“Falling Through the Night,” an autobiographically-inspired novel by Vermont resident Gail Marlene Schwartz, has been selected as this year’s National Indie Excellence Award winner in the LGBTQ fiction category. The novel explores the complicated journey of healing trauma and learning how to love. Schwartz will speak at NEK Pride in Newport, Vermont on Sunday, June 23.
An established leader in writing contests, the National Indie Excellence Awards are open to recent English language books in print by independent authors and titles published by small to medium sized imprints across all genres. Winner and Finalist awards are determined primarily by a book’s written content coupled with the various informational, functional, and designed elements that comprise a publication. NIEA
Jurors analyze each title using specific standards and metrics ultimately reaching a final consensus after lengthy individual review.
“Falling Through the Night “(Demeter Press) tells the story of Audrey Meyerwitz, who wants to fall in love and have a family. But for this queer 30-something insomniac who’ s struggled with Generalized Anxiety Disorder since childhood, it’ s a goal that’s far from simple. When best friend Jessica, a recovering alcoholic, helps introvert Audrey with a profile on SheLovesHer, Audrey takes that scary first step toward her lifelong dream. Through online dating, immigrating to Canada, and having a baby with Down Syndrome, she struggles and grows. But when Audrey unearths a secret about her mother, everything about her identity as a mother, a daughter, and a person with mental illness ruptures. How do we create closeness from roots of deep alienation? With humor, honesty, and complexity, Audrey learns that healthy love means accepting gains and losses, taking off the blinders of fantasy, and embracing the messiness that defines human families.
The novel is available online and at select local bookstores.
— from a NIEA press release
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