I'm thrilled to be in great company at the 2016 Los Angeles Book Festival, which just announced the winners in its annual competition "honoring the best of world publishing."

The Soul Retrieval: A Novel was named runner-up winner in the Spiritual Fiction Category. Submitted works were judged by a panel of publishing industry experts using the following criteria: 1) General excellence and the author's passion for telling a good story, and 2) The potential of the work to gain a wider audience in the worldwide market.

The Soul Retrieval: A Novel is also a Book Gorilla and Amazon Deal today only! Check it out!

​Title: The Soul Retrieval: A Novel
Author: Ann W. Jarvie
Judge Number: 62
Category: Inspirational    

1-5 Rating based on 5 meaning "outstanding."

Structure, Organization, and Pacing: 5
 
Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar: 5
 
Production Quality and Cover Design: 5
 
Plot and Story Appeal: 5
 
Character Appeal and Development: 5
 
Voice and Writing Style: 5
 
 Judge’s Review/Commentary:

"Excellent sharing and explanation of Apache words and phrases throughout. Author has tremendous talent for weaving in a comfortable and realistic layer of language explanation, with great thought to making the reader comfortable with the language. Well done. Beautiful consideration of the reader and  complete handling of language and dialect. Impressive.

Excellent sense of movement throughout the book, in people and in objects and breeze. Author has a talent for writing movement, and especially excels at bringing dialogue scenes more to life with good character movement and gesturing. Well done.

Settings are well realized and layered, with plenty of sensory details so that each scene has a ‘home’ that we can see, and one that affects the characters’ mindsets just like our own environments affect our moods and interactions. Nice instincts by the author in this.

Some beautiful imagery throughout, such as the Walking Dead imagery/analogy in which it is said she is missing parts of her soul. Very intriguing concept, as most people would love an opportunity to reclaim or rescue the missing parts of themselves, something they think is essential for healing or for forward momentum. Excellent work.

‘You cannot heal what is not there’ is one of the best gems of the book, a true learning moment that sticks with the reader as a valuable take-away.
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Nice imagery of the ashes in the desert cleansed by the heat. This also brings comfort to the reader who may be dealing with grief, knowing that cleansing of what remains is still possible. Very nice."

​Thank you to everyone who traveled with me this year on a literary journey called, “The Soul Retrieval: A Novel.”
 
​It was a thrill and dream come true to see it launch successfully, receive positive reviews, be featured in book clubs, hit #1 on one of Amazon’s Best Seller Lists a couple of times, be listed right next to big-name authors and even win an award! I’m so grateful to you, my readers, reviewers, friends and family for supporting this labor of love, a long time in the making.
 
Here’s wishing you a Merry Christmas, kisses, hugs and a Happy New Year! And remember to dream big!