>ACFW has just announced the finalists for the 2010 ACFW Carol Awards (formerly Book of the Year). These awards recognize excellence in Christian fiction in a variety of categories, and represent fiction titles released in 2009.
Here are this year’s finalists:
Debut Author
Bonnie Grove – Talking to the Dead (David C. Cook Publishing)
Liz Johnson – The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn (Steeple Hill)
Kirk Outerbridge – Eternity Falls (Marcher Lord Press)
Jill Eileen Smith – Michal (Revell)
Dan Walsh – The Unfinished Gift (Revell)
Contemporary Novella
6 Finalists due to a tie
Barbara Cameron – One Child (Thomas Nelson)
Barbara Cameron – When Winter Comes (Thomas Nelson)
Debra Clopton – A Mule Hollow Match (Steeple Hill)
Susan May Warren – The Great Christmas Bowl (Tyndale House)
Beth Wiseman – A Change of Heart (Thomas Nelson)
Beth Wiseman – A Choice to Forgive (Thomas Nelson)
Historical Novella
Victoria Bylin – Home Again (Steeple Hill)
Vickie McDonough – A Breed Apart (Barbour Publishing)
Vickie McDonough – Beloved Enemy (Barbour Publishing)
Janet Tronstad – Christmas Bells for Dry Creek (Steeple Hill)
Carrie Turansky – A Shelter in the Storm (Barbour Publishing)
Long Contemporary
6 Finalists due to a tie
Christina Berry – The Familiar Stranger (Moody Publishers)
Mary Ellis – A Widow’s Hope (Harvest House Publishers)
Joyce Magnin – The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow (Abingdon Press)
Susan Meissner – White Picket Fences (Waterbrook Press)
Marlo Schalesky- If Tomorrow Never Comes (Multnomah)
Susan May Warren – Nothing But Trouble (Tyndale House)
Long Contemporary Romance
Candace Calvert – Critical Care (Tyndale House)
Denise Hunter – Seaside Letters (Thomas Nelson)
Jenny B. Jones – Just Between You and Me (Thomas Nelson)
Beth Wiseman – Plain Promise (Thomas Nelson)
Cindy Woodmsall – The Hope of Refuge (Waterbrook Press)
Mystery
A.K. Arenz – The Case of the Mystified M.D. (Sheaf House)
Mindy Starns Clark – Under the Cajun Moon (Harvest House Publishers)
Darlene Franklin – A String of Murders (Heartsong Mysteries)
S. Dionne Moore – Polly Dent Loses Grip (Heartsong Mysteries)
Janice Thompson writing as Janice Hanna – Pushing up Daisies (Heartsong Mysteries)
Long Historical
Deeanne Gist – A Bride in the Bargain (Bethany House)
Robin Lee Hatcher – Fit To Be Tied (Zondervan)
Maureen Lang – Look to the East (Tyndale House)
Siri Mitchell – Love’s Pursuit (Bethany House)
Allison Pittman – Stealing Home (Multnomah)
Long Historical Romance
8 Finalists due to a tie
Amanda Cabot – Paper Roses (Revell)
Mary Connealy – Cowboy Christmas (Barbour Publishing)
Mary Connealy – Montana Rose (Barbour Publishing)
Laura Frantz – The Frontiersman’s Daughter (Revell)
Ann Gabhart – The Believer (Revell)
Julie Lessman – A Passion Denied (Revell)
Janice Thompson writing as Janice Hanna – Love Finds You in Poetry, Texas (Summerside Press)
Kathleen Y’Barbo – The Confidential Life of Eugenia Cooper (Waterbrook Press)
Short Contemporary
Debra Clopton – His Cowgirl Bride (Steeple Hill)
Myra Johnson – Autumn Rains (Heartsong Presents)
Vickie McDonough – A Wagonload of Trouble (Heartsong Presents)
Mae Nunn – A Texas Ranger’s Family (Steeple Hill)
Glynna Sirpless writing as Glynna Kaye – Dreaming of Home (Steeple Hill)
Short Contemporary Suspense
6 Finalists due to a tie
Jill Elizabeth Nelson – Evidence of Murder (Steeple Hill)
Sandra Robbins – Final Warning (Steeple Hill)
Virginia Smith – Murder at Eagle Summit (Steeple Hill)
Virginia Smith – Scent of Murder (Steeple Hill)
Jenness Walker – Double Take (Steeple Hill)
Lenora Worth – Code of Honor (Steeple Hill)
Short Historical
Lyn Cote – Her Patchwork Family (Steeple Hill)
Laurie Alice Eakes – The Glassblower (Heartsong Presents)
Laurie Kingery – The Outlaw’s Lady (Steeple Hill)
Lynette Sowell – All That Glitters (Heartsong Presents)
Dan Walsh – The Unfinished Gift (Revell)
Speculative (includes Science Fiction, Fantasy, Allegory)
6 Finalists due to a tie
Kirk Outerbridge – Eternity Falls (Marcher Lord Press)
Donita K. Paul – The Vanishing Sculptor (Waterbrook Press)
Steve Rzasa – The Word Reclaimed (Marcher Lord Press)
Stuart Vaughn Stockton – Starfire (Marcher Lord Press)
Fred Warren – The Muse (Splashdown Books)
Jill Williamson – By Darkness Hid (Marcher Lord Press)
Suspense/Thriller
Terri Blackstock – Intervention (Zondervan)
Colleen Coble – Lonestar Secrets (Thomas Nelson)
Brandilyn Collins – Exposure (Zondervan)
Harry Kraus – Salty Like Blood (Howard/Simon & Schuster)
DiAnn Mills – Breach of Trust (Tyndale House)
Women’s Fiction
7 Finalists due to a tie
Julie Carobini – Sweet Waters (B&H Publishing)
Kathryn Cushman – Leaving Yesterday (Bethany House)
Sara Evans & Rachel Hauck – Sweet By and By (Thomas Nelson)
Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay – Never the Bride (Waterbrook Press)
Deborah Raney – Yesterday’s Embers (Howard/Simon & Schuster)
Deborah Raney – Above All Things (Steeple Hill)
Lisa Wingate – The Summer Kitchen (New American Library/Penguin)
Young Adult
Shelley Adina – Who Made You a Princess? (Hachette FaithWords)
Brandilyn & Amberly Collins – Always Watching (Zondervan)
Jenny B. Jones – I’m So Sure (Thomas Nelson)
Jenny B. Jones – So Not Happening (Thomas Nelson)
Booker T. Mattison – Unsigned Hype (Revell)
The Carol Awards will be presented at ACFW’s Conference in Indianapolis, September 17-20. There’s still time to register at www.acfw.com/conference.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE FINALISTS!!!!