Holy Hera! I woke up this morning to the news that Camelot’s Queen was named Fiction Book of the Year by Author’s Circle!

Plus, Been Searching for You was named a Novel of Excellence in the romance category. Whoa. (Imagine that in my best Joey Lawrence voice.)

The Author’s Circle awards are a division of Acorn Publishing. I found out about this contest when I saw a book advertised in the New York Times that had a finalist seal on it. I’m always interested in contests, so I looked it up. And the rest is history.

Holy hell! I am sooooo happy!

May 25, 2017Awards, Been Searching for You

Been Searching for You is a Stiletto Finalist!

Nicole EvelinaBeen Searching for You, contemporary, romance, RWA, Stiletto contest 2 Comments

Yes, this is the official symbol of the Stiletto contest.

Been Searching for You is a finalist in the Stiletto contest, sponsored by the Contemporary Romance Writers chapter of RWA! Here’s the full finalist list. We’ll find out who the winners are at the RWA national conference in Orlando in July. So happy I will be there to attend the party and receive my award!

May 16, 2017Awards, Camelot's Queen

Camelot’s Queen Named Best Second Book and Wins Gold in Fantasy

Nicole Evelinaawards, Best Second Book, Camelot's Queen, fantasy, gold medal, Next Generation Indie Book Awards 8 Comments

It’s public now, so I can officially announce that Camelot’s Queen was named Best Second Novel at the Next Generation Indie Book Awards and won the Gold Medal in the Fantasy category, just as Daughter of Destiny did last year!

After my debut novel being named Book of the Year by Chanticleer Reviews, I didn’t think I would ever see another accolade like that. But for Camelot’s Queen, which is my favorite book I’ve written, to be acknowledged as a second book means the world to me! Wheee!!!

May 15, 2017Awards, Been Searching for You, Camelot's Queen, Daughter of Destiny, Madame Presidentess, Reviews

Double Winner at the Midwest Book Awards + Discovering Diamonds Reviews

Nicole EvelinaBeen Searching for You, Camelot's Queen, Daughter of Destiny, Discovering Diamonds, fantasy, historical fiction, Madame Presidentess, Midwest Book Award, romance 1 Comment

Midwest Book Awards
I found out over the weekend that Daughter of Destiny won the fantasy category (Camelot’s Queen was also up for that award; I had 2 of 3 finalist slots) and Been Searching for You won the romance category at the Midwest Book Awards!

The winners were covered in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, which is my first mention in my hometown paper. (I didn’t enter the IPPY Awards that are also mention in the article. Those awards are of questionable value for their price.)

Discovering Diamonds Reviews
Plus, Daughter of Destiny, Camelot’s Queen and Madame Presidentess have all been honored with the Discovering Diamonds badge for outstanding indie historical fiction.

If you read nothing else, check out the review for Madame Presidentess. I wish everyone was as as enthusiastic about the book as this reviewer! Here are the links to the other reviews:

Other Big News
Daughter of Destiny reached #49 in the historical fantasy category on Amazon over the weekend, which is HUGE! It stayed there are all weekend and is still in the low 50s. Thank you to everyone who has bought it and spread the word among your friends, family and acquaintances. We will get to #1 yet, together!

And I know about two more awards, but I can’t announce them because they aren’t public yet.

May 1, 2017Awards, Been Searching for You

Please Vote for Been Searching for You in the RONE Awards

Nicole Evelinaawards, Been Searching for You, RONE awards, vote 2 Comments

Been Searching for You is up for voting this week in the RONE awards. Popular vote is what turns a nominee a into a finalist and gets her books in front of judges, so please vote.

You MUST be registered at www.indtale.com in order to vote for the RONE Awards, so please sign up now. It’s a simple process:

Register at www.indtale.com.
Click the verification link sent to you via email. (If you don’t verify, you won’t be able to vote.)
Don’t forget to vote at http://www.indtale.com/2017-rone-awards-week-three for Been Searching for You.

If you have any trouble, please email me at nicole [dot] evelina [at] att [dot] net and I will try to help you.

Voting is open all week, May 1-7. You can only vote once per registered email address. Thanks in advance!

April 18, 2017Awards, Been Searching for You, Camelot's Queen, Daughter of Destiny

Three Books Nominated for the Midwest Book Awards!

Nicole Evelinaawards, Been Searching for You, Camelot's Queen, Daughter of Destiny, Midwest Book Award 5 Comments

Can you tell we are in the height of contest season? That seems to be all I talk about here anymore. That will change, I promise. But not today.

I’m over the moon because THREE of my books are finalists in the Midwest Book Awards. What’s more, Daughter of Destiny and Camelot’s Queen are two of the three finalists in the fantasy category! Been Searching for You is a finalist in the romance category.

We will find out who wins on May 12.

April 17, 2017Awards

Please Vote for Camelot’s Queen in the RONE Awards

Nicole Evelinaawards, RONE awards, vote 2 Comments

I have two books up for RONE awards (sponsored by Ind’Tale Magazine) this year: Camelot’s Queen and Been Searching for You.

Camelot’s Queen is up for voting this week. Popular vote is what turns a nominee a into a finalist and gets her books in front of judges, so please vote.

You MUST be registered at www.indtale.com in order to vote for the RONE Awards, so please sign up now. It’s a simple process:

Register at www.indtale.com.
Click the verification link sent to you via email. (If you don’t verify, you won’t be able to vote.)
Don’t forget to vote at http://www.indtale.com/2017-rone-awards-week-one for Camelot’s Queen.

If you have any trouble, please email me at nicole [dot] evelina [at] att [dot] net and I will try to help you.

Voting is open all week, April 17-23. You can only vote once per registered email address. Thanks in advance!

April 12, 2017Awards, Books, Everything else

Update: Awards, Google Play, Writing and More!

Nicole Evelinaawards, Benjamin Franklin Awards, Chanticleer Reviews, Google Play, Ozma awards, RONE awards, Updates 4 Comments

Grinning like a fool, but I do love my awards.

Yes, I’m still here. Quick update for everyone.

What I’ve been doing

Traveling to the Chanticleer Author’s Conference (see photo) and visiting Seattle (OMG, that Pike’s Place Market…I would give anything to have something like that here!).
Writing on The Once and Future Queen, my debut non-fiction book tracing the evolution of the character of Guinevere from her Celtic roots to today.
Auditioning actresses to narrate the audio book version of Madame Presidentess.

Award updates

Daughter of Destiny and Been Searching for You took home Silver in their categories at the Independent Book Publishers Association’s (IBPA) Benjamin Franklin Awards last weekend.
Camelot’s Queen won First in Category (Mythic and Legendary Fantasy) in the Ozma Awards, sponsored by Chanticleer Reviews.
Camelot’s Queen and Been Searching for You are both nominees for In D’Tale Magazine’s RONE Awards. Voting starts Monday and I need your help to get into the finals. Look for a post on Monday with directions on how to vote.

One thing you can do now: You MUST be registered at www.indtale.com in order to vote for the RONE Awards, so please sign up today. It’s a two-step process: