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Purple by Graham J. Sharpe is competing as a Semi-Finalist for the title of Best Indie Book 2012 in the Young Adult category by The Kindle Book Review after receiving outstanding star ratings.

The semi-finalists were chosen after hooking the judges within the first few pages. Additional criteria included strong formatting and editing as well as above average star ratings. Five finalists will be announced on Sept. 1 and only one will be the category winner, receiving the title of The Kindle Book Review’s Best Young Adult of 2012 Winner.

Sharpe, 46, had been writing and traveling for years, but didn’t begin writing Purple until a close friend encouraged him to take the plunge. “I told her that I really wanted to write a book and that I had an idea for a story,” Sharpe explained. “So she asked, ‘Well, why don’t you do it?’ I said, ‘Well who am I to write a book?’  And I’ll always remember her response, ‘Oh don’t be so British!’”

Though categorized for the young adult, Purple is teeming with themes ranging from bullying and tolerance to generational and cultural differences to loss and greed.

“I didn’t write Purple with a specific age group in mind,” Sharpe said. “If someone put a gun to my head and told me I had to categorize it, I’d be tempted to let them pull the trigger.  If I must, I would say it is for ages 13 to 122 years old. I say that because according to Wikipedia, the oldest person in the world was Jeanne Calmen who lived to be 122.”

About Purple
Purple is a sci-fi adventure set in modern-day London. After a purple storm sweeps around planet Earth, stealing millions of people, four teenagers struggle to make it alone. Drawn together by a series of bizarre coincidences they soon find themselves entangled with a bunch of interfering pensioners. Among the cast of players are camp hairdresser Mr. Rupert, Pearl the loud-mouthed tea lady, and June, a psychic, who travels the world on her motorbike.

Reviewers have described Purple as beautifully written, funny and thought-provoking.

Excerpt from the beginning of Chapter One:

Ellie Arnold believes in reincarnation and thinks she may have been Marilyn Monroe in a previous life. When Ellie told her parents about this, they laughed out loud.

Twenty-three weeks later, June 22nd, one a.m. to be exact, Ellie tidied her freshly-bleached Marilyn Monroe hairstyle in the mirror. She applied a coat of red lipstick, penciled in a beauty spot and blew herself a kiss.

She’d turned the light off at ten, but insomnia must be an eight-hour virus that lurks in toothpaste. As soon as she’d cleaned her teeth and put her head on the pillow, the symptoms appeared. Too late to prevent infection, she lay alone in the dark and imagined the blood rushing AWAKE round her system: swoosh…swoosh…swoosh. It made her feet burn, her legs restless and her shoulders ache. It caused a sudden onset of wriggle-squirm-roll-flip. When it finally reached her brain, triggering an explosion of thought, she gave up and trudged downstairs to the lounge.

To learn more about Sharpe and purchase Purple, visit http://www.grahamjsharpe.com.