Coming Soon...

I'm so excited for my friend and amazing critique partner, Cathy West! Her debut novel, Yesterday's Tomorrow, is releasing in just a few weeks, and she's gotten some really great feedback on it. I can't wait to hold a copy of her book in my hands! Though I've read different versions of it quite a few times, there's something special about seeing it with a cover and reading it all the way through solely for pleasure. Cathy, all your hard work is about to pay off!

Check out her book trailer:

Big News!

Today Tracy and I launched a blog together! We're so excited about this. On October 13th, our first co-authored novel will release. We're having a booksigning on that day, and one of our editors will be hanging out with us, but more info on that later. Just wanted to let you know to go check out the blog here! You know you needed another blog to follow. :-)

It'll be a fun place to hang out. And with two of us, maybe the posts will be a little more frequent. :-) We plan to focus on chick lit for a while, so we have a fantastic group of authors lined up to interview for that spotlight. And there will be book giveaways, so you know you won't want to miss that. Later on we hope to focus on some co-author teams, and we'll do some light-hearted devotionals and whatever else.

And, of course, we'll be talking about Bliss! So stop by Mind Chocolate. You won't regret it. And if you do, well, there's not much I can do about that. :-)

The Carol Awards

I'm very pleased to announce the finalists in the Carol Awards, formerly known as the Book of the Year Awards, hosted by American Christian Fiction Writers. Some of my buddies and mentors are on this list! Congratulations to everyone, especially Liz Johnson, Susan May Warren, Rachel Hauck, and Christina Berry!

Debut Author

Bonnie Grove - Talking to the Dead (David C. Cook Publishing)
Liz Jonson - 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 Woodsmall - 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.

First Lines 2

Still talking about first lines, here. I looked through my bookshelf and picked out a dozen first lines. You like?

1. The first time it happened, I had pins sticking in my back.
~ from Leaper by Geoffrey Wood

2. It was raining the night he found me.
~from Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee

3. The blow came like the torrent below, hard and swift and unexpected.
~ from Freefall by Kristen Heitzmann

4. PJ Sugar had been born to sneak up on people.
~ from Double Trouble by Susan May Warren

5. The past couldn't have picked a worse time to find her.
~ from Flee the Night by Susan May Warren

6. Ten years ago I was a dead man.
~ from Scared by Tom Davis

7. Whistling a tune from Fiddler on the Roof, I used my tweezers to work a piece of Gloria Cunningham's skull out of the sky blue wall.
~ from Hazardous Duty by Christy Barritt

8. My thighs were at it again.
~ from Dreaming in Black and White by Laura Jensen Walker

9. Five months ago I raised Gary and Mary Andrews from the dead.
~ from Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson

10. On Monday, I uncovered a drug ring in South Minneapolis.
~ from Symphony of Secrets by Sharon Hinck

11. Bad hair ruined my life.
~ from She's All That by Kristin Billerbeck

12. Kate O'Malley had been in the dungeon since dawn.
~ from The Negotiator by Dee Henderson

What are some favorites from your shelf?