The American Book Fest in Los Angeles announced their winners and finalists of the 2014 International Book Awards (IBA) on May 21st. Both mainstream and independent titles received top honors in this 5th Annual Program. The contest had over 1,200 entries from authors and publishers worldwide. In the over 80 categories, titles published between 2012 and 2014 were honored as finalists in the competition.
Novelist, Terry Persun had the rare distinction of having two of his books honored. His thriller, Hear No Evil has been nominated as a finalist in the category of Fiction: Science Fiction. And, Ten Months in Wonderland has been nominated as a finalist in the category of Fiction: Historical. Broadwayworld.com has a chance to interview Persun about his recent recognitions.
As a Science-Fiction novel, Hear No Evil has intriguing elements: a colony of scientists, a megalomaniac, an alien race...which will prevail? Persun talked about his inspiration for the book. "A question struck me one day while watching Ancient Aliens on Discovery Channel. What if we explore the galaxy and find no aliens comparable to humans for a long time. And, then we find them?"
Persun feels that the award is important to him for several reasons. "First, it's an international award, which means a lot. But, for the most part awards are important because your book has been selected from a large group of similar titles. It is validation, I suppose, and validation along the way is important as my career grows."
Persun has admired a number of authors that have received the award in the past including L. Ron Hubbard, Catherine Stine, Blaine C. Readler.
Persun looks forward to the future for his writings and his novels. "Like most authors, I hope that people continue to find value in them and read them, to recommend them to others, pass them along and get their libraries to have a few copies on hand. I could go on. The truth is that I love to write, and I'll continue writing novels I believe in."
For more information on Terry Persun and his novels, visit his web site at www.TerryPersun.com
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