Ponte Vedra resident Janet D’Andrea was awarded a prestigious Royal Palm Literary Award (RPLA) from the Florida Writers Association, Inc. (FWA).
D’Andrea won first place for Unpublished Fantasy and First Place for Unpublished Mixed Genre for her entry, “Fairy Free.”
The award was announced at the recent 2016 Florida Writers Association Conference, held in Altamonte Springs, Florida. The 15th annual competition received 479 submissions.
The Royal Palm Literary Awards competition is a service of the Florida Writers Association established to recognize excellence in members’ published and unpublished works while providing objective and constructive written assessments for all entrants.
“This is the most comprehensive and competitive RPLA we’ve ever had,” RPLA Chairman Chris Coward said. “The RPLA administrative team, judges and entrants all did an amazing job.”
In all, the competition covered 26 adult genres and 15 youth genres, with published and unpublished entries considered separately. There were four grand awards as well.
The Florida Writers Association is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization that supports the state’s established and emerging writers. The growing organization currently has 1,500 members. Membership is open to the public.