National Federation of Press Women announce national award winners
The National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) honored communicators from across the United States in its 2022 communications contest ceremony on June 25 in Fargo, North Dakota. Valerie Ormond won awards for two of her horse stories in this national-level contest.
Ormond’s Believing In Horses Out West won first place in the Young Adult Fiction category. Believing In Horses Out West takes 14-year-old Sadie Navarro on an adventure to a Montana ranch to check on a horse she rescued. While there, Sadie learns about ranch life, makes new friends, and encounters an unwelcome mystery. New York Times bestselling author Robin Hutton described the book as “A thrilling coming-of-age story filled with love, lessons, and finding one’s purpose in life…”
In the category of Short Stories, Single Story, Ormond’s story “Be Brave” won third place. Red Penguin Books published “Be Brave” in Ernest Lived and Other Historical Fiction Short Stories, which included winning stories from Red Penguin Books’ own international historical fiction contest. “Be Brave” tells the tale of a courageous 16-year-old Pony Express rider. Ormond said, “This story came to me following a writing prompt at one of my local writing groups. Getting this kind of recognition from a respected organization like the NFPW is encouraging for any writer and an inspiration to keep going.”
Nearly 2,000 entries were submitted in this year’s NFPW contest including entries from 38 states and Washington, D.C. Only first-place winning entries at the state and at-large levels advanced to the national contest. All entries were published or broadcast between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2021.
Believing In Horses, Out West is available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, book retailers, and at www. BelievingInHorses.com. “Be Brave” is available via Amazon.
About Valerie Ormond and Veteran Writing Services, LLC:
Valerie Ormond retired as a naval intelligence officer and founded Veteran Writing Services, LLC providing professional writing and consulting services. Besides her award-winning Believing In Horses books, Ormond’s fiction and non-fiction stories have appeared in books, magazines, and news articles worldwide. She blogs about writing tips and lessons learned at https://valerieormond.com/. For additional information about her books, please see https://BelievingInHorses.com/.
About the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW). NFPW is a nationwide organization of women and men pursuing careers across the communications spectrum, including print and electronic journalism, freelancing, new media, books, public relations, marketing, graphic design, photography, advertising, radio, and television. For more information, please see https://www.nfpw.org.
Media contact:
Valerie Ormond
Chief Executive Officer, Veteran Writing Services, LLC
ceo@veteranwritingservices.com / (443)994-5651
Images available by request and in the Believing In Horses Media Kit at Contact Us – Believing In Horses