The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy Wins a 2011 IPPY Award Gold Medal!

A future world only heartbeats from our own

Author Sandy Nathan has just won the the 2011 IPPY (Independent Publisher) GOLD MEDAL FOR VISIONARY FICTION for her sci-fi /fantasy / visionary fiction novel, The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy. The IPPY Award Contest is one of the largest and oldest competitions for independent presses––in fact, it may be the oldest and largest.

Sandy says, “Winning this award feels very good. It marks almost four years of work by myself and my publishing team at Vilasa Press. I want to thank my content editor, Melanie Rigney; my book designer, Lewis Agell; Kathy Grow for copy editing and proofreading assistance; and Kathryn Agrell for writing the cover copy. Many thanks also to my husband, Barry Nathan for keeping Vilasa Press organized and moving forward.”

This is the fourteenth national award Sandy Nathan has won with her four books. She has won two Silver Nautilus Awards, and a Bronze and Silver IPPY Award in previous contests. She was a Benjamin Franklin Award Finalist, and has won several Indie Excellence and Best Book (USA Book News) Awards. “It feels good every time. A pat on the back for work well done.”

The Angel is the first book of Tales from Earth’s End, a series of books about people literally at the end of the earth. In the case of The Angel, that “end” was a nuclear holocaust coming the next day. Later books explore new definitions for earth’s extremity.

The award came at a particularly difficult time. The day before being notified of her win, Ms. Nathan’s horse, Tecolote, had to be euthanized. “I have been grieving deeply the last few weeks. My horse’s heart was failing and  the veterinarians couldn’t stop it. When I lost that beautiful buckskin horse, I thought my heart would fail. Here’s his story, Tecolote: The Little Horse That Could. Teco’s story has already won a the 2011 Silver Nautilus Award for Children’s Nonfiction (grades 1-6) in its own right.

“The day after we put him down, I won a national award! I guess that God’s just telling me that it’s not over until it’s over. And that happiness and sadness can exist together.

“If you haven’t read The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy, I invite you to do so. It’s available in a number of formats.”

AMAZON:
Trade Paperback
Kindle 99 cents. Such a deal!

BARNES & NOBLE.COM
Trade Paperback
Nook Book 99 cents. Such a deal!

SONY READER BOOK
I’m told by my distributor that the book is available, but I couldn’t find it. Please keep checking. It should be 99 cents.

iBook
iBook store for the iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad  99 cents. Yet another great deal for an award-winning book!

Here’s some information about The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy, if the book is new to you:

The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy is Sandy Nathan’s new science fiction/fantasy novel. Of the special genre of books and films that include 1984, A Brave New World, and The Prisoner Series,  The Angel takes the reader to a dark future world that’s not so different from our own. In the late 22^nd century, people are continually watched, disappearing off the streets and from their homes. A shadowy but all-powerful government calls the shots; war rages while the authorities proclaim the Great Peace.

All is not bad in this fictional realm, for the angelic extraterrestrial, Eliana, appears on the streets on New York City on a mission to save her planet.  As radiant and pure as the world around her is tarnished, Eliana must find the Golden Boy. He turns out to be Jeremy Edgarton, a tech genius on a planet where technology is outlawed, a revolutionary, and the FBI’s most wanted. They find themselves caught up in an explosive adventure when Jeremy decodes new transmissions and discovers that a nuclear holocaust will take place the next morning.

The themes of The Angel read like pure sci-fi, but author Sandy Nathan explains, “I’m a former economist. While the love story between Jeremy and Eliana enchants, the back-story––the hideous world around them––is the product of my economist’s mind interacting with current events. We’re in the worst economic melt-down since the 1930’s, with no end in sight. Some events in  The Angel are based directly upon history. For instance, Germany’s economic distress during the Great Depression is one factor contributing to the rise of Adolf Hitler. Could a totalitarian government arise from our current conditions? Maybe.  The Angel’s world is just a heartbeat from our own. In writing  The Angel, I wanted to entertain my readers and challenge them to discover solutions.”

So the book has a vision, a powerful vision, and a dark vision. And it’s also got a love story that will melt your heart. The sequel is well into production. Something to look forward to.

All the best,
Sandy Nathan

Ridin’ high!