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Los Angeles Book Festival Names Valley Girl Memoir For Top Honors

A look at growing up in the turbulent ‘60s surrounded by a cast of unconventional characters is the top selection in the 2025 Los Angeles Book Festival, which honors the best of the world publishing community.

Author Nikki Nash recalls her life in Collateral Stardust: Chasing Warren Beatty and Other Foolish Things (Sibylline Press). Her world of musicians, actors, conspiracy theorists, political fundraisers, and alcohol-fueled parties hosted by her unconventional trombone-playing father and politically radical mother come to life in this work.

This coming-of-age story is a revealing, honest account of the inner workings of Hollywood and is well worthy of top honors.

Other winners in the competition:

ROMANCE:
WINNER: After You, My Dear: – PJ Ellis

RUNNERS-UP:

  • The Game – Eve M. Riley
  • Ava – Janet R. Perroni

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Ava Again – Janet R. Perroni
  • The Ruthless Duke – Sandra Gharabaghli
  • Shipa’s Blue Crayon – Crystal Charlotte (CC) Lane
  • Harlow and Hazel’s Special Delivery – April Carter
  • Sirens’ Song – S. Catherine Jones

SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS:

WINNER: Trouble in Heaven – J.C. Worthington and R.G. Ryan

RUNNERS-UP:

  • The Brighton Beach Bible – Joel Silverstein/ Ori Z. Soltes
  •  Stellar Destinies volume I and II – Dr. Beatrix Czeizel and Anikó Greskó

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Flower Power – Kevin Peace
  • Soul-Syphons: The Beginning of the End – Sampson Lee Brown Jr.
  • Hell is a Bad Word – Michael Bahry

YOUNG ADULT:

WINNER: The Real Boys of the Civil War – J. Arthur Moore 

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Mindfield – C.W. James
  • Fake Out – Felicia Farber
  • The Train From The Atlantic – Șercan Cezar Adrian

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Rogues of the Crosslands – John Daze
  • WARNING: Short Stories for Middle School Boys Only, Because Girls Have Cooties! – Gene J. Miller
  • The Third Estate Secrets of the Manor – D. R. Berlin

GENERAL FICTION:

WINNER: The Payola Chronicles – Justin Stamm

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Kelsey’s Crossing – David Randal
  • Kyd’s Game – Marc Rosenberg
  • The Bookseller’s Daughter – Steve Burt
  • Karma Redirected – Mike Morris 
  • Descending Thirds – Nicole Conn

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • A Soldier’s Burden – Natia Khaduri
  • Protect the Queen – Steve Burt
  • Everything We Thought Was True – Lisa Montanaro
  • Gravity Flow – E.M. Schorb
  • Bobcats – Matthew Weber
  • One-Legged Uncle Jesse – Mike Morris
  • Blackbird Blues – Jean K. Carney 
  • The Last Word – Gerri Lewis 
  • Not A Shovel In Sight – Carolyn Summer Quinn
  • The Third Estate Secrets of the Manor – D R Berlin
  • LOSST – Deborah Henderson
  • Sniff – GC Brown
  • Savant – Jason Aaron Cameron
  • A Murky Water Marriage – Alex Fogel

GENERAL NONFICTION:

WINNER: Unbreakable You: Create, Revise, Repair Your Life – Jon Deam, MD

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Are You Ready? – Dr. Kimberly Harms
  • The Unique Women of the Venetian Republic – Connie Spenuzza, M.S. Ed.
  • Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads – S. R. Mallery
  • Mission Out of Control – Dr. Charles Camarda

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Unpacking the Attic – Ann Michelle Mracek
  • You Are So Much More – Laura Muchmore 
  • Cherish America – Robert B. Charles
  • Why Not? – Teri Leigh Rouse
  • The Change Guidebook – Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino
  • You Are So Much More – Laura Muchmore
  • South Node Shaman – Shaman Melodie McBride
  • Critical Race Theory in Your School: – Dr. George S. Maurer, Ed.D
  • I Did it ! From Iraq to Freedom – A True Story – Mark Mardirossian

POETRY:

WINNER: Thunderstroke – Terence Ang 

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Sonnets From Suburbia: Romance Dance – Penny Peyser
  • Flood Plain – Lisa Sewell
  • Drifter – Douglas Cole
  • …And You Cannot Tell Me, Why I Must Not Love You Anymore… – Natia Khaduri

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Shaft of Light – Ann Yu Huang
  • Growing Pains – Anastatia Caraballo
  • Be – Will Espero
  • The Cabin at the End of the World – Douglas Cole
  • I Am My Own Garden – Satinder Kaur
  • From a Black Girl to All Black Girls – Alexa Christian

MEMOIR:

WINNER: Committed: On Meaning and Madwomen – Suzanne Scanlon

RUNNER-UPS:

  • Chasing Happiness in an Imperfect Life – Xiomara Alvarez
  • Turning Water Into Butter – Sammy Orelien
  • Memoir of a Mangled Mind – Steven Simmons Shelton MA JD

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • WARNING: Short Stories for Middle School Boys Only, Because Girls Have Cooties!-Gene J. Miller
  • Behind Bulletproof Glass – Linda Rönn
  • Unpacking the Attic – Ann Michelle Mracek
  • Hiding in Plain Sight – I. M. Enough
  • So Drunk A Tooth’s Gotta Go – Joy Alicia
  • Where the River Bends – Doug Landgraff
  • Living With A Ghost – Eva B Morris
  • The Power of Being Resilient – A.Cora Berry
  • Little Boy I Know Your Name – Mitchell Raff
  • The Undiscovered Showman – Wayne Olivieri
  • King James Virgin: A Holiness Memoir – Elizabeth Hatton

BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY:

WINNER: Collateral Stardust – Nikki Nash

RUNNER-UP: On the Rocks – Maria C. Palmer/Ruthie Robbins

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Captain Scott’s Scrapbook Mutinies, Mining and Mysteries – Margot Dixon
  • Wings: How traveling the world freed my soul to fly – Kathy Wright
  • Edithe Beutler, Beautifying Hawaii with Color – C.J. Cook and Robert L. Harned

BUSINESS:

WINNER: Go For Third – Derek Volk

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Restoring Our Sanity Online – Mark Weinstein
  • A Voice Actor’s Guide To Audio Description Performance – Roy Samuelson

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Invisible Industry – Bob McGlincy Larry Kulchawik
  • Can AI Be Humorous?: – Tom G. Anderson

GENRE-BASED:

WINNER: If They Could Only Understand Us… – Irina Zaslavsky

RUNNERS-UP:

  • In Search of Blue-Sky – Dennis Torres
  • The Photograph – Eve M. Riley
  • Wreck on the Highway – Logan St. Michael
  • Running Stop Signs – Nancy Mangano

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Crossing Borders & Generations – Kiril Kristoff
  • Sea of Betrayal – Mitchell Rossi
  • The Third Estate Secrets of the Manor – D R Berlin
  • Cyberchicks in Love – Barb Dwyer
  •  A Life Saving Bullet – Krista Beggan

CHILDREN’S BOOKS:

WINNER: The Enchanted Journey of Remembering with Grandpa – Fernando Jackson

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Where’s Winston – Artie Knapp
  • Officer Erik and the Very Special Dad – Erik Estrada & Steven Manchester
  • A Kindergarten Story – Tammy Donahue
  • Autumn is Calling – Jan Thornton Jones
  • Benjamin’s Special Memories – Fernando Jackson

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Tomas Returns to School/Tomas Regresa A La Escuela – Xiomara Gallego-Bernard
  • Polka Dots and Tater Tots – Melinda Chambers
  • Popcorn the Squirrel – Rusty McQuade
  • Tomorrow I have to get an MRI – Faythe and London Daniels
  • Mis Poemas de Animales – Liliana Rienzi de Gimenez
  • The Sock Monster – Nathanael Stump
  • Lumilore: The Original Story of the Dragon… – Sabine Ruh House
  • The Book of Dot – Sabine Ruh House
  • One Grain of Sand – Ruthie Godfrey
  • Anna Blue: I Will Forever Love You – Kerri Aguirre
  • Tears of Joy – Nini Lee

WILD CARD:

WINNER: Speedbleeding – Taylor X

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Blood Moon Productions: Its Origins, Its Oeuvre…. – Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince
  • A History of Hazardous Objects: A Novel – Yxta Maya Murray
  • Are You Ready? – Dr. Kimberly Harms
  • Blonde Haired Girl’s The Scientist – Jayme Katha Tener

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • An Eye for an Eye: – Denny Darke
  • In the Fullness of Tion – J.C. Gemmell
  • Variety Pack – E.M. Schorb
  • Fever of Unknown Origin – Judith Ford
  • WARNING: Short Stories for Middle School Boys Only, Because Girls Have Cooties!-Gene J. Miller
  • So Drunk A Tooth’s Gotta Go – Joy Alicia
  • Born of Bombs and Bullets – David A. Dummer
  • The Beyond is Part of the Here Now Book 2 – June Raleigh
  • To Take a Soul – Sara Sultane
  • Soul-Syphons: The Beginning of the End – Sampson Lee Brown Jr.
  • Living in the Twilight Zone – Kevin Peace

HOW-TO:

WINNER: Becoming Semi-Famous – Burke Allen

RUNNER-UP: Brave New You – Mary Poffenroth, Ph.D

SCIENCE FICTION:

WINNER: Endless Fall of Night – J.M. Erickson 

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Return to the Galaxy – BA Gillies
  • The Princess From Earth – Katrina Zari
  • Eldryan Elders – S.G. Blaise
  • Dragged Down Deep – Michael Okon

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Shadow of the Eternal Watcher – Josh Mendoza
  • The Queen of Nordern – Katrina Zari
  • The Mage of Terror – Katrina Zari
  • Swallowed By Time, Show Me the Way to go Home – Darrell G. Coley

SEQUELS:

WINNER: Hollywood High Chronicles Book Five: Aftershock – Melissa Velasco

RUNNER-UP: Resurgius Redux – E.M. Schorb

COMPILATIONS/ANTHOLOGIES:

WINNER: Naughty Nonsense, Lascivious Limericks and Much More – David Ellis

PHOTOGRAPHY/ART:

WINNER: Soul-Syphons: The Beginning of the End – Sampson Lee Brown Jr.

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