FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22, 2022/ Contact: Laurel Anne Hill/ laurelannehill@gmail.com
Local Author Wins Again!
Laurel Anne Hill, born in San Francisco, receives national recognition
through the INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD®!
(Orinda, California) — The INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD recognized Laurel Anne Hill’s most recent fantasy novel in the category of cross genre as a Distinguished Favorite (silver award). Also, the anthology she edited on behalf of California Writers Club (CWC), San Francisco Peninsula Branch, won gold in the anthology category. Both books were published by Sand Hill Review Press in San Mateo, CA. Sixty-plus years ago, while an impoverished student at San Francisco’s Polytechnic High School, Laurel had entered every essay contest she could. She’d won enough money to pay for four years of tuition and books at San Francisco State. “All these years later,” Laurel said, “I’m delighted to be able to inform our CWC anthology contributors—a few of them first-time published authors—that they ALL are now “award-winning” authors and poets.
In 2022, the INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD had entries worldwide. Authors and publishers from countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Jordan, New Zealand and Switzerland participated. Books submitted included writers based in cities such as Anchorage to Memphis; from Berkeley to Philadelphia; Calgary to Sydney; from Albuquerque to New York City; from Princeton to Santa Monica as well as others.
“We are thrilled to be highlighting key titles representing global independent publishing.” said awards sponsor Gabrielle Olczak.
The INDEPENDENT PRESS AWARD competition is judged by experts from different aspects of the book industry, including publishers, writers, editors, book cover designers and professional copywriters. IPA Award Winners and Distinguished Favorites are selected based on overall excellence.
Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846, by Laurel Anne Hill is a historical fantasy novel with its roots in magical realism. In 1846 Alta California, Catalina Delgado daydreams about her future: roping cattle, marrying Angelo Ortega and raising children. But now, invaders from the United States—the Bear Flaggers—have declared war against Mexico, her country. Bear Flaggers have imprisoned one close friend of her family and murdered others. What fate might befall her parents, grandfather and younger brothers? And what about her best friend, a Costanoan servant girl? How can Catalina, only sixteen, help protect all those she loves?
The spirits provide Catalina with answers, but not ones she wants. Plus she fears the strange spirit man who rides a black Andalusian stallion through the sky. For the sake of all she holds dear, Catalina must risk her reputation as a chaste young woman, her future with Angelo, her life and her very soul. When hopes and dreams clash with cold reality, Catalina finds the fortitude to accomplish what only she can do.
Fault Zone: Reverse, an anthology for which Laurel Anne Hill served as Editor-in-Chief, consists of a total of 47 pieces of short fiction, short creative nonfiction and poetry. Topics range from a cross-county hitchhiker sleeping with San Francisco Pigeons to old-growth oak trees plotting against humans who have despoiled their California valley.
For more information please visit independentpressaward.com; and to see this year’s list of IPA Winners and Distinguished Favorites, please visit the website pages: https://www.independentpressaward.com/2022winners
https://www.independentpressaward.com/2022distinguishedfavorites
About the Author
Laurel Anne Hill—author and former underground storage tank operator—grew up in San Francisco with more dreams of adventure than good sense or money. Her close brushes with death, love of family, respect for honor and belief in a higher power continue to influence her writing and her life. Laurel classifies her recently-published third novel, PLAGUE OF FLIES: REVOLT OF THE SPIRITS, 1846, as historical fantasy/magical realism. This book relates the gripping tale of a young Latina in Mexican Alta California during the early days of the Bear Flag Rebellion. Her second novel, THE ENGINE WOMAN’S LIGHT (a spirits-meet-steampunk adventure set in an alternate 19th Century California) has won a total of thirteen honors and awards, including a Kirkus Star. So far, PLAGUE OF FLIES has received the Distinguished Favorite award from IPA, plus four honorable mentions from other competitions and some terrific reviews. Laurel is the author of over thirty published short stories and many short nonfiction pieces, including one scientific paper. She also serves as Secretary for the Polytechnic High School Alumni Association. San Francisco closed Polytechnic fifty years ago. Laurel swears that the spirits of her beloved husband and her Mexican ancestors (especially her great-grandmother, a poet, who immigrated from Mexico to San Francisco around 1860) continue to inspire her writing. More information at https://laurelannehill.com.