On February 12th, I received an email from the Author Academy Awards, signed by "The Author Academy Awards Committee" saying that submissions for my books were received and that they were being reviewed.
Later that day, I received another email stating, "Hello Alice. First the best news. You're IN! The Author Academy Awards selection committee has approved your submission. Your book will be listed on the Author Academy Awards site when voting officially opens in March." Signed by Kary Oberbrunner. With this, I received graphics to use for voting purposes for the two categories my three books were nominated in, Best General Non-Fiction and Fantasy. The purpose of the graphics is to attract votes.
On February 27th, I received an email that voting will kick off on March 3rd, following a global livestream hosted by the Author Academy Awards.
On March 3rd, I tuned into the livestream hosted by, amongst others, Kary Oberbrunner, while eagerly anticipating the kick off. During the livestream, Kary Oberbrunner mentioned an author from South Africa with a controversial book, "making waves," and has "already" gained haters, or lovers. I want to make it clear that I have had no contact with any of the organizers regarding the content of any of my books, or have in any way discussed controversy, "making waves," "haters" or "lovers." This came up without me being aware of it, and I was rather stunned. I couldn't help but question whether they were approached by those currently on a crusade to silence the truth about South Africa.
With voting having kicked off, my campaign began to canvass for votes for all my books, just as the other nominated authors were doing. After all, the outcome relies on votes garnered for the books nominated.
On March 5th, I received another email from the Author Academy Awards, signed by Emily Myers which read as follows: "Hi Alice, We hope you are well. Under further review of the content of your books submitted for our Author Academy Awards, you are no longer approved to be included in the contest. Have a nice day, Emily Myers Customer Support Manager."
Not only was "My Turn - South Africa" removed from the awards competition, but so were "Afterlight" and "Passage of Time" which are purely fictional, fantasy novels.
My Turn- South Africa recounts the emotionally charged and tragic details of what is happening in present-day South Africa. It is the story of racism run rampant. Land is being taken. Whites are being targeted for brutal torture and murder. The statistics document this to be true, but little is known of this travesty in our world. The reason? The crimes are not committed by whites against blacks, but vice versa. This scenario finds no traction because it does not fit the politically correct view of what racism is known to be.
Alice VL provides alarming statistics and sobering documentation to bolster the claims that white people in South Africa, particularly white land-owners and farmers, face unremitting danger. Gripped by fear, each is left to wonder, is today "my turn" to be tortured and murdered? The author seeks to be the voice of the minority in South Africa yearning for justice under a government that seems utterly disinterested in providing it. Instead, the government turns a deaf ear to the cries of the persecuted minority while at times even lampooning their plight.
