National honor for Diana Pishner Walker

Author Diana Pishner Walker’s book, “Spaghetti and Meatballs: Growing Up Italian,” was gotten honorable mention in a national contest.

Diana writes:

“I have just been notified that my children's book has won an honorable mention award for best children's book from Hollywood Book Festival with an opportunity to attend a reception in Hollywood...OMG!”

Her first book, “I Don’t Want to Sit in the Front Row Any More,” was a memoir based on the loss of her parents, Anna and Louis Pishner, within seven months of each other.

Diana is a 1977 graduate of Clarksburg Notre Dame High School and Fairmont State who works for the Marion County Board of Education.

Diana’s children are Curt, Chris and Courtney. Her siblings are Anna Pishner Harsh and Stephano Pishner.

Three Monongah and North Marion high schools’ graduates also are authors: Linda Tomlinson Stevenski, Class of 1955; Annette Rose (Bonasso), North Marion Class of 1980; and Lisa Myers McCombs, Class of 1947.

10th ANNUAL HOLLYWOOD BOOK FESTIVAL HONORS “OLD EARTH” WITH TOP PRIZE

HOLLYWOOD_ An international thriller that involves the Vatican, a cave expedition, a secret society, and a mystery that might change the world is the grand prize winner of the 2015 Hollywood Book Festival. Gary Grossman’s “Old Earth” (Diversion Books) traces a tale that begins in the summer of 1601, when Galileo Galilei makes a startling discovery in the mountains of Eastern Italy. If made public, the news could shatter faith in religion, bring down governments, and lead to worldwide turmoil. For more than 400 years, the secret has been carefully guarded by an incredibly powerful organization that will go to extremes in order to protect civilization. But now a university dig in Montana headed by paleontologists Quinn McCauley and Katrina Alpert threatens to expose the secret. Grossman and other winners in the competition will be honored on July 25 at a private ceremony in Hollywood. Other winners in the competition: BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY WINNER: “Tears for my City” – Dean Dimitrieski RUNNER-UP: “Love Triangle” – Darwin Porter/Danforth Prince HONORABLE MENTIONS: “No One To Cry To” – Sharon Lee Willing “Nichijo: The Testimony of John Provoo” – John Oliver “LOL - Living Out Loud” – Veronica Tanzen “Blessed and Highly Favored” – Theo Harris “The Peace Angel” – Nola Hennessy “Managing Bubbie” – Russell Lazega (CHECK) “Patterns of Choice Picture of Change” – Patrick J. Hodgeman   GENERAL FICTION WINNER: “The Advance Man” – Rick Robinson RUNNER-UP: “Summers in Bayville” – Louise Gaylord HONORABLE MENTIONS: ”Captain Tom and Franny” – Jennifer McGrawy-Miceli “Confessions of a Self-Help Writer” – Benjamin Dehaven “Quest for the Middle Kingdom – Jack King “The Life & Mimes of Ripper the Clown” – Jake Aurelian “Miracle Girls” – M.B. Caschetta “The Christmas Cottage” – Samantha Chase “Divine Roosters & Angry Clown” – Frank Crimi “That Summer in Normandy” – Rosemary Rudland “Three Movements for Six Hands” – Terry Row “Released from the Shadows” – Donna Cantor “Claim to Fame, A Story of New Hollywood” – Ralph Cissne “St. Louis Hustle” – Claire Applewhite “The Sentinel” – Paul Bourdon “The Prince of Prigs” – Anthony Cordwell “The Lion Tree, Book I” – Owen Thomas “The Unraveling of Shelby Forrest” – Donna Friess “Silent Trees” – Nasir Shansab “Legend of War Creek” – Randall Reneau “William” – Michael Mountain “Purely Good, Purely Evil” – Robert Hatch “Bucky of Belgravia” – Alden Douglas “Armor of Glass” – R.M.A. Spears “Pinnacle Lust” – Michelle Dim-St.-Pierre “The Lyons of Texas” – L.E. Ford “Project Nephilli” – Timothy Farmer “Sarah’s Song” – Wes Dodd “Just Mercy” – Dorothy Van Soest “Blind Influence” – Linda Fisler “The Cause” – Roderick Vincent “The Phoenix” – Sharyl Bales “Desert Nights” – Courtney Stackhouse “Destruction Island” – Fredrick Cooper” “The Fortunate Child” – Archana Mishra “Leaving Montana” – Thomas Whaley “Murder in the Haunted House” – Carol Lee Owen “Where Death Speaks” – Veronica Stich “Almost India” – Cindy Lewis “Bloody Point 1976” – Brent Lewis “Sons of Eve” – Timothy Epupa Ngenge “The Jewel Box” – Michelle McCarty SPIRITUAL WINNER: “The Invitation: A Weekend with Emma” – Dawn Kohler RUNNER-UP: “Miracle at Janet’s Mountain” – Richard Hatin HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Life’s Choices” – Paul Turk “The Rainbow Bridge” – Brent Hunter “Through Kenny’s Eyes” – Carol Jones “The Philosophy of Art” – James Stroud “The Transfiguration of the Soul” – Ana Covic GENERAL NON-FICTION WINNER: “Murder Inc.: Mysteries of the Mob’s Most Deadly Hit Squad” - Christian Cipollini RUNNER-UP: “It’s All About Life” – Harvey Lazarus HONORABLE MENTIONS: ”Captured by the Enemy – Crystal Aceves  “Street Smart Selling” – Daniel Milstein “Unsinkable Spirit” – Fred Engh “The Sphinx and Stonehenge Connection” – Faith Booysen “Building Better Humans” – David and Lisa Davoust “The Power and the Peril of Oil” – Firooz Zadeh BUSINESS WINNER: “Ravioli Rules” – Al Manganiello RUNNER-UP: “The Fracking Truth” – Chris Faulkner HISTORY WINNER: “The Old Gun, Finding Sundance” – Randal Benjamin RUNNER-UP: “Law and Order at the End of the Oregon Trail” – Ken Bilderback HONORABLE MENTIONS: “The Capacity to Believe” – Marcus W. Williams “Earth’s Formation: Swagart’s Hypotheses” – Gary F. Swagart HOW-TO WINNER: “Oh, No! Not Another Problem!” – Jeanette A. Griver RUNNER-UP: “It Really is That Complicated” – Charles Rawlings HONORABLE MENTIONS: “How To Survive the Worst That Can Happen” – Sandy Peckinpah “Natural to Knockout Makeup Beauty & You” – Carol Brown GENRE-BASED WINNER: “Treasure” – Vanessa Leigh Hoffman RUNNER-UP: “Cauliflower Heart: A Romantic Wrestler” – Diana Hart HONORABLE MENTIONS: “The Complicity Doctrine” – Matthew Frick “Premortal” – Damien Passmore “Hurricane Hill Road” – Cherry King “Promises of Love” – David Selby “Ashes and Asphalt” – Robert Taylor “Diamondacious: A Lauderdale Lady's Tale” – D.A. Belmont “Angry Enough to Kill” – S.J. Dunn SCIENCE FICTION WINNER: “Old Earth” – Gary Grossman RUNNER-UP: Peripheral Conflict” – S.C. Cobb HONORABLE MENTIONS: “Future’s Edge – The Seed (Book One) – Mort Herman “Flare” – Jonathan Maas “The Trailokya Trilogy, Book One: The Shadow Soul” – Kelly Williams “The Stranger and the Time Machine” – Phil Scrima CHILDREN’S BOOKS WINNER: “Pancakes with Papa” – Dena Albergo Jayson RUNNER-UP: Nickerbacher The Funniest Dragon – Terry John Barto/Kim Sponaugle HONORABLE MENTIONS: “A Story of Becoming” – Ayn Cates Sullivan “Always in Your Dreams” – Humberto Rodriguez “The Banana Chronicles: Fishing for Bananas” – Timothy Brower “The Magic of the Christmas Tree” – Donald W. Thomas Jr. “Donkeys are Special…And So Are You” – Thomas Krueger “The Little Goat in Africa” – Deborah Smith Ford “Baby’s Bucket Book” – Carol McCloud/Caryn Butzke “Spaghetti and Meatballs: Growing Up Italian” – Donna Pishner Walker “Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!” – Julianna Pang “A Wish for Algie” – Carol Lee Owen “Libellus de Numerous” – Jim West “The Shark Rider” – Ellen Prager “Parents for Sale” – Nicole Audet SCREENPLAYS WINNER: “Tasting Home” – Judith Newton RUNNER-UP: “Disc-Rock 2050” – Trustin Howard HONORABLE MENTION: “Faith Beyond the Trials” – Paul Turk WILD CARD WINNER: Malice – Liz Crokin RUNNER-UP: Samson – A Savior Will Rise – Shawn Hoffman HONORABLE MENTIONS: “The Trans-Am Diaries” – Stephen Dupin “Lights Out” – Melissa Groeling “After the Truck Hit” – Jennifer Kuchinka  “A Fox in the Family” – Jane King “Green Apple Red Book” – Rebecca Li-Huang “Kinyamaswa” – Andreas Morgner “In the Shadow of St. Anthony” – Andrew Hernon “The New Indians” – Joe Jessup “Redemption’s Warrior” – William Mortimer “Center of Attention” – Debra Clifton Mitchell “Edgar Allan’s Murder” – Alice W. Ingraham “Starlette Universe: Eva from E-Ville” – Kathy Johnson YOUNG ADULT WINNER: “Spinner” – Michael Bowler RUNNER-UP: “The Crossings” – Barry Kienzle HONORABLE MENTIONS: “A Tale of Two Maidens” – Anne Echols “Sign of the Anasazi” – Marc Lieberman “Drawn” – Christopher Ledbetter “Age of the Seer” – Michael Joseph Murano “Escape from the Netherworld” – Dave Kuklis “Heaven Has No Regrets” – Tessa Shaffer “Jamaal’s Journey” – John McCormack SEQUELS: WINNER: “Deadly Vision” – Kathryn Patterson RUNNER-UP: “Tesseract Twin Flame” – Vicki Ebeling UNPUBLISHED WINNER: “The Zombie Squad” – Bryce Summers RUNNER-UP: “Rotville” – Bryce Summers