Hawaiian Author Wins Multiple Awards for Memoir About Growing Up Wild in Hawaii

June 25 06:47 2019

Jennifer L. Armentrout, a New York Times and International bestselling author, announced the winners of the 2019 annual IndieReader Discovery Awards (IRDAs) at Book Expo America (BEA)/Book Con, a major trade show in New York City. Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii by author Toby Neal, writing as TW Neal, won in the overall nonfiction category.

IndieReader launched the IRDAs in order to help worthy indie authors get the attention of top indie professionals, with the goal of reaching more readers. Noted Amy Edelman, founder of IR, “The books that won the IRDAs this year are not just great indie books; they are great books, period. We hope that our efforts via the IRDAs insure that they receive attention from the people who matter most: potential readers.

Sponsors for the awards include Amazon, IngramSpark, and Kirkus. Judges included notable publishers, agents, publicists and bloggers. FRECKLED received the following verdict by IndieReader’s reviewers: “Freckled: A Memoir of Growing Up Wild in Hawaii, reads like the best kind of novel: the characters are engaging, the plot moves along with heart-thumping briskness, and underlying themes have universal merit. Five stars!”

You can find the review and information about the contest at https://indiereader.com

Freckled is Toby Neal’s first memoir, though she has written more than thirty books in the mystery, thriller, romance, and YA genres, and her complete library can be found at tobyneal.net.

The IndieReader Discovery Award is the fourth award Freckled has earned. Other awards received so far are as follows:

• Gold Winner in Memoir/Autobiography for eLit Book Awards 2019

• Winner for Memoir in the 13th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards

• NABE Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Women’s Interest Winner 2019

Freckled is my personal Everest as a writer, and I’m so honored to have it recognized with critical, as well as reader acclaim. I love writing my Hawaii-based mystery thrillers, but I also wanted to take readers by the hand and bring them on an immersive journey to join me as I grew up on Kauai in a hippie surfer family in the 1960’s and 70’s,” says Toby. “Sometimes, the best stories are true.”

Kirkus Reviews says about the book, “Freckled is an affecting and riveting chronicle of a singular childhood that evokes the contradictions of hippie utopian ideals in an unspoiled Hawaiian landscape long since lost.”

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