. I have posted the link, just in case you fancy checking out her music.
http://www.staceykent.com/
Take Care
Congratulations to Richard. The Moon Coin sounds wonderful and it is impresive that the author self published it and acheived such great success with it.
Hi Naida,
Richard, I am sure, will be so pleased with everyone’s messages of congratulations about his success with ‘The Moon Coin’, the first book in ‘The Moon Realm’ series.
It sounds as though it was a real labour of love, to get everything about the book, just as he wanted before deciding to publish. Then to face more struggles with the publishers themselves was just the last straw, so Richard decided to opt for self publishing, which has obviously been very lucrative and successful for him, helping him to secure this well deserved award in double quick time.
I just can’t help but smile every time I read the name of Richard’s publishing company … ‘Gibbering Gnome Press’, a division of Ingenius Inventions Run Amok, Ink. It is just so original and unforgettable, that anyone who has read and enjoyed ‘The Moon Coin’, certainly won’t forget the name when the next installment of the series ‘Dragondain’ comes out in print.
Thanks for visiting and your usual lovely comments, I hope that all is well with you.
Yvonne, I think I need spell checks in the comments section…lol…either that or it’s just too early in the morning for me to be commenting 🙂
**impressive
**achieved
Hi Naida,
I am constantly having to go back over posts and replies on other reader’s blogs, to correct all the spelling errors, although I generally never notice them until right after I have hit the ‘send’ button!!
I am not sure whether my hands work more quickly than my brain, my brain works more quickly than my hands, or neither work very well at all either independently or together!!
I still love to hear from you though, so the odd slip of the finger isn’t that important in the scheme of things!!
Excellent news! Congratulations to Richard Due! 🙂
Hi Nikki,
I think that with the vast array of children’s books on the shelves these days, such great success with a debut book, is really quite something, especially after the book took so long for Richard to get exactly right and into a position where he was completely happy with it.
Obviously Richard’s tenacity and attention to detail has paid off and I am sure that ‘The Moon Coin’ is just the start of a very successful series for him. The second book in the series ‘Dragondain’, was obviously much more ‘free flowing’ for him, as it has appeared on Kindle in less than a year and, as we speak, the print edition is on the drawing board and well on the way to being finalised.
It is good to speak with you again and hope that your are well. Thanks for taking the time to visit and comment, I appreciate it.
I love hearing about a children’s book being honored. Congratulations to Richard Due! Will be looking for this book to give to the children in my life.
Hi Vicki,
There are just so many children’s books out there in the marketplace, that to win a distinction with your first book is surely a great achievement.
This definitely looks set to be a fantastic collection of stories for children (and adults) of all ages. Book two ‘Dragondain’ is already out on Kindle, with the print edition not too far behind.
The books are also liberally interlaced with illustrations, which are excellent and so full of life and colour, only adding positively to the overall reading experience, especially for those younger readers.
I don’t think that any of your young readers will be disappointed with the series.
Thanks for stopping by, your time and comments are always appreciated.
PS. I haven’t heard anything from the tour promoter about my win of ‘Primal’ by Deborah Serra …. any ideas?
What fun that you recognized the brilliance of this author before he won the prize.
I started a new France meme and I hope you’ll play along. Here’s My Dreaming of France meme
Hi Paulita,
I have to say, that for someone who wouldn’t read fantasy books on a regular basis, I thoroughly enjoyed ‘The Moon Coin’ and am looking forward to reading the second book in the series, ‘Dragondain’.
Richard has worked long and hard for his success, taking his time to perfect the story, until he was completely happy with it and then taking the brave step of self-publishing, in order to get things done in exactly the way he wanted.
I couldn’t be more pleased for him and proud of his success!
I am off to check out the link you left now, so thanks for stopping by, your visit is appreciated.
Well spotted, it must have been so exciting to learn of this award going to one of the books you had reviewed.
Hi Tracy,
I have to confess that Richard emailed to let me know that he had won the award. He was suitably excited about the honour and deservedly so and I must admit that I was more than pleased to have reviewed ‘The Moon Coin’ and of course to have a quote from my review used in the testamonials on the book’s cover.
I have the second book in ‘The Moon Realm’ series, ‘Dragondain’, in my reading schedule, so I am looking forward to another great adventure.
Thanks for commenting, I always appreciate your visits.