Mom’s Choice Awards: The Great Horse wins Gold

The opening book of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy, Eclipsed by Shadow, won Gold in the 2010 Mom’s Choice Awards for best family-friendly Young Adult Fiction.

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The Mom’s Choice Awards® evaluates products and services created for children, families and educators. The program is globally recognized for establishing the benchmark of excellence in family-friendly media, products and services.

The Legend of the Great Horse tells a story of real history without romanticizing violence, and it is a special honor for the title to be chosen and included with other titles meeting the Mom’s Choice criteria … “to help families grow emotionally, physically and spiritually…”

The explosion of self-published books has made curation increasingly important. The Mom’s Choice Awards are an example of new formulations in publishing, and a way for readers, parents and educators to find good books!

Eclipsed by Shadow: winner of 2009 Eric Hoffer Book Award for Young Adult Fiction

eric-hoffer-award-bannerThe first book of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy, ECLIPSED BY SHADOW, won the 2009 Eric Hoffer Book Award for best Young Adult Fiction.

The Eric Hoffer Book Award was founded with permission from the Eric Hoffer Estate, “to honor freethinking writers and independent books of exceptional merit.” Personally, my excitement and respect for the award’s purpose increased even more as I learned more about Hoffer’s work.

Eric Hoffer (1898–1983) was a quintessential American, a working-class philosopher, whose clear voice was grounded in the practical experience of the common worker. His most famous book is The True Believer (1951) which helped advance the study of mass-movements and fanaticism. Hoffer continued to write on a wide range of subjects:

Vaguely at first then more distinctly I realized that man is an eternal stranger on this planet. He became a stranger when he cut himself off from the rest of Creation and became human. From this incurable strangeness stems our incurable insecurity, our unfulfillable craving for roots, our passion to cover the planet with man-made compounds, our need for the city—a citadel against the encroachment of nature.”“—Eric Hoffer, Between the Devil and the Dragon

I am especially thrilled to receive this award. It still offers inspiration because the controversies of Eric Hoffer’s day are ongoing … ‘true believers’ everywhere still remain a threat. We have, in fact, come to a place of being at war with that very phenomenon. Hoffer’s original ideas have been expanded and built upon, and to be recognized by those in the path of such motivating ideas is a great honor.

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“It is the individual only who is timeless. Societies, cultures, and civilizations — past and present — are often incomprehensible to outsiders, but the individual’s hungers, anxieties, dreams, and preoccupations have remained unchanged through the millennia.”

Eric Hoffer’s writings are a reminder of America’s post-war promise … his stance is decidedly pro-civilization, and he was himself a champion of the city; this often makes his work rather startling to read against current culture.

Though it may seem his work is sometimes overlooked in current cultural narratives, America’s working-class philosopher has been a seminal influence on modern understanding. His ideas remain an inspirational source of American thought.

Hoffer’s writing is grounded in the tradition of an America proud of its working class, building and progressing to a better world for all: his strong views and observations in celebration of civilization and the common man are still bracing ideas in the world. Which is quite hopeful, really.

Eclipsed by Shadow nominated for Global eBook Award

Eclipsed by Shadow nominated for Global Ebook AwardsJohn Allen Royce’s debut title, Eclipsed by Shadow, has been nominated for a Global eBook Award in the Young Adult Fiction category.

Eclipsed by Shadow nominated for Global Ebook AwardsJohn Allen Royce’s debut title, Eclipsed by Shadow, has been nominated for a Global eBook Award in the Young Adult Fiction category. (see Press Release [PDF])

Eclipsed by Shadow is Book I of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy, a literary adventure about the colorful role of horses in civilization. The story begins the adventures of a modern rider carried back into history. The title has previously won national honors including the 2009 Eric Hoffer Book Award for best Young Adult Fiction.

The author, John Allen Royce, has lived “from sea to shining sea” in his native America, and now resides in Boston, Massachusetts. Over 20 years experience in competitive riding combined with the author’s passion for historical research to spark the idea for The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy.

“Everyone is talking about eBooks!” says the founder of the Global eBook Awards, Dan Poynter. “eBooks have reached the tipping point and are outselling books on paper in several categories. eBooks are not replacing paper books; they are in addition to.”

The Awards have 79 categories in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, illustration, and multimedia. The Global eBook Award winners will be honored at a star-studded ceremony on August 20 in Santa Barbara, California.

» Citation on TheGreatHorse.com

History at a Gallop: “Eclipsed by Shadow” wins 2009 Reader Views Literary Award

For Immediate Release
Contact: Robert Hall | Micron Press 617-301-2901

History at a Gallop: “Eclipsed by Shadow” wins 2009 Reader Views Literary Award

» See Reader Views Literary Award Review

BOSTON – The critically acclaimed first volume of a bold new trilogy about the history of horsemanship has won in the Fantasy category of the 2008 Reader Views Literary Awards. Veteran horseman John Royce has crafted a fast-paced literary journey through civilization’s earliest history that is gaining the attention of YA+ readers and educators.

Readers are transported to long-ago cultures through vivid characters and events. One does not have to be a horse enthusiast to recognize that horsemanship has been a central force of civilization, and Eclipsed by Shadow tells the history through a fun and engaging story. As the Award review states, “John Royce introduces us to one of those works you will remember forever.”

Since its publication in late 2008, Eclipsed by Shadow has received recommendations from Library Journal, Midwest Book Review and the Historical Novel Society as well as a growing list of excellent reviews from newspapers, Top Amazon reviewers and others.

“I believe a wholesome story can be a page-turning adventure,” says author John Royce, veteran horseman turned writer, “Horsemanship provides a colorful link to our human past, and that inspiration sparked an adventure which spans the arc of civilization.”

Readers and reviewers are finding this first book of The Legend of the Great Horse trilogy to be an authentic and engaging experience. In the words of a Top 50 Amazon Reviewer: “This sweeping historical fantasy should have an impact on its reader that penetrates far beyond the boundaries of the usual YA (Young Adult) novel. It teaches lessons about history & horsemanship, and what it really means to be ‘civilized.’ “

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Eclipsed by Shadow | The Legend of the Great Horse ~ Book I of III
By John Royce

ISBN 978-0-9724121-3-1
292 Pages, Softcover $15.95

ISBN 978-0-9724121-5-5
304 Pages, Hardcover $22.95

Micron Press
71 Prince Street, #35
Boston, MA  02113
(617) 301-2901

First Chapter, Bio, Press Kit, and more online at:  TheGreatHorse.com