Austin Community College English Adjunct Professor Joe O’Connell was awarded the North Texas Book Festival Award for his novel, “Evacuation Plan: A Novel from the Hospice.”

O’Connell’s novel is loosely inspired by a project that sent O’Connell and a group of writers and visual artists into Hospice Austin’s Christopher House. His story centers on a screenwriter who goes to a hospice in search of a plot for his next script.

Since its release in July 2007, “Evacuation Plan” has proven a local best seller.

“Sometimes it can be difficult for authors from smaller literary publishers to get the word out, and this sort of recognition helps,” O’Connell says.

O’Connell recalls a bookseller once pointing to all of the books in her store and reminding him of the vast competition present in the publishing industry. “Awards like these help to pull books to the forefront,” he says.

This is the second major honor for “Evacuation Plan.” The book recently was a finalist for the Violet Crown Book Award sponsored by the Writers League of Texas.