Local author a finalist for book award

Newton — Newton High School graduate, Matthew Tully, author of “The Chimera Seed,” is a finalist in the general fiction category of the National Best Books 2009 Awards, sponsored by USA Book News. “The Chimera Seed” transports the reader to Italy, where the genetically-engineered Niamh grape grows, and back to the United States, where politics, corruption, greed, obsession, revenge, passion and moral imperatives make Dionysinol the most sought-after and dangerous substance on Earth. This is Tully’s first novel. It was featured at Book Expo America 2009, the largest book publishing event in North America. The sequel, “The Chimera Spawn,” is set to be released in the spring of 2010. Tully, a member of The Authors Guild, was born in New York City. At age five, he and his family moved to Ireland where they lived until he was 13 years old. He completed his undergraduate degree at Seton Hall University in New Jersey and continued his graduate studies in Rome. He resides in New Jersey where he is a Tenafly public school teacher and adjunct professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University.