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MARQUETTE HEIGHTS RESIDENT CAPTURES GRAND PRIZE IN WRITERS OF THE FUTURE CONTEST HONORED AT HOLLYWOOD AWARDS EVENT HOLLYWOOD - Marquette Heights, Illinois resident Desmond Astaire was honored at the L. Ron Hubbard Achievement Awards Event in Hollywood as the grand prize winner in the Writers of the Future Contest earning him the Golden Pen Award trophy and a cash prize of $5,000 in addition to having his story, "Gallows," published in the international bestselling anthology, L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future Volume 38. The awards event at the Taglyan Complex on April 8th was a black-tie gala honoring all the writer and illustrator winners as well as announcing the grand prize writer and illustrator winners. In his acceptance speech, Desmond relayed to the nearly five hundred attendees, \u201cShort story anthologies are such a beautiful piece of speculative fiction culture, and for L. Ron Hubbard's estate to continue nurturing emerging writers is a truly special gift. Thanks to all the judges and everyone at Author Services, Inc. and Galaxy Press responsible for anthologies like \u2018Writers of the Future' for facilitating the journey of our imaginations to faraway times and places to the solace and escape of the story. My intent with this Golden Pen Award it to someday join your ranks and be able to touch minds and influence lives the way you've influenced mine in this wondrous venture of written storytelling.\u201d Desmond Astaire is a speculative fiction storyteller from Central Illinois, where he navigates the journey of life alongside a devoted wife and forever-loved son. In his other life, Astaire is a senior enlisted leader for a military public relations unit, supervising the training, development, and operations of multimedia content creators. Astaire\u2019s lifelong obsession with science fiction and fantasy was forged as a child in the halls of local public libraries. The addiction was enabled by reading programs like Accelerated Reader and BOOK IT!, and the revelation to write professionally was born after his discovery of Dean Wesley Smith\u2019s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds anthology. For these formative experiences, he is forever grateful. Astaire can be found Saturday mornings in Peoria metro-area coffee shops conducting weekly writing sessions and trying to apply Denzel Washington\u2019s adage that \u201cDreams without goals are just dreams, and they ultimately fuel disappointment.\u201d Writers of the Future was Astaire\u2019s goal since 2017. The Contest, one of the most prestigious writing competitions in the world, is currently in its 39th 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 (Duneprequel series), Robert J. Sawyer (Quantum Night), Brandon Sanderson (Mistbornseries, The Stormlight Archive), Larry Niven (Ringworld), Orson Scott Card (Ender\u2019s Game), Nnedi Okorafor (Who Fears Death), David Farland (Runelords), and Katherine Kurtz (Deryniseries) 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 Metalcomics and Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Ciruelo (Eragon Coloring Book).