The opening screen of the animation that Geneva High School senior, Sarah Kennedy, submitted on the way to winning the 2014 Emma Mebane Magnificent Machine Award. See the complete 1-minute video here.
The winner of the 2014 Emma Mebane Magnificent Machine Award (EMMMA) has been announced. On Wednesday, May 14th, during the Senior Awards Program at Geneva Community High School (in Geneva, Illinois), Sarah Kennedy was recognized as the third annual winner of the coveted “magnificent machine” award. For the 2014 award competition, all applicants were asked to submit an original work of art inspired by the “Re: Stacks” song by Bon Iver, and Sarah distinguished herself by submitting a one-minute animation. Visit our EMMMA pages to see the video and to learn more about this creative and resourceful artist.
In April and May, while the Chicago area was getting plenty of cold rain (in a fitting end to our brutal winter), Starshine Galaxy experienced its own type of rain storm – in the form of award recognitions. In the months of April and May, we learned that Tomorrow Comes has garnered eight Winner or Finalist award designations in four competitions and numerous different literary categories. Most recently, the acclaimed new book captured first place as First Novel from Next Generation Indie Book Awards. See our Awards page for details on this and other honors received.
Tomorrow Comes recently received its best review ever when the Portland Book Review gave it five shining gold stars. When Portland reviewer Kathryn Franklin shared the review, she noted, “what an amazing book Tomorrow Comes is,” and she acknowledged a “fair share of crying sessions.” In the official review, she enthusiastically endorsed the book as “a raw, moving, emotional reading experience. The story of this family’s journey will evoke both tears and laughter. Yes, this is book about the death of a vibrant girl, but at its heart it is about her family’s path towards healing … Mebane’s words will stay with you long after you turn the final page.” See all of the reviews that we’ve gathered so far, including other recent perspectives from the San Francisco Book Review as well as BlueInk (a relatively new review service).
Titles currently available from Starshine Galaxy
Tomorrow Comes first became an AWARD WINNING book on March 28th when author Donna Mebane was notified that her debut novel won the top Visionary Fiction honors granted in the 2014 Beverly Hills International Book Award competition. See the official list of winners on the Beverly Hills Book Award website, and read Starshine Galaxy’s press release for more information.
Books-in-Print – Read about our flagship publications: Tomorrow Comes and A Book Abot Chaps. The books are available to buy at on Amazon, at other online retailers, or by order from your favorite bookstore, such as Town House Books in St. Charles, Illinois.
Publication University – Rod Mebane, Starshine Galaxy Publisher, represented the Midwest Independent Publisher’s Association (MIPA) at Publication University (PubU) in San Francisco – March 21-22 – see MIPA Announcement. Stay tuned for high-value insights that Rod brought back from the information-rich event.
Internet Radio Interview – Donna Mebane, author of Tomorrow Comes, was interviewed recently by Simon Barrett of the BloggerNewsNetwork – navigate to BloggerTalkRadio. Also link to Donna’s interview with Portland Book Review and also with Starshine Galaxy’s Tracy Spevak on the Author Interviews page.