Today, the co-winner of the 2009 TextNovel Grand Prize, an international literary award, was announced as Catherine Mambretti’s novel, Chalk Ghost. The TextNovel Contest is an innovative, annual literary competition for genre fiction designed for the 21st Century electronic-publishing marketplace, which includes an increasing number of new formats.

Although e-publishing is the fastest growing segment of the industry, few creative works have been designed for readers of these multiple new formats. Mystery/thriller genre Chalk Ghost was written specifically to address the requirements of such readers, including capabilities for direct communication and interactivity as a novel is being created. During the novel’s development, Catherine Mambretti began posting cell-phone-sized chapters on www.TextNovel.com in March, 2009. Reader responses assisted in shaping the direction of the story. Mambretti explains how the online process drove plot development: “Writing via the Internet intensifies every element of a story. Each screen-sized chapter must contribute to the narrative flow. Every page must end in a cliff-hanger.”

In May, 2009, the Editorial Board chose Chalk Ghost as an “Editors Pick” and featured it on the website’s home page. The site allows readers to become “followers” of the Chalk Ghost (subscribers to its real-time feed). Readers also have an opportunity to comment on the story as it unfolds. Chalk Ghost's readers provided comments on the novel’s protagonist, Lily-Rose Whitehorse, a deaf Chippewa with psychic abilities.  “I began to hear from readers around the world,” says Mambretti. “People told me they were moved by the story’s single-mom protagonist and the murder victim, a Hmong-immigrant teenager. That’s when I knew Chalk Ghost really was coming to life.”

As a consequence of winning the award, Mambretti has signed with the Soper Literary Agency for representation of the novelization of Chalk Ghost, commenting: “I’m thrilled to have the support of such a knowledgeable agency as the Soper Literary Agency while Chalk Ghost finds its audience, not only on e-book readers and handheld devices but on bookstore shelves.”

Catherine Mambretti holds a Ph.D. in English Language and Literature from The University of Chicago. She is a published mystery author and also the author of two educational technology books and numerous scholarly articles. Ms. Mambretti is a member of The Authors Guild, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. She lives in the Chicago metro area.