When the Hollywood Book Festival Awards were announced in Los Angeles on Aug. 29 (www.hollywoodbookfest.com), Maine author Steve Burt’s novel won big. “Protect the Queen,”  a southern Maine thriller, won top honors as Best Sequel of 2023.

Set in Wells, Kennebunk, and Sanford/Springvale, “Protect the Queen” takes up where “The Bookseller’s Daughter” left off (grand prize, 2019 New York Book Festival (www.NewYorkBookFestival.com). “Protect the Queen” follows a trio of on-the-run females who are descended from an ancient human-like race—the Allagash gargouilles—as they again seek the help of a Wells bookseller, her daughter, and three Wells cops, to keep their three newborns alive.

Asked about movie prospects, Dr. Burt, a retired Congregational pastor living in Wells, said, “It’d be cool to get an offer and even better to see it filmed right around here. The story takes place in September and October during foliage time. Early scenes take place at Spiller Farm’s orchard and at Drake’s Island beach. Later scenes include Mt. Katahdin, Millinocket Lake, and Chesuncook Village.”

Burt continued, “There’s no guarantee of a movie offer, but this Hollywood Book Festival win is a big deal. The festival’s stated purpose is ‘to highlight books that deserve greater recognition from the film, television, game and multimedia communities.’ The grand prize winner this year is a Charlie Chaplin biography from Simon & Schuster Publishing. That’s a major publisher presenting a topic of interest, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s already an offer out there to make it into a biopic. I’m just a retired small-church pastor and a small-potatoes Maine author. But then again, so was my old Bangor Seminary neighbor (1979-83) Stephen King, when he was discovered. I can’t control things, I can only keep writing novels of interest to my loyal local following. If they catch on, that’s fine.”

Burt’s novels are available at Sherman’s Bookstores up and down the coast, at Booktenders in York, and through most online booksellers. For speaking dates, he can be reached at 352-391-8293. www.SteveBurtBooks.com.