Congratulations, Genesis and Book of the Year winners!

What a weekend!!

I just got in late last night from Dallas … my plane pulled in at 10 PM and I wept when I recognized the silhouette of my tall oldest son and my husband holding hands with my youngest in the airport foyer as we neared the gate. It’ll probably take me weeks to process through everything that happened at the conference and I’m sure I’ll be blogging about it for several days.

First order of the week is to post the winners of the Genesis contest, for unpublished writers, and Book of the Year, for published members of ACFW.

GENESIS winners:

Science Fiction/Fantasy/Speculative Fiction (my category!!)
1st Mirta Ann Schultz
2nd Rebecca Grabill
3rd Sherry Thompson

Contemporary Romance
1st Glynna Sirpless
2nd Kaye Dacus
3rd Kristian Tolle

Historical Romance
1st Audra Harders
2nd Andree Eisenberg
3rd Charlene Glatkowski

Mystery/suspense/thriller
1st Cheryl Wyatt
2nd Susan Spencer-Smith
3rd Wayne Scott

Romantic Suspense
1st Jill Eileen Smith
2nd Robin Miller
3rd Kelly Ann Riley

Women’s Fiction
1st Marian Merritt
2nd Julie Saffrin
3rd Erin Keeley Marshall

General Fiction
1st Christina Miller
2nd Lynne Gentry
3rd MaryAnn L. Diorio

FaithWords Finalists (Top five scoring entries were sent to the FaithWords
editorial board. There were only four finalists because one withdrew from
the contest)
Andree Eisenberg
Audra Harders
Marian Merritt
Christina Miller

FaithWords overall winner (chosen by the FaithWords editorial team)
Marian Merritt

Book of the Year winners:

Contemporary Novella
3rd place, Reunited by Kristy Dykes
2nd place, Dear Baby Girl by Jane Orcutt
winner, Strawberry Angel by Pamela Griffin

General Fiction
No 3rd place…tie for second place with Circles of Seven by Bryan Davis and The Reveal by Sarah Anne Sumpolec
winner, Daughter of Prophecy by Miles Owen

Historical Novella
3rd place, Missing Pages by DiAnn Mills
2nd place, Marrying Kind by Kathleen Y’Barbo
winner, Legend of Mercy by Pamela Griffin

Lits
3rd place, Kissing Adrian by Siri Mitchell
2nd place, Hot Flashes and Cold Cream by Diann Hunt
winner, With This Ring I’m Confused by Kristin Billerbeck

Long Historical
3rd Place, The Color of the Soul by Tracey Bateman
2nd place, A Bride Most Begrudging by Deeanne Gist
winner, Dawn of a Thousand Nights by Tricia Goyer

Short Contemporary
3rd place, Under Cover of Darkness by Elizabeth White
2nd place, Miss Menace by Nancy Lavo
winner, Shadow Bones by Colleen Rhoads (Coble)

Short Historical
3rd place, Renegade Husband by DiAnn Mills
2nd place, Sooner or Later by Vickie McDonough
winner, Beside Still Waters by Tracey Bateman

Suspense
3rd place, DarkStar by Creston Mapes
2nd place, Black Sands by Colleen Coble
winner Distant Echoes by Colleen Coble

Women’s Fiction
3rd place, Potluck Club by Eva Marie Everson and Linda Evans Shepherd
2nd place, Over the Waters by Deborah Raney
winner, The Winds of Sonoma by Nikki Arana

Winner of the BOOK OF THE YEAR award….Distant Echoes by Colleen Coble

Congratulations, everyone! I judged many of the BTY winners and was excited to see them place … but of course the category dearest to me was the SF/F entries. It’s been a running joke for weeks that since three of us Genesis finalists in that category were able to attend the conference, and three weren’t, that it would be the three who couldn’t come who would place and win. And I was right!

Hugs and kisses to Mir and Rebecca (you especially have become dear to me!) and Sherry. I had the privilege of calling Rebecca and Sherry afterwards to let them know they’d won. Rebecca was wonderful–we fell right into talking like old friends–and Sherry exudes a grace and dignity and serenity that soothed and uplifted ME far more than I’m sure I could have done for her. 🙂

My thanks to the Lord for the honor of finaling this year. I am not disappointed to not place. He has made another path clear to me, and I’m looking forward to returning next year as a category judge. I’m also blessed and awed to be able to call my fellow SF/F finalists–Beth Goddard, Becky Miller, Sherry Thompson, Rebecca Grabill, and Mir Shultz–friends as well as sister-writers for God. That to me is the treasure I take away from this contest.

I also want to thank my husband for being, as another writer said this weekend, my champion in writing … my children for providing story fodder and keeping me grounded to life … the judges who somehow liked my work well enough to put me here … Donita Paul and Tracey Bateman for mentoring and encouragement … and my wonderful writing friends and crit partners. You all know who you are. I’m humbled at the love God showers on me through you. 🙂

Now–stay tuned for the details.