For one Bunbury author, it was a dream come true when he got the call to say he had been awarded an international publishing award for his crime thriller.
Ian Andrew recently received the 2017 BookLife Prize for Face Value, the first installment of the Wright and Tran series of detective thrillers.
The former intelligence officer turned author said he didn’t think he had a chance in winning the prestigious competition.
“The top ten scores of each category progressed through to the quarter finals and when I got to that stage I was absolutely delighted,” he said.
“I can honestly say, hand on heart, I was thrilled that I had gotten that far.
“I was one of seven finalists up against everything from romance to memoirs.
“I’ve just been sitting, waiting patiently trying not to think about it and then to be informed that I had won - that’s just fantastic.”
One of the 2017 BookLife Prize guest judges and bestselling author Mark Dawson praised the book.
“Two unusual private investigators with classified backgrounds take on a seemingly straightforward case to track down missing parents,” he said,
“With taut writing, bone-crushing action, and a pace that never relents, this was a difficult read to put down and a worthy winner.”
Mr Andrew first began writing at the young age of seven.
“I’ve been writing all my life, I started with short stories and poems, I guess – it took me quite a while to get around to writing a book,” he said.
“My first book, an alternative history, received really good reviews both locally and internationally which gave me the confidence to sit down and think perhaps I can do this.
“I wanted to write a series of novels so I decided to write it based on two female ex-military intelligence operators.”
Since publishing the award-winning Face Value in 2015, 10,000 copies have already been sold worldwide.
Mr Andrew has also gone on to write the next two installments, Flight Path and Fall Guys, and hopes to write the fourth, Family Ties, in 2018.
“I was buoyed up by this book (Face Value) because it became the best-selling adult fiction title in Barefoot Books in Busselton in 2015,” he said.
“The support that a local independent bookshop like that can give authors is absolutely amazing and it was because of their support and the reviews people had given.
“That gave me the confidence to put it into a major international competition.”
Face Value is available now at Collins in Bunbury and Barefoot Books in Busselton.
