Author Sonia Day of Belwood has won a silver medal in the U.S.-based Independent Publisher Book Awards.
The award, known as an “Ippy,” is for her eighth book – and first novel, called Deer Eyes. The suspenseful tale is mostly set in Wellington County.
“I’m thrilled as the Ippy awards are one of the world’s largest,” Day said. “They had over 6,000 entries this year from 33 countries. So it’s quite a coup to wind up with a medal for this – my first attempt at fiction.”
Deer Eyes tells the story of a New York watercolour painter who inherits a dilapidated house in rural southwestern Ontario and meets a compelling neighbour, who’s a deer hunter.
A town like Fergus and a village similar to Belwood both figure in the plot.
So do art and gardening – as in addition to writing books, Sonia is a gardening columnist for the Toronto Star and a part-time painter.
She describes the novel as “a good summer read.” It’s on sale for $17.99 at Roxanne’s Reflections in Fergus and Booklore in Orangeville.
She will receive her medal at an awards ceremony in New York City on May 27.
