XENIA — A Xenia native has won a prestigious award for her writing.

Traci (Ison) Schafer, a 1984 Xenia High School grad, received the 2018 National Indie Excellence Award for her science fiction novel, “The Anuan Legacy,” which is partially set at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

In the book, Victoria Spencer is an unsatisfied intern at the Air Force Research Laboratories. She can’t stop thinking about a classified project that doesn’t involve her, and unable to resist the pull the project has on her, Spencer breaks into the restricted lab where the project is located and finds a captured alien pilot. Fearing what the government might do to him, she helps him escape. But the extraterrestrial, Gaige, has a secret — Victoria is the reason he’s on Earth. As the pair flee from federal agents, who seem to be backed by a force beyond Earth means, Spencer is drawn closer to Gaige, his world, and his people. She soon realizes her life is no longer her own, and a hidden power lying within her could be the key to unlocking her destiny … or lead to her destruction.

Based on an ancient alien theory, “The Anuan Legacy” lets the reader experience just how far one will go to follow their soul’s path, in life and in love, against all obstacles.

Schafer, an alumni of Wright State University, is a contracting officer for the Air Force and began her government career at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, where she worked until her recent move to Oklahoma.

She now continues her government career at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City. Traci is still active in the Dayton area writing community, where she is a founding member of The Plot Sisters’ critique group and frequently participates in the Antioch Writers’ Workshop at the University of Dayton. She’s also active in the writing community in Oklahoma where she is the current president of the Oklahoma City Writers and is on the executive board of the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation.

In addition, Schafer has also recently started her own publishing company, Inkana Publishing.