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THE PROSPECT OF MY ARRIVAL did not take the top prize of the book deal with Penguin, but amazingly it did make the Top 3 Novels in the Amazon contest! I'm currently seeking agent representation.

My novel is set in the near-future when the first baby will be allowed to preview the world before he chooses to be born. During the baby's short stay on earth, it gets to meet some of the best and worst specimens mankind has to offer.

That's Top 3 out of 5,000 novels from around the world. Unbelievable. These books were selected by editors of Penguin Group USA. I was flown to New York with the two other finalists, Harry Dolan and Bill Loehfelm, for the awards dinner and to meet Mazon and Penguin folk. They put us up at a swanky hotel, the Gramery Park Hotel. Had a great steak dinner.

Though the contest is over, you can presently still read the opening chapters of my novel. Go to amazon.com/ABNA. I am busy at work on revisions to my novel based on all the great feedback I got from the over 140 Amazon. com customer reviews and the various experts, including Publishers Weekly.

MY CONTEST PRIZES HAVE ARRIVED

FROM HEWLETT-PACKARD

Here's an image of my new

laptop with a large screen

and Windows Vista inside.

And a gorgeous 42" flat screen TV. Movie nights, anyone?

I also get a new color laserjet printer. Thanks, HP!

Key Date Contest Milestone

January 15, 2008 Up to 1,000 Semi-Finalists announced. I made it.

Amazon customers can download, rate, and review excerpts on Amazon.com, providing feedback to Penguin Editors about submissions, and read Publisher's Weekly reviews of the full manuscripts

February 19, 2008 Top 100 Semi-Finalists announced. I made it.

Penguin Editors reading Top 100 manuscripts to pick the 10 finalists

[Amazon customers continue to download, rate and review excerpts ]

March 3, 2008 Top 10 Finalists announced. I made it!

April 1, 2008 Top 3 Finalists announced: Dwight, Bill and Harry.

[Amazon customers vote to pick the winner]

April 7, 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award winner announced.

Bill Loehfelm's FRESH KILLS wins the top prize and the

book deal with Penguin. Congrats, Bill.

Below is the PUBLISHERS WEEKLY review of my entire manuscript, from the opening chapter to the closing one. (All the other reviews in the Amazon contest are of just the opening ten pages of my novel.) Publishers Weekly is considered the final word in the publishing industry and is an independent organization...so a rave review from PW is a true honor.

"In Chicago of 2025, the experimental Pre-Born Project at the Infinity Medical Center has inserted the consciousness of a fetus into the unoccupied body of a 30-year-old man, who will visit seven Referrals before deciding whether he chooses to be born. In lesser hands, this odd premise might have veered into political diatribe or slapstick. Instead, the protagonist, called Prospect, takes the reader on an engrossing and moving journey into the meaning of life, filled with fresh observations and memorable characters.

Addressing the reader with a voice that skillfully blends innocence and wisdom, this latter-day Candide discovers unexpected connections among his Referrals and lands in jeopardy that keeps the pages turning until its satisfying and touching conclusion."