The Christy Awards to honor excellence in Christian fiction

Thursday, July 12, 2012

The Christy Awards to honor excellence in Christian fiction

By Ginny McCabe
Special to ASSIST News Service

ORLANDO, FL (ANS) -- The 13th annual Christy Awards for excellence in Christian fiction award’s dinner will be held on Monday, July 16, 2012, at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida.

New York Times best-selling author, Liz Curtis Higgs
New York Times best-selling author, Liz Curtis Higgs, will emcee.

The Christy Award is designed to nurture and encourage creativity and quality in the writing and publishing of fiction written from a Christian worldview; bring a new awareness of the breadth and depth of fiction choices available, helping to broaden the readership; and provide opportunity to recognize novelists whose work may not have reached bestseller status.

The Christy Awards were started in the spring of 1999 when about a dozen Christian publishers confirmed the need for establishing a Christian fiction award to recognize novelists and novels of excellence in several genres of Christian fiction.

Screenwriter, director, and New York Times best-selling author Randall Wallace, pictured here with Ginny McCabe, served as the keynote speaker for the 2011 Christy Awards
Each year publishers are invited to submit novels written from a Christian worldview and copyrighted in the year preceding the awards. Each novel is entered in one of several genre categories and/or the first novel category.

Each category of novels is then read and evaluated against a ten-point criteria by a panel of seven judges composed of librarians, reviewers, academicians, literary critics, and other qualified readers, none of whom have a direct affiliation with a publishing company.
This year’s nominees were announced in April and include:

Contemporary Romance
My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren (Tyndale House Publishers)
Larkspur Cove by Lisa Wingate (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
Wolfsbane by Ronie Kendig (Barbour Publishing)

Contemporary Series
The Amish Midwife by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould (Harvest House Publishers)
Dancing on Glass by Pamela Binnings Ewen (B&H Publishing Group)
The Touch by Randall Wallace (Tyndale House Publishers)

Contemporary Standalone
Dry as Rain by Gina Holmes (Tyndale House Publishers)
Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
Words by Ginny Yttrup (B&H Publishing Group)

First Novel
An Eye for Glory by Karl Bacon (Zondervan)
Southern Fried Sushi by Jennifer Rogers Spinola (Barbour Publishing)
Words by Ginny Yttrup (B&H Publishing Group

Historical
Forsaking All Others by Allison Pittman (Tyndale House Publishers)
Mine is the Night by Liz Curtis Higgs (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)
Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

Historical Romance
A Lasting Impression by Tamera Alexander (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
To Die For by Sandra Byrd (Howard Books, a division of Simon & Schuster)

Suspense
Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins (B&H Publishing Group)
Pattern of Wounds by Mark Bertrand (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)
The Queen by Steven James (Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

Visionary
The Chair by James L. Rubart (B&H Publishing Group)
Forbidden by Ted Dekker and Tosca Lee (Center Street, a division of Hachette Book Group USA)
Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group)

Young Adult
How Huge the Night by Heather Munn and Lydia Munn (Kregel Publications)
The Merchant’s Daughter by Melanie Dickerson (Zondervan)
Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren (David C Cook)

For more information, visit The Christy Awards

Kaylin McFarren, Author

A Must Read Novel, Flaherty's Crossing, Author Kaylin McFarrren

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Successful yet emotionally stifled artist Kate Flaherty stands at the deathbed of her estranged father, conflicted by his morphine-induced confession exposing his part in her mother's death. While racing home, Kate's car mishap leads her to a soul-searching discussion with a lone diner employee, prompting Kate to confront the true reasons her marriage hangs in the balance. When her night takes an unexpected turn, however, she flees for her life, a life desperate for faith that can only be found through her ability to forgive.

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