Award-Winning Laguna Beach Artist Book Signing in Aliso Viejo

Laguna Beach artist April Solomon will be featured at a book signing at the Barnes & Noble, Aliso Viejo Town Center, this Saturday, June 24th from 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM.

April is a winner in the Illustrators of the Future contest and her art for the story, "Moonlight and Funk," is published in L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 39 which was recently released and has been on bestsellers list numerous times in recent past years.

April was recently honored at our awards event in Hollywood, and her introduction and acceptance speech can be viewed here,...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkR3wPiLN5M&t=2395s

The contest is in its 40th year and is the longest running, most prestigious competition of its kind! Mr. Hubbard founded the Writers of the Future contest in 1983 and due to its success, the Illustrators of the Future contest was initiated in 1988. Mr. Hubbard's estate continues to fund the Writers and Illustrators of the Future contests in perpetuity.

April Solomon was born in 1983 and raised in Laguna Beach, California. Since she was a small child, April has had a talent for drawing and painting. She would draw anything and everything that came into her imagination. Of all things, she drew dragons the most! Thankfully, her loving and encouraging family inspired her to embrace her love for the arts.
She grew up around art. Her father’s art studio was filled with all the delights a child could indulge. His bookshelves held stacks of art books containing illustrations from the old masters, the golden age illustrators, and even some fantasy art from the TSRs Dungeons and Dragons. Inspiration came in many forms. Fortunately it was everywhere! and so her career as a young artist began.
Today April is an illustrator and fine artist who has earned her bachelor’s degree in illustration at the Laguna College of Art and Design. April’s passion for learning the old masterful techniques of traditional drawing and painting are precisely what inspires her work.
Among her love for the fine arts is her unique appreciation for whimsical fantasy, which adorns every image of her portfolio. April’s meticulous creature designs aim for what is known as “fantastic realism.” A clever, concise understanding of anatomy, plants, and mysterious textures weave their way into her illustrations, leaving the viewer guessing at origins, influences, and ancestry. April’s work allows the viewer to dive imaginatively deeper, and reconsider whether dragons might be real or whether werewolves exist to stalk the streets at night.
When not illustrating, April attends garage sales to unearth buried treasures, runs and lifts weights, or braves as many haunted attractions as possible during the month of October.

Find out more about April here,... www.aprilsolomonart.com

The Contest, one of the most prestigious writing and illustration competitions in the world, is currently in its 40th year and is judged by some of the premier names in speculative fiction.

The Writers of the Future Contest judges include, Tim Powers (author of On Stranger Tides), Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert (Dune prequel series), Robert J. Sawyer (Quantum Night), Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn series, The Stormlight Archive), Larry Niven (Ringworld), Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game), Nnedi Okorafor (Who Fears Death), David Farland (Runelords), and Katherine Kurtz (Deryni series) to name a few.

The Illustrators of the Future Contest judges include, Bob Eggleton (11 Chesley Awards and 7 Hugo Awards), Larry Elmore (Dungeons & Dragons book covers), Echo Chernik (graphic designs for major corporations including Celestial Seasonings tea packaging), Rob Prior (art for Spawn, Heavy Metal comics and Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Ciruelo (Eragon Coloring Book).

Following the 1982 release of his internationally acclaimed bestselling science fiction novel, Battlefield Earth, written in celebration of 50 years as a professional writer, L. Ron Hubbard created the Writers of the Future (writersofthefuture.com) in 1983 to provide a means for aspiring writers of speculative fiction to get that much-needed break. Due to the success of the Writers of the Future Contest, the companion Illustrators of the Future Contest was inaugurated five years later.
In the 39 years of the Writers of the Future Contest, there have been 547 winners and published finalists. The past winners of the Writing Contest have published 2,000 novels and nearly 6,300 short stories. They have produced 36 New York Times bestsellers, and their works have sold over 60 million copies.

In the 34 years of the Illustrators of the Future Contest, there have been 394 winners. The past winners of the Illustrating Contest have produced over 6,800 illustrations, 390 comic books, graced 700 books and albums with their art, and visually contributed to 68 television shows and 40 major movies.

The Writers of the Future Award is the genre’s most prestigious award of its kind and has now become the largest, most successful, and demonstrably most influential vehicle for budding creative talent in the world of speculative fiction. Since its inception, the Writers and Illustrators of the Future contests have produced 39 anthology volumes (with this event) and awarded upwards of $1 million in cash prizes and royalties.

For more information about the Contests, go to www.WritersoftheFuture.com.

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