This year, the Carol Award is named to honor editorial pioneer Carol Johnson and others like her who envisioned how Christian fiction could make a mark in the publishing world. You can read the press release about the award here.

The list of categories has grown with typically 5 finalists in each category. Some categories have ties, so there are six to eight in some. Michal is a finalist in the Debut Author Category. Here is the complete list: (Revell has 7 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 here.

Quite a list! I’ve read some of these books and am so thrilled for each finalist! I would love to have Michal win, of course, but in truth, I am grateful and honored simply to final. My competition is stiff and well deserving!

If you’re looking for some great summer reads – check out these books. And stay tuned. I’ll be at the conference in September (I sure hope the dress I bought for the banquet still fits!) and will post the winners as soon as I can.

Congratulations to all finalists!

Selah~

The box was from my publisher, but I had no idea what was in it. It was too early for copies of Bathsheba, which won’t be out until next year. I had all the bookmarks I needed and hadn’t ordered any copies of anything on my own. Hmm…

I grabbed the scissors to cut the packing tape, and pulled out a plastic wrapped cardboard pack with six books inside. Three copies of Michal in German! And three copies of Abigail in hardcover! I knew the German copies were coming some time, but had no idea when. A friend found the German publisher that carries it on their website. Check it out here. Funny that the title and my name are in English. But the rest, though hard to read here, is definitely in German. The hardcover copies of Abigail are available at Crossings Book Club. Check it out here.

Also, I will soon be able to give you a sneak peek at Bathsheba’s cover! Come back in about two weeks or stay tuned to Revell’s website or Amazon’s website. I can’t wait to share it with you all!

I’m coming up on the final section of Sarai, and working toward the climax. I think it might actually be possible that I will be within my word count without a ton of word cutting. Once I finish the first draft, I’m planning to take July off. Then I will do more research. I’ve got books on Ancient Mesopotamia that I want to read more of, and put myself into the manners and customs of the times a little better. By then galleys for Bathsheba will come and that will mean probably a month of editing. Then back to rewrites for Sarai, and I’ll start figuring out my synopsis for Rebekah’s story.

Also coming soon is another announcement on some upcoming books. Lots of good things ahead, and I am so grateful God has given me the chance to study His Word and write stories about the people He has immortalized throughout the pages of His book.

Other than that, I’ve got a few other writing deadlines I’m wrapping up and then going to spend July painting and visiting and reading. I wonder if we could paint the whole house in one summer…then again, painting is a LOT of work! Two window frames done. Too many to go! Wears me out. :)

Selah~

If you’ve been reading this blog very long, you know my dad fell and broke his hip a year and a half ago and has been in a nursing home since. We have watched his slow deterioration, at times better, at times worse. But until a month or so ago, I thought he could live many more years even without the ability to get around any more. That still may be true. I do not know God’s plan for his future. But as my friend recently told me she believes this is her mom’s last Christmas, I have a feeling that may be true for my dad as well.

I spent time with him today with my sister, brother-in-law, and mom, celebrating their Christmas with him. This was my second Christmas celebration with him as Randy and I had gone to a Christmas luncheon with him and my mom a few weeks ago put on by the nursing home. He was lethargic that day, and when I told him Christmas was in a few weeks, he said, “I don’t know if I can wait that long.”

The way he said it and the way he looked at me, gave me pause. This wasn’t a child excitedly anticipating Santa Claus. This was a man telling me he wasn’t sure he’d still be here on earth when Christmas came. I hadn’t asked him to elaborate on his statement then though, so my assumption was just that – something to ponder, but nothing to which I could be certain.

Today, not long after the nurse wheeled my dad into the room to meet with us, he looked at us and said, “I didn’t expect to still be here.” This time we asked him what he meant by that. My suspicions were confirmed. He thought by now he would be with Jesus.

So Daddy’s thoughts have turned heavenward much more than they had been. I can’t blame him. He can no longer read his Bible like he used to, no longer feed himself as he once did – though he had no trouble eating the big cookie I brought him or enjoying his coffee though now he drinks it from a straw. He never did like it cold and still doesn’t. :)

When I left to come home, he kissed me goodbye and told me he loves me, as he always does. He often tells me how glad he is to see me, and how grateful he is for me. I know without doubt he loves me, and the knowing makes me already miss him.

I will never begrudge him heaven or a new body, but the knowledge that he is ready to go whereas only six months ago he talked like he would live to be 90, makes the reality of life’s brevity much stronger now. I will always treasure the legacy he’s given me.

During our visit I got to tell my parents that Michal has been nominated for an award – that’s the exciting news to this post that I took way too long getting to. I found out this week – though the announcements aren’t posted yet – that Michal is nominated for the Christian Retailer’s Choice Award in the Fiction: General category! Daddy laughed and got a little emotional when I told him. He’s never been able to finish reading my first book though it sits proudly on his nightstand. He used to show it off. He just can’t retain enough to read anymore.

I’m so honored and excited to be nominated for this award – and thank you again to all of my readers who have helped make Michal the success it has been so far. I probably shouldn’t mix the announcement in with the bittersweet thoughts of my dad, but it’s just been one of those days…

But isn’t life like that? We take the good and the not-so-good, the bitter with the sweet. I told my dad we’d be back next week with the boys – they come home on Sunday! He seemed quite pleased. He’s told me to tell them that he wants to go with them when they return to California. Maybe he will, though not in this body and not to California – to a place where the Son always shines, where the good always wins, where he can walk again on streets of gold and his peace shall be sweet forever.

Selah~

I’ve spent a lot of time on the new website this week, updating all of the old Spotlight posts so that they all now have pictures of the authors and covers of some of their books. I need to make the new lineup for 2010 Spotlight interviews – hopefully today! I’m hoping the new website will go live before the week is out. In any case, soon…

I’ve also coordinated the recipes I had on this site and plan to add more as time allows. At least now I was able to find my Starbucks imitation peppermint mocha drink recipe. I had hunted on this site and couldn’t find it! Now it’s right there behind the recipe link.

I found out last week that Michal is going to be printed in German! My German grandmother would have loved that – she might have even been able to read it. So far Michal will have a Dutch and now a German edition! Very cool!

And it also looks like Abigail will have an ad in Messianic Times! I’m thrilled and honored to have this market added to the list, along with a few other new ones. Abigail also now has a Fan Page up on Facebook, where you can read a short excerpt. The first chapter will be available soon on the book series website.

I made a pact with myself this week to stop looking up sales numbers on Amazon’s website. Authors tend to look at their books to see how well they are doing there, but Amazon is only one bookseller, and their numbers change every hour. So when my books would be in the low numbers and higher on the top 100 in biblical fiction, I’d be glad, but when they dropped off the list and the numbers rose, my spirits tended to sink. I realized this constant checking is like watching the stock market. Unless I plan to sell stocks, what good does it do? And Amazon numbers will change with or without my perusal, so I quit checking.

Besides, Amazon numbers do not give the full picture. My publisher told me that they’ve had authors not do so well on Amazon but still have great sales. So you really can’t tell by one bookstore. I’m amazed how freeing letting this go has been. And my emotions don’t have to be linked to a fluctuating market. It also helps me resist the comparison to others temptation.

As Jesus once said to Peter when he tried to compare himself to John, “If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you? You follow me.” Comparisons aren’t good. Our focus needs to be on following Jesus, not someone else.

The cats have been more needy these days. Depending on which room or chair I’m in, one or both of them is consistently in need of my attention. This can be good at times. At others it’s downright annoying. :)

I’m trying to motivate myself to get on the treadmill again. I walked a mile yesterday and hope to do so again today. Tendinitis, carpal tunnel and other symptoms keep cropping up again. I can’t tell if it’s the position I use to type or what. I can’t seem to find the perfect place to use a laptop and the desktop works too slow.

We bought tickets to bring our boys home for Christmas! Now to get the matter of sleeping arrangements taken care of. (We need a new set of mattresses.) And I do hope we can get some furniture rearranged by then too. Our projects got stalled after our trip to California because Randy had too many outside car and yard projects to work on. With the weather changing, perhaps I can get him to help me with those inside ones now. :) I still think turning one of the rooms into my own office would be nice, but motivation to clean is not coming without a struggle.

In the meantime, I need to finish writing a course I’m co-teaching next month through ACFW – one more lesson to go, then get back to Bathsheba to finalize it before the deadline. I don’t know where I’m going to cut 1500 more words, but now that it’s sat for almost two weeks, it’s time to look it over again.

~Shalom

Only 2 more days to enter, so don’t delay! (There are only a few comments, so your chances are good.) :)