Readers get to decide fate of writer in online reviews

By Nora Firestone

Correspondent

VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON

Jeff Andrews said he was "the guy all the English teachers wanted to move out of the class."

The retired Marine says naysayers can talk until they're blue.

Meanwhile, Andrews might forward them the link to www.amazon.com, where the first 5,000 words of his inaugural novel, "The Freedom Star," await readers' reviews.

Among 836 semifinalists of nearly 5,000 entries accepted to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards competition, "The Freedom Star" is being rated and reviewed by visitors to the bookseller's site until mid-month.

Drawing from Amazon customer feedback and Publishers Weekly manuscript reviews, which are all posted on the site, representatives from sponsor Penguin Group (USA) Inc. will select the top 100 semifinalists.

They'll be announced Feb. 19.

So far so good for Andrews, 60, who claims he's a "lousy writer, but getting pretty good at the rewrites." His historical fiction boasted a five-star rating Feb. 12.

Set in the Civil War era, the story follows Isaac, a slave who longs for the freedom and dignity that his white friend, Henry, enjoys.

"Henry joins the Confederate army and takes Isaac with him when they march north toward battle," said Andrews, a Moorestown, N.J., native who lives in Virginia Beach.

"When Henry is wounded and taken prisoner, Isaac finds himself behind Union lines, free, but with a choice: continue north toward his dream or return to slavery to save his friend."

A portion of Publishers Weekly's review reads: "The author manages to make Isaac's journey suspenseful as well as poignant, and fills out this personal narrative with compelling historical context."

This "validation" thrills Andrews, who's relatively new to writin g. He and his wife, Mary Lou Andrew s, share a love of history and have attended Civil War battlefield tours and seminars for years.

Over time Andrews' interest in the Civil War deepened, as did his curiosity about its people. He initially wrote about Isaac and Henry in a 2003 short story.

Mary Lou, a former high school English teacher and avid reader, recognized her husband's talent and urged him to continue..

Research involved interviews with tobacco farmers and "historical society folks," he said.

Once immersed in the lives of his characters, the Ocean Lakes West resident "didn't want to write just another Civil War novel."

In 2004, he joined a writers' workshop, led by freelance writer, editor and writing coach Lauran Strait, at the city's Adult Learning Center.

"There, I got the detailed critiques and feedback that I needed to grow my writing," Andrews said.

Nearly four years and nine rewrites later, "The Freedom Star" is "the next best thing to a time machine," Strait said.

In 2006, excerpts won the Christopher Newport University Writers' Conference award for fiction, one of several contests Strait urges her students to enter.

The Amazon grand prize is a full publishing contract with Penguin and a $25,000 advance against royalties. The winner will be announced April 7.

Until April, reader-input is essential as the semifinalist field continues to narrow, Andrews sai d.

Folks can download "The Freedom Star" and post reviews at www.amazon.com/abna.

Nora Firestone, nfirestone@verizon.net