WALKS ALONE

My book WALKS ALONE just WON the 2012 GRACE AWARDS! So exciting!!!

WALKS ALONE is a well written epic novel beginning in Holland and ending in the old west. Loved the way it opened with the tenderness of Anna's father aboard ship. It was hard not to I got involved in the father's dream of traveling to Denver City. The scenes in New York City with Anna's uncle were brutal and fully engaging. After Anna escapes her uncle, travels westward by train, and finally joins a wagon train where she's not well treated, there is a captivating bathing scene in the river where she allows herself to relax. When half-breed Jean-Marc comes upon her with a small band of angry-braves, the reader is caught between instant knowledge of the hero's strong attraction to her and the extreme danger she's in and is hooked. Ms. Rog understands Native American life in that era quite well. She did an excellent job of showing the anger and murderous rage of the braves as well as the prejudice of the settlers and their inability to see Native Americans as people, which led to Indian massacres. Both Anna/Walks Alone and Jean Marc/White Eagle are flawed and well written. White Eagle's poetic declaration of how his love is so large and encompassing that he sees and hears Walks Alone everywhere, even in the wind, was superb. He tells her of his pain at having caught her engaging in conversation with his sworn enemy, the man who led the deadly raid against his tribe. Through this, the author conveys how painful it is for Father God to witness His children engaging with idols. Beautifully done. Touches the reader at a deep spiritual level. ~~  Judges: Nike Chillemi (Team Leader), Krisi Keley, Kenneth Winters