Her second novel Love In Shades Of Grey, published in 2004, was selected as the Dymocks Critics Choice while The Time Stealers was a finalist in the 2009 Sir Julius Vogel Awards for Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy in the Best Novella section and The Spiral Chrysalis was short-listed in the Best Young Adult/Children's novel section of the same awards.
Her latest manuscript was an adult read but could appeal to younger readers, Mrs MacLean said.
"It's about faith in the broader sense of the word. It's about having faith in ourselves, and others like our leaders and families."
It is a tale about a young man called Jito who lives in a small desert and who is appointed as protector of the village.
"[He] leaves his family and his occupation to undertake the traditional role of protector, entering the protector's compound to guard the unspecified 'that which is most sacred in this world'," she said.
While adjusting to life confined within the compound, he discovers much he has previously taken for granted, is mistaken.
"Jito struggles to reconcile this with his roles as spiritual leader, husband and father, and the meaning of faith in the world and wider universe while his village is threatened by climate change."
It's a journey of faith, Mrs MacLean said.
"Through Jito's spiritual journey which threatens the validity of everything he knows and holds dear, the novel becomes a vivid and challenging examination of the holistic nature of faith and its importance to humanity," she said.
The Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust, in conjunction with the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN NZ Inc) offers one of the largest monetary prizes for literature in the country with two awards of $10,000.
The awards recognise both budding and published writers whose work embodies the mind, body, spirit genre with two separate accolades, the Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust Book Award and the Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust Unpublished Manuscript Award.
Society chief executive Maggie Tarver said as with previous years the 2013 awards attracted an impressive response from New Zealand writers with 102 entries.
"The 2013 Ashton Wylie Charitable Trust Literature Awards received a remarkable number of written works."
Entries were of a very high standard and each of the shortlisted finalists had produced work of an excellent quality which demonstrated they had a natural aptitude for writing, Ms Tarver said.
Winners will be announced in a ceremony in Auckland on Friday, August 16.
