Black Jaguar finaled in the Golden Quill Awards 2011, Both White Tiger and Red Leopard received awards from The Hope Chest Review. Noah's Ark placed in the Golden Quill 2013. Previously, Vijaya Schartz won second place in the 2001 Independent Publishers awards in visionary fiction for ASHES FOR THE ELEPHANT GOD. WHITE TIGER won several awards, some for its stunning cover. In 2019, her novel ANGEL FIERCE won first prize in the Arizona Literary Awards for fiction. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her older cat, Princess Jasmine. Now Vijaya writes mainly Romantic Science Fiction and Fantasy. She traveled extensively and while writing many novels, she published articles and short stories in various Magazines, in England and in America. Daredevil since a young age, she became a gymnast in France, a surfer and a martial artist in Hawaii, a climber in the Himalayas, a rough water rider on the Colorado River, and a skydiver in Eloy, Arizona. Later, she traveled the world and lived in a monastery in India, where she translated spiritual texts from English into French for publication. As early as sixteen, she studied unexplained phenomena, secret societies and UFO sightings in Europe. Vijaya Schartz started writing at age six. All of Vijaya's books are available in many formats everywhere. Ashes for the Elephant God, set in India, was once considered for a feature film. She also writes contemporary romantic suspense and even shape shifters. Her novels gathered many awards and five-star reviews. The series is edgy and doesn't sugarcoat the middle ages. Her Medieval Fantasy Romance series, The Curse of the Lost Isle is based on authentic Celtic legends.

Her stories portray strong heroines, brave heroes, and often cats. Her latest series AZURA CHRONICLES, is set on a forbidden planet populated with angels. Her Byzantium series is set on a space station. She pioneered Romantic Science fiction action romance with the ANCIENT ENEMY series and THE CHRONICLES OF KASSOUK Series, as well as single titles like Snatched and Alien Lockdown.

Travels in Senegal by Terry Lister