Another award for "The Cielo"

When I opened the big envelope from Writer's Digest yesterday, I thought it would be my renewal notice. Instead, it was notification that "The Cielo" had won an honorable mention in fiction in the magazine's annual International Self-Published Book Awards. Wow!

While the official announcement won't be made until next April, I looked at the list of 2006 winners and found that there is one first-place award and then four honorable mentions. There were about 450 entries last year.

The judge's comments were also included:

"This was a lovely story about a time and place that I know little about, but find intriguing. You did a wonderful job of bringing this place to life. I loved all the details about what day to life was like, both in Sant'Antonio and the Cielo. I also thought you had a great premise and you pulled it off beautifully--that this mixed group of villagers were trapped together in this house and were forced to learn about themselves and each other over the months they were stuck together. Each villager had a compelling issue to deal with, but my heart went out to poor Maria. I knew nothing about the massacre at Sant'Anna and it was horrifying. You do a nice job of building up the tension, telling us from the start that the Nazis are willing to kill innocent civilians as retribution for the acts of the partisans. I also found Gina very compelling, and I mourned for Carlotta, but was glad she had Lucia and her baby. It was impossible to put this book down."

The award is $50 of Writer's Digest books of my choosing.

So that makes two first-place awards and two honorable mentions for a book I just wanted to write.