For Immediate Release            

February, 27, 2010

Virginia Beach Author Advances in 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Competition

Love Story Set in Virginia Beach and Michigan’s

Upper Peninsula

Virginia Beach, Virginia--Men Among Sirens, a love story set in Virginia Beach and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and published by Booksurge Publishing, has advanced to the second round of  Amazon’s 2010 Breakthrough Novel Award Competition. The competition, open to both general fiction and young adult fiction entries, will award the winner a publishing contract with Penguin Books. Competition entries selected for the second round of the competition were announced on Thursday, February 25, 2010 on the on the Amazon  Breakthrough Novel Award website.

“I’m ecstatic to have made the first cut of the competition. I hope that the book’s unique setting and story line will appeal to the judges and readers in the competition’s next phase,” author Jennifer Olmstead stated. “With four rounds of the competition still ahead, my fingers are crossed.”

Men Among Sirens tells the story of Ruby Bohan, a young Virginia Beach woman whose wedding plans are interrupted by the discovery of an explosive family secret that promises to leave no one in her loving family unscathed—including her doting, adoptive Uncle Blaine. Ruby’s discovery forces her mother, Ainsley, to tell the true story of her own past, beginning twenty years earlier with the tragic death of her beloved brother, John, a U.S. Navy fighter pilot. Determined to fulfill John ‘s final wishes, Ainsley leaves Virginia Beach and her troubled marriage behind, and journeys across the mighty Mackinac Bridge to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a region whose rustic beauty and unique culture offer respite from the breakneck-paced lives most of us lead. There, a chance meeting culminates in a forbidden encounter destined to change the course of her life.

With Ainsley’s story complete, the burden of truth is passed from mother to daughter. Now, Ruby’s happiness, and that of the people she loves, rests in her youthful hands. With only hours left until her marriage, Ruby must make choices that will either hold her family together or tear it apart—and perhaps in the process, give her mother one last chance at love.

The novel features local points of interest in both Virginia Beach and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, including Oceana Naval Base, Sandbridge beach, Fayette, Marquette’s Presque Isle and Kitch-iti-kipi.

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Competition consists of  five phases. Of the initial 5,000 general fiction entries and 5,000 young adult fiction entries accepted into the competition, 1,000 entries from each of the two categories were chosen by publishing industry professionals to advance to the second phase. During the second phase, an expert panel will read and evaluate each 3,000-5,000-word fiction entry excerpt to determine a pool of 250 entrants which will proceed to the quarterfinals. Quarterfinalists will be announced on March 14, 2010. Amazon will then enable the public to read and review the entry excerpts and provide feedback to the judging panel. Following the semi-final period of the contest, the winners will be announced on June 14,

2010 in Seattle Washington. For more detailed information on the competition, visit the official contest website: http://www.amazon.com/b?node=332264011.

Men Among Sirens is available at the ESC Bookstore, 2020 Laskin Road, Virginia Beach, Bookworld Stores in Houghton, Michigan, Marquette, Michigan and Escanaba, Michigan, and on amazon.com. For more information on Men Among Sirens, visit: www.jenniferolmstead.net. To  obtain a media reading copy of Men Among Sirens, or to contact the author, contact media@jenniferolmstead.net.

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Above: Virginian-Pilot Beacon 8/30/2009

Interview: The Marquette Mining Journal-August 12, 2009

http://miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/531614.html

Daily Radar

http://bookblips.dailyradar.com/story/men_among_sirens_by_jennifer_olmstead/

For signed books and  additional media resources, on-site or virtual book tour information, please direct your inquiries to: info@jenniferolmstead.net . Thank you for your interest!

MEN AMONG SIRENS will be available for purchase on May 18, 2009.

To place wholesale orders for MEN AMONG SIRENS, please contact Booksurge at 1.866.308.6235 or visit Booksurge.com.

Trade Paper ISBN-13: 978-1439236840 / ISBN: 1-4392-3684-4

Hardcover ISBN-13: 9781439242764 / ISBN: 1-4392-4676-9

LCCN-2009904613

 For retail orders and retail locations, please visit www.amazon.com or the www.booksurge.com. More retail locations coming soon.

Retail pricing:$16.99 for perfect bound version and $25.99 for hardcover. 

Personalized, signed copies available.  Click here to request more information. These make great gifts. Have a great read!