2008 IPPY Awards Recognize Osaka Heat by Mary Claire Mahaney

With a Silver Medal in Multicultural Fiction

McLean, VA May 24, 2008 – Independent Publisher has announced that Osaka Heat by Mary Claire Mahaney has been selected as the Silver Medal Winner in the Multicultural Fiction Adult category for its 12th annual IPPY awards.There were 3,175 books competing in a variety of categories for the best independently published books of the past year.

Osaka Heat (AuthorHouse 2007) follows the story of an American widow who travels to Japan and becomes involved in a forbidden romance with a Japanese man. The multicultural aspects of Osaka Heat are brought out in the literature, music, and Japanese cuisine woven throughout the book, along with the personal, religious, and cultural challenges faced by the protagonist during her travels in Japan. Ms. Mahaney was inspired to write Osaka Heat she traveled to Japan as the chaperone for her son’s high school student exchange. She saw the cultural setting of a Japanese school as the perfect setting for a novel. Six years later she has an award-winning book.

"I’m honored that Osaka Heat has won a Silver Medal in this prestigious competition and am pleased that the book has been enjoyed by so many readers," said Ms. Mahaney. "One of the best things about having written Osaka Heat is the opportunity it has given me to meet people who love to read and who enjoy hearing about the writing process."Following Ms. Mahaney’s recent presentation to the McLean, Virginia, branch of the American Association of University Women, the organizer of the event commented in the organization’s News: "Her talk focused on the process of writing—with her own idiosyncratic techniques clearly described to a spellbound audience."

A reviewer for Japan Visitor recently wrote, "What ensues is a journey of self-discovery, or rather of rediscovering who she [the protagonist] is….The book won me over. Mahaney does not speak Japanese, she is not an expert on things Japanese, but she narrated well the inner life of a woman whose moment of truth happens to take place in a Japanese setting. And that is more than enough."

About Mary Claire Mahaney
Ms. Mahaney, a retired lawyer, lives in Fairfax County, Virginia, where she has served on numerous education and community boards. In 1997, she was awarded the McLean Youth, Inc., Citizen of the Year Award for her community work. She has made appearances at conferences, libraries, and bookstores, and has spoken to many groups about the inspiration for her book, the twists and turns the story took as she wrote it and revised it, and her experiences publishing the book. For more information about Ms. Mahaney and Osaka Heat, visit www.maryclairemahaney.com.

Osaka Heat(ISBN: 978-1425990824) is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble and from the publisher at www.authorhouse.com/bookstore. The link for the 2008 IPPY Awards: http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1231&urltitle=Announcing%202008%20Independent%20Publisher%20Book%20Awards%20Results

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Mary Claire Mahaney was born in 1954 in Warren, Ohio, the fourth of four children. She attended parochial schools in Warren, graduating from John F. Kennedy High School in 1972.  She received degrees from the College of Mount Saint Joseph (B.A. magna cum laude, 1976) and the University of Cincinnati College of Law (JD, 1979). She has been admitted to practice law in Ohio, Michigan, and the District of Columbia.

Early in her career, Mahaney practiced law in Cincinnati and taught business law at the University of Cincinnati and at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. As a twenty-year resident of McLean, Virginia, Mahaney has served on numerous boards in the community.

Mahaney has written essays and poetry for the Fairfax Journal, the Review, the Irish American News, and the Sharon Herald.  Her short story, "The Measure of Her, " earned an award at the 2005 Whidbey Island's Writers Conference. Osaka Heat is her first novel.