Here's some news about the Whitney Awards!

PROVO, UT—OCTOBER 23, 2007FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEWHITNEY AWARDS COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES LARGE CASH AWARDS

The Whitney Awards Committee announced today that they will beoffering seven large cash awards to be presented at the upcomingWhitney Awards banquet in March 2008. These cash prizes are due tothe generosity of the Whitney Awards' marquis sponsor,ExclusivelyLDS.com.Founded earlier this year, the Whitney Awards program is a non-profitorganization dedicated to rewarding excellence among LDS authors.With the new sponsorship of ExclusivelyLDS.com, winning authors willreceive up to $1000 along with their trophy.The Whitneys offer a total of seven awards. The five genre awards(Best Romance/Women's Fiction, Best Mystery/Suspense, BestYA/Children's, Best Speculative Fiction, Best Historical) will eachbe accompanied by a $500 cash prize. The two overall winners, BestNovel by a New Author and Best Novel of the Year, will each receive$1000."We're very excited about the sponsorship with ExclusivelyLDS.com,"Robison Wells, president of the Whitney Awards Committee,explains. "There is enormous talent among LDS authors, and everyyear seems to produce better and better novels. This is an excitingtime to be part of the LDS fiction industry. Our hope is that theseawards will raise awareness about the high quality fiction availablefrom LDS authors, and to draw in new readers."Over a hundred years ago, Latter-Day Saint Apostle Orson F. Whitneydeclared "We shall yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of ourown. . . . In God's name and by His help we will build up aliterature whose tops will touch the heaven, though its foundationmay now be low on the earth."Anyone can nominate a novel published during the previous calendaryear in any of seven categories, and a final academy of industryprofessionals will vote on the final ballot. Nominations are beingtaken for books published in 2007 by LDS authors at the WhitneyAwards website: www.whitneyawards.com

Well, it's October and Halloween is just around the corner. We've been reading some great books in my English classes. To Kill a Mockingbird is one of them, and I love that story for the way it sheds light on human nature, the great good, and the great evil that we bipeds are so capable of. I think Atticus Finch is one of the greatest heroes in Literature that I know of. I am thoroughly in awe at the wisdom and bravery of his character. And it gives me hope that just maybe there are real humans very much like him.