Shelter Bay author Ashley Sweeney was awarded a gold medal for “Answer Creek” by the 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Awards for best second novel June 1. It is her third gold medal for this historical fiction, published last year, which has also won the 2021 Independent Publishers Association award for best regional fiction and the 2020 Arizona Authors Association Literary Award.

“Answer Creek” re-imagines the 1848 Donner Party’s trek from Missouri west on the Oregon-California Trail. Her 19-year-old heroine, Ada Weeks, survives the journey, best known for some real-life members resorting to cannibalism while trapped in the Sierra Nevada over the winter. Sweeney offers minute details of the day-to-day travel across desert and mountain while also capturing the beauty of the varied natural habitats.

She Writes Press is the publisher. They published Sweeney’s first novel, “Eliza Waite,” also an award winner.

The Next Generation Indie Book Awards is the largest international awards program for independent authors and independent publishers. In its fifteenth year, the Next Generation Indie Book Awards annually recognize and honor the most exceptional independently published books in over 70 different categories.

Sweeney gained a $100 prize. She tied with Meera Ekkanath Klein for “Seeing Ceremony: A Novel With Recipes.” There were five finalists.

The winners and finalists will be honored June 25 in an online event which will stream live on Facebook.