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EMBARGOED UNTIL 9:00 P.M., JULY 16, 2012

201 2012 CHRISTY AWARD WINNERS PRESENTED IN ORLANDO

ORLANDO ORLANDOThe 2012 Christy Awards were presented at a banquet Monday evening, July 16, 2012, at Orlandos Rosen Centre Hotel during the International Christian Retail Show. The event featured a keynote address entitled Captured by Story: Unpublished Thoughts on Finding True North in a Changing Landscape by publishing industry icon Allen Arnold, late of Thomas Nelson. New York Times best-selling and Christy Award-winning author, Liz Curtis Higgs, emceed. Christian fiction fans not able to attend the event in person were able to participate via a liveblog on the Christy Awards website. An archive of the event can be accessed online at www.ChristyAwards.com. The Christy Awards are proud to honor both Catherine Marshall and her novel through the annual presentation of the Christy Awards, which recognize novels of excellence. The Christy Awards Advisory Board is pleased to announce the following winners of the 2012 Christy Awards in nine categories. CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

Wolfsbane by Ronie Kendig Barbour Publishing

Demolitions expert Danielle Roark has been left behind in hostile territory during a mission with Nightshade. Former Green Beret and medic, Canyon Metcalfe, beset with memories of another mission gone bad, vows to rescue her, sacrificing everything. As secrets unravel, will Canyon and Dani find healing, closure, and each other? Kendig, Ronie Kendig www.roniekendig.com, grew up in an Army household and married a veteran. They now have four children and a Golden Retriever. She has a B.S. in psychology, speaks to various groups, volunteers with American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), and mentors new writers.

CONTEMPORARY SERIES

Mindy The Amish Midwife by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould Harvest House Publishers
Adopted as a child, nurse midwife Lexie Jaeger learns the true meaning of the Pennsylvania Dutch word demutto let beas she reaches out to her birth family and is transformed from a woman who wants to control everything to a woman who depends on God. Mindy Starns Clark, www.mindystarnsclark.com, is the author of many books Clark (more than 450,000 copies sold), which include A Pocket Guide to Amish Life, Shadows of Lancaster County, and Whispers of the Bayou. In addition, Mindy is a popular inspirational speaker and playwright. Gould, Leslie Gould www.lesliegould.com, a former magazine editor, is the author of numerous novels, including Beyond the Blue and Garden of Dreams. She received

her master of fine arts degree from Portland State University and lives in Oregon with her husband, Peter, and their four children.

CONTEMPORARY STANDALONE

Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group
Eleven-year-old Roz Anthony and her family have just moved to Mills River, Ill., to escape an abusive situation. Only days after settling into their new home, they discover that the elderly former resident, Tillie, is determined to keep living there. Out of sympathy, they agree to let her stay. When danger stalks the Anthonys, its Tillie who exhibits unimaginable courage and selfless love in her determination to protect the family she has adopted as her own. Tatlock, Ann Tatlock www.anntatlock.com, is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel All the Way Home. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association "Book of the Year" in fiction for both All the Way Home and I'll Watch the Moon. Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, N.C.

FIRST NOVEL Words by Ginny Yttrup B&H Publishing Group Ten-year old Kaylee Wren hasnt spoken since her drug-addled mother walked away, leaving her in a remote cabin with a dangerous and evil man. With silence her only refuge, Kaylee collects words she might never speak from the only memento her mother left behind: a dictionary. Sierra Dawn is a thirty-four-yearold artist allowing the shame of her past to silence her present hopes. Together, Kaylee and Sierra will discover the healing mercy of the WordJesus Christ.

Yttrup, Ginny Yttrup www.ginnyyttrup.com, dreamt of becoming a writer most of her adult life and pursued her dream by learning the craft and honing her skills. Her debut novel, Words, is the fulfillment of that dream. Ginny is a mother, friend, writer, life and writing coach, and dog lover.

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HISTORICAL

Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group
Alice Grace Ripley lives in a dream world, her nose stuck in a book. Amid the Great Depression, the happily-ever-after life she's planned suddenly falls apart when her boyfriend breaks up with her and she loses her beloved job as a librarian. Longing to run from small-town gossip, Alice flees to the mountains of eastern Kentucky to deliver five boxes of donated books to the tiny and backwards coal-mining town of Acorn where she discovers that real-life adventure, mystery and especially romancemay be far better than her humble dreams could have imagined. Austin, Lynn Austin www.lynnaustin.org, a former teacher who now writes and speaks full time, has won eight Christy Awards for her historical fiction. One of those novels, Hidden Places, has also been made into a Hallmark Channel movie. Lynn and her husband have raised three children and make their home near Chicago, Ill.

HISTORICAL ROMANCE

The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group
To avoid marriage to a dishonorable man, Margaret Macy flees London disguised as a housemaid. If she can remain unwed until her next birthday, she will receive an inheritance and, with it, sweet independence. But she never planned on actually working as a servant. And certainly not at Fairbourne Hallthe home of two former suitors. As she fumbles through the first real work of her life, Margaret struggles to keep her identity secret. When a trap is set to force her from hiding, will love or danger find her first? Klassen, Julie Klassen www.julieklassen.com, loves all things JaneJane Eyre and Jane Austen. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full time. She has won the Christy Award for The Silent Governess (2010) and The Girl in the Gatehouse (2011), which also won the 2010 Midwest Book Award for Genre Fiction. Julie and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Minn.

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SUSPENSE

The Queen by Steven James Revell Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group While investigating a mysterious double homicide in an isolated northern Wisconsin town, FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers uncovers a high-tech conspiracy that ties together long-buried Cold War secrets with present-day tensions in the Middle East. Critically acclaimed author Steven James www.stevenjames.net, has James, written more than thirty books, including Story, A Heart Exposed, and the bestselling Patrick Bowers thriller series. He is considered one of the nation's most innovative storytellers and versatile authors and is a contributing editor to Writer's Digest.
VISIONARY

Rose Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group
Rose Red has a secret that keeps her lonely and hidden away in a forest, wearing a veil of rags, until a privileged young man sent to spend his summer in the mountains befriends her and together they begin searching for the monster rumored to be stalking the land. But the hunt, which began as a game, holds greater risk than either imagines. Soon both are forced to test their trust in each other as a far more terrifying scourge puts their entire land at risk. Stengl, Anne Elisabeth Stengl anneelisabethstengl.blogspot.com, makes her home in Raleigh, N.C., where she enjoys her profession as an art teacher, giving private lessons from her personal studio, and teaching group classes at the Apex Learning Center. She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University.

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YOUNG ADULT

Waterfall by Lisa T. Bergren David C Cook

Many American teens would consider an Italian vacation a treat, but the Bentarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives there with their archeologist parents, and the novelty is gone. Stuck on yet another hot, dusty dig, they are bored out of their minds until they place their hands atop handprints in an ancient tomb and find themselves in the fourteenth centuryand in the middle of a fierce battle between knights of two opposing forces. Bergren, Lisa T. Bergren www.lisatawnbergren.com, is the award-winning author of more than thirty-five books, with more than two million copies sold. A former publishing executive, Lisa now divides her time between writing, editing, parenting three children with her husband, Tim, and dreaming of her next trip to Italy. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colo.

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