FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jeff Schwaner, Publisher
Broken Umbrella Press
jeff@brokenumbrellapress.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Winner Announced in Anubis Award for Horror
NEW AND ESTABLISHED AUTHORS COMPETE FOR INAUGURAL BOOK PRIZE
May 3, 2004--Broken Umbrella Press publisher Jeff Schwaner announced today the winner of the inaugural Anubis Award for Horror. Personal Demons by Gregory Lamberson was chosen by judge T. M. Wright as the winner. Personal Demons will be published as a limited edition hardcover and trade paperback by Broken Umbrella Press, with a publication date of October 31, 2004. The author also receives a $500 cash prize.
Wright also selected The Shadow People by Esther B. Schrader and Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustainis for Honorable Mention.
Schwaner says Personal Demons is especially appropriate for Broken Umbrella Press's first Anubis Award. "The book's strong themes, and the internal conflicts of the main character, would be at home in a literary novel, a thriller, or a ghost story."
T. M. Wright says of Lamberson's first novel, "What sold me on Personal Demons, from its first paragraph to its concluding pages, was the author's almost uncanny ability to mix characterization, plot and atmosphere into a heady, scary brew."
Wright called the novel "oddly new, its voice compelling and unnerving at the same time." While all three of the honored titles were well written, he said, Lamberson's book "so easily, almost effortlessly, dragged me into its world, made me feel as one with its people. That's something few novels--by first-timers or otherwis--achieve."
Lamberson said, "I'm honored to be the first winner of this award, and to have been selected by author T. M. Wright, whose work I've admired since the publication of his first novel, Strange Seed." Lamberson writes a monthly movie preview column for the Horror Writers Association newsletter, and has sold reviews and essays to Hellnotes and H. P. Lovecraft's Magazine of Horror. Personal Demons is his first novel.
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Wright also praised the work of the two honorable mentions: "Esther B. Schrader writes with style and wit; The Shadow People is a very mature piece of writing--quite impressive for a first novel. It held me in its not inconsiderable grip from beginning to end." And of Black Magic Woman's author, Wright notes, "Justin Gustainis possesses narrative powers that many seasoned writers would envy." Gustainis's novel The Hades Project (Brighid's Fire Books, 2003) was recently given a favorable review in Cemetery Dance, where it was described as a "welcome surprise."
"All in all, we had a great response from writers for this first Anubis Award, and the quality of the work was quite high," says Schwaner. "Numerous finalists have been published in one form or another since entering the contest, and we hope to keep information on their work on the new Broken Umbrella Press site as they continue their careers."
Personal Demons will be published in a limited edition signed hardcover and trade paperback. For more information, write to:
Jeff Schwaner, Publisher
Broken Umbrella Press
jeff@brokenumbrellapress.com