SAN FRANCISCO BOOK FESTIVAL NAMES “G-VITES” FOR TOP HONORS


SAN FRANCISCO_ A handbook for “practical spirituality” is the grand prize winner of the 2016 San Francisco Book Festival, which honors the best books of the spring.

Author Patty Kogutek’s G-vites – Everyday Invitations from God (Spiritually Speaking LLC) explores how to establish or enhance a relationship with your creator while stepping away from the traditional path. The book reminds us that you don’t have to go to church to find God, who invites you to make connection with the divine through your everyday situations.

Part religious journey, part advice book, G-vites engages readers with a sense of humor and understanding about this oft-controversial subject.
Kogutek and other winners will be honored at a private dinner in San Francisco on May 28.

Other winners in the competition:

 

WILD CARD

WINNER: “The Dancing Delilahs” – Pamela Bauer Mueller

RUNNER-UP: “Tweeting Da Vinci” – Ann C. Pizzorusso

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • “Oink! A Food for Thought Mystery” – Judith Newton
  • “The Lobby” – Randi Sherman
  • “Oink! A Food for Thought Mystery” – Judith Newton
  • “The EvoAngel” – Ellen King Rice
  • “Walking to Woot” – Jackie Chase
  • “Report of an Expedition” – Dwaine Schuldt
  • “Boomer Tales” – LaRue Agresti



BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY

WINNER: “Good Morning Diego Garcia” – Susan Joyce

RUNNER-UP: “A Perfect Spy” – Francis Hamit

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • “Running for my Life – Winning for CMT” – Christine Wodke
  • “Nothing Ever Goes On Here” – Ellen Newhouse
  • “Surreality: Strange Tales of a Man Sitting Down the Bar From You” – J.D. Bradley
  • “A Connisseur’s Journey” – Dr. Jeffrey Lant
  • “Through the Woods” – Margie Mack
  • “Letters from a Soldier” – Susan Mowry
  • “The Sibold Effect” – J.D. Miller
  • “A Chick in the Cockpit” – Erika Armstrong
  • “Silent No More” – Christine Orenic-Ward



GENERAL FICTION

WINNER: “The Changing Season” – Steven Manchester

RUNNER-UP: “Dark Surf” – TC Zmak

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • “Please Hold” – Tricia Stewart Shiu
  • “Immigrant Soldier” – Kathryn Lang-Slattery
  • “Addiction” – Laurent Boulanger
  • “The Committee” – Terry E. Hill
  • “The Cruel Romance” – Marina Osipova
  • “Omar T in Monterey” – Deamer Dunn
  • “Fatal Seductions” – Lou Kiler/Mark Boyden
  • “The Worship of Walker Judson” – Janice Wittenberg
  • “Belle of the Ball” – Norman Keifetz
  • “Beleagured Truth” – William Messenger
  • “Creole Moon the Betrayal” – Suzon Holmes
  • “Preying Mantis” – Lyn Thomas
  • “The Money is Green” – Owen Sullivan
  • “Ember Days” – Mary Burns
  • “Four Ways to Pharoah Khufu” – Alexander Marmer
  • “And Face the Unknown” – CD Harper
  • “Remember the Ladies” – Gina L. Mulligan
  • “Forbidden Child III: Exposed” – James Aiello
  • “Sons of Eve” – Timothy Epupa
  • “The Screw of the Tern” – William Melville
  • “A Charleston Yankee” – Michael D. Mercurio
  • “Jet Trails: Looking for Blue Skies” – Maureen Sullivan Romagnoli
  • “Billie Valentine” – Penelope Kahler Swan
  • “Life is a Canvas” – Joy Elan
  • “Nonno the Wine Maker” – Phil Scrima
  • “The Water Master” – Betsy Dickinson
  • “The Lilac Bush is Blooming” – Jan Surasky
  • “The Sting of the Blue Scorpion” – Russell Pelton
  •  “How the Mighty Fall” – E.J. Chadwell



BUSINESS

WINNER: “Inside Content Marketing” – Theresa Cramer

RUNNER-UP: “Sell Your Business for An Outrageous Price” – Kevin Short

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • “Letters to my Child’s Guardian” – Virginia C. Antipolo-Utt
  • “Report of an Expedition” – Dwaine Schuldt



POETRY

WINNER: “Paradise Drive” – Rebecca Foust

RUNNER-UP: “Reverberations” – Charles Rawlings

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • “There’s a Ghost in this Machine of Air” – Iris Dunkle
  • “Bringing Home the Moon” – Mary Lou Taylor
  • “Come Fly with Me Through the Gift of Words” – Wendy Brooks
  • “Elephant Raga” – Prartho Sereno
  • “Murm-rings of the Heart” – Olivia Villa-Real



GENERAL NON-FICTION

WINNER: “The Longest Trail” – Roni McFadden

RUNNER-UP: “Tesserae: A Memoir of Two Summers” – Matthias B. Freese

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Erotic Integrity – Claudia Six, PhD
  • “Secrets of the Kashmir Valley” – Farhana Qazi
  • ‘Wandering in Cornwall” – Joanna Biggar
  • “Lost Angel Walkabout” – Linda Ballou
  • “Happy Chasing Happy” – Jerome J. Isip



COMPILATIONS/ANTHOLOGIES

WINNER: �All Visions of Blind Love� � Cynthia Benson

RUNNER-UP: “That Time of the Month” – Melanie Vare

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • “Writing America” – Shelly Fisher Fishkin
  • “Tales of Our Lives/Fork in the Road” – Matilda Butler
  • ”Signs of Passing” – Owen Thomas



CHILDREN’S BOOKS

WINNER: “The Reading Promise” – Troy Kent

RUNNER-UP: Samurai: A Feral Kitten’s Journey to Find a Home” – Rosemary Wood

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • “Have You Filled Your Bucket Today? -10th Anniversary Edition” – Carol McCloud
  • “The Little Leaf That Wouldn’t Fall” – Phil Scrima
  • “The Ship Captain’s Tale: Counting Adventure” – V.A. Boeholt
  • “Bugglepuffs and the Magic Quest -PART I” – C.L. Bennett
  • “In Your Hands” – Hank Leo, Jr.
  • “Exploration of Commander Josh – Book I” - Donna LeBlanc
  • “Oh! The Things You Can See in the Dark” – Cathleen Francisco
  • “Lucky Penny and the Little Dark” – Dennis Maloney
  • “La Familia Cool El tesoro mas valioso – Dania Santana
  • “Meet the Kids in Room 22” – Ron Hughart
  • “The Family Tree: The Night of the Storm” – Laurie Copmann
  • “Cosmic Chaos” – Carole Marie Shelton
  • “Ruben’s Tales from the Jungle” – Dr. Audrey L. Lynch
  • “Hatfield and the River Winding Way” – Marc Tilson



HOW-TO

WINNER: “Quantum Inventing” – Stephen Malak

RUNNER-UP: “The Savvy Bride’s Guide” – Alicia Young

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • “Be Your Own Brand of Sexy” – Susan L. Edelman MD
  • “Dynamite Resume” – Suzon Holmes
  • “How to Survive the Worst That Can Happen” – Sandy Peckinpah



YOUNG ADULT

WINNER: “Imperfect” – Claire Fraise

RUNNER-UP: “Clean” – Mia Kerik

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • “Dreamcatcher” – Ann Curtin
  • “S.A.V.E.D.” – Tony C. Spears
  • “Circulus de Potentia” – Jim West
  • “The Darkest Legacy: Hints of Betrayal” – Jennifer Lynn Catz
  • “Changed in the Night” – Mary Ann Easley
  • “When the Music Stops – Dance On” – Paddy Eger
  • “Emotional Map of Los Angeles” – edited by Keren Taylor
  • “Hair in All The Wrong Places” – Andrew Buckley
  • “The Carlswick Conspiracy” – Sheryl Beaumont
  • “Help Me!” – Donna Zadunajsky



HISTORY:

WINNER: “Law and Order at the End of the Oregon Trail” – Ken Bilderback

RUNNER-UP: “Orchids of War” – Denise Frisino



SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS

WINNER: “G-vites: Everyday Invitations from God” – Patty Kogutek

RUNNER-UP: “Why is the Dalai Lama Always Smiling?” – Lama Tsomo

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • “The Life & Times of Carlos Castaneda” – William Patrick Patterson
  • “God’s Light” – Dr. Rick Scarnati
  • “Connor’s Chance” – Lisa D. Young
  • “Shopping with the Virgin Mary” – Kermie Wohlenhaus
  • “Adam Without Eden” – Samuel C. Walker
  • “You Don’t Die – You Just Change Channels!” – Chuck Swartwout
  • “Philosophy of Fearism” – Limbu Desh Bahadur
  • “I Was Told” – Robert M. Little “Boom”



PHOTOGRAPHY/ART

WINNER: “Living Mollusks” – Charles Rawlings


GAY

WINNER: “The Middle Man” – Gregory A.  Kompes

RUNNER-UP: “Three Loves” – Graceann K. Deters

HONORABLE MENTION:

  • “And Then There Were Three” – Julia G. Fox

 


COOKBOOKS

WINNER: “The Candida Cure Cookbook” – Ann Boroch, CNC


SCIENCE FICTION

WINNER: “Cool Brain” – Paul Black


RUNNER-UP: “Old Earth” – Gary Grossman


HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • “The Maiden Voyage of the Destiny Unknown” – Nicholas Ponticello
  • “The Wolf Moon” – Nikki Broadwell
  • “Gar’s Curse” – Nicole Higgins



UNPUBLISHED

WINNER: “Innocent Crook” – David Rogers

RUNNER-UP: “Turkey Day Trauma” – Karen Hutchinson