The Florida Writers Association, the state’s largest and most prestigious literary organization, has announced that two novels by J.C. Bruce — Strange Currents and Mister Manners — have won both gold and silver medals in the 2021 Royal Palm Literary Awards.
Strange Currents won first place in the category honoring the best published mysteries in Florida. Strange Currents is the fourth of a five-book Strange Files series published by Tropic Press.
A draft of Mister Manners, which at contest deadline had yet to be printed, won the silver medal for best unpublished manuscript, also in the mystery category. Mister Manners has now been published and is available as an ebook, paperback, hardback, and audiobook.
The awards were announced at the Florida Writers Association’s recent remote awards ceremony. The annual competition, in its twentieth year, received 577 submissions.
“Even in these difficult times, writers are writing—and marvelously,” said Chris Coward, Royal Palm Literary Awards chairperson.
In all, the competition covered 27 adult genres and 5 Youth genres, with published and unpublished entries considered separately.
The five books in The Strange Files series, in addition to Strange Currents and Mister Manners, include the The Strange Files, Get Strange, and Florida Man: A Story from the Files of Alexander Strange. Alexander Strange, the protagonist in this series, is the world’s only full-time reporter of news of the weird living aboard his converted fishing trawler in Goodland, Florida.
The Florida Writers Association, 1,600 members strong and growing, is a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization that supports the state’s established and emerging writers. Membership is open to the public.
The Royal Palm Literary Awards competition is a service of the Florida Writers Association established to recognize excellence in its members’ published and unpublished works while providing objective and constructive written assessments for all entrants.
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