I’ve known this for a couple of months, but I can finally announce that Endemic has won first place in genre fiction from the North Street Book Awards. They say my story about a neurodivergent book editor overcoming childhood trauma in the viral apocalypse is a “fresh twist“ in apocalyptic fiction.
In addition to a cash prize and various goodies, I received a nifty T-shirt and a certificate.)
This is Endemic’s fourth win. It previously received a Literary Titan Award and first place at both the Hollywood Book Festival and the New York Book Festival.
One of the (possibly dubious?) benefits is a critique of the book via the judges. Note the huge difference in tone between the ominous word “critique” and the glorious word “review.”
For the most part, the critique is delighted and delightful. I had to giggle at one piece of commentary wherein a judge suggested she would have enjoyed Endemic even more if it were a completely different book. Also, in my estimation, the suggestion of a different cover would have hurt the novel. But these are niggles. Reading between the lines, it’s easy to appreciate how different readers will see a narrative through their particular lens . Obviously, they loved Endemic overall.
Congratulations to all the winners! You’ll find them all listed here.