LYME — Retired pastor Steve Burt, who served the First Congregational Church of Lyme from 2007 through 2012, has won the Mom’s Choice Foundation’s gold medal for Young Adult Fiction for his novel about a girl who helps gargoyles in Wells, Maine. The Bookseller’s Daughter also won the grand prize at the 2019 New York Book Festival Awards.
Burt was profiled in Connecticut Magazine as “The Sinister Minister” after winning the Bram Stoker Award, the world’s top horror writing prize. His most recent novel, The Bookseller’s Daughter, continues his mission to encourage young adults and adults alike not only to accept the unbelievable, but to love it.
It started with his FreeKs trilogy—FreeK Camp, FreeK Show, and FreeK Week—which won 24 awards. The thrillers bring 11 “different” teens to the Bridgton/Sebago Lake area to a “special” camp that will help them develop their psychic and paranormal abilities in a safe setting.
Atlanta levitates. Charlie has precognitive dreams. Caroline communicates with earthbound spirits who need her help. Harley travels out-of-body by astral projection. Together with their friends and an odd trio of mentors—three former circus sideshow performers—the teens quickly develop their gifts under pressure, unravel mysteries, and confront villains. Maine’s western mountains and lakes have never been so much fun.
Now the Rev. Dr. Burt has given readers The Bookseller’s Daughter, his 26th book, a mystery/thriller about Keegan, a 17-year-old who works at Annie’s Book Stop in Wells, Maine. After the theft of a rare Wells-related Civil War memoir from another local bookstore, Keegan is approached by a hooded figure seeking her help locating a graveyard. (Fact: tiny 7 x 8-mile Wells really does boast an amazing 201 cemeteries.)The visitor is after the forgotten 202nd, which may contain the remains of a gargoyle. The quest will date back to the Civil War and World War 1, ending in the backwoods of southern Maine. It’s a risky partnership that could cost Keegan not only her own life but the lives of her mother and her best friend.
Burt’s books can be found online at Amazon. Barnes & Noble, and Books-a-Million.
More information about Burt’s other books can be found on his website at www.SteveBurtBooks.com.
Dr. Burt will be signing at Books in Boothbay, Maine’s largest gathering of authors, on July 27.