IWPA Member Gen LaGreca Wins Literary Award
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 23, 2006--The Writer's Digest 13th
international book awards has just honored first-time fiction writer and
Chicago-based author Gen LaGreca with one of the most sought after awards in
the publishing world for her dramatic novel NOBLE VISION. This book
competition celebrates small press publishers and is sponsored by Writer's
Digest magazine, considered the bible for up-and-coming writers. NOBLE
VISION won honorable mention in the category of mainstream fiction.
This first novel of Genevieve (Gen) LaGreca, a former pharmaceutical chemist
and healthcare writer, was one of the top six picks in a field swamped with
hundreds of submissions. The announcement comes in the current March 2006
issue of the nation's leading magazine for writers. In a letter to LaGreca,
Writer's Digest editor Kristin Godsey observed, "Competition was
particularly fierce this year, so your accomplishment is truly impressive."
NOBLE VISION is the love story of a beautiful Broadway dancer whose life is
shattered by a tragic accident and a young neurosurgeon determined to save
her. The ballerina's only hope is a revolutionary new procedure the surgeon
has developed to repair damaged nerves. The treatment, however, does not
have the required approval of their state's health system, a bureaucracy
bogged down with cost overruns and other politically motivated priorities.
The doctor must ultimately risk everything to fight for his work and the
woman he loves.
According to Writer's Digest, "The author seems to know a great
deal about
the medical profession and the issues surrounding it. The novel is dealing
with some of the most serious issues of our day, and this lends the story an
immediacy and vibrancy. The author's prose is polished and professional. The
book reads like the work of an experienced author."
NOBLE VISION's all-too-accurate portrayal of today's real threats to quality
healthcare earned endorsements from medical leaders, including Edward Annis,
past president of the American Medical Association, and Jane Orient,
executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons.
The novel also garnered praise from magazine magnate Steve Forbes, Nobel
laureate Milton Friedman, and syndicated columnist Walter Williams.
NOBLE VISION was published in 2005 by Winged Victory Press, a Chicago-based
independent press formed by LaGreca and her associates. "We're dedicated
to
publishing works that inspire freedom and independence," said LaGreca.
Winged Victory Press will also publish the author's second novel, a
semi-finalist in the Pirate's Alley William Faulkner Creative Writing
Competition.
This emerging Chicago author lives in the booming Near South, the city's
fastest-growing neighborhood. She just completed the screenplay of NOBLE
VISION, which made semi- and quarter-finalist in several contests, including
the acclaimed Phoenix Film Festival/Arizona Screenplay Search. She is now
honing her script with the aid of a Hollywood screenplay coach and senior
instructor at UCLA Extension's internationally known Writers Program.
The Writer's Digest award comes to LaGreca at the kick-off of Small
Press
Month, a nationwide celebration of independent publishers. The March 2006
industry-wide event is sponsored by Kurt Vonnegut, the American Booksellers
Association, the Independent Book Publishers Association and other
publishing leaders.
NOBLE VISION, a novel by Gen LaGreca;
Available to the trade from Biblio Distribution, Ingram, Baker & Taylor;
6X9 inches; 352 pages;
Hardcover: ISBN 0-9744579-8-1, $27.95;
Softcover: ISBN 0-9744579-4-9, $14.95;
High resolution COVER IMAGES and AUTHOR'S PHOTO are available at
www.wingedvictorypress.com under
"Downloadable Images."
CONTACTS:
Winged Victory Press
Ruth Green or Gen LaGreca, 800-844-2114
IWPA is the state affiliate of NFPW, an organization that offers networking and professional development, is dedicated to professional excellence and the highest ethical standards in the communications field, and to the rights and responsibilities of the First Amendment. More information about IWPA can be obtained by calling the Illinois Woman's Press Association Hotline, 312.458.9151, or visiting the Web site www.iwpa.org.
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