Made it to Denver late afternoon yesterday, jumped in a rental car, and zipped right to the Marriott for the Christy Awards. Lots of fun--this show's off to a great start for me. I was able to meet a lot of cyber-friends in meatspace for the first time, including Brandilyn Collins, Tracie Peterson, Camy Tang, Claudia Mair Burney, Tamera Alexander, Randy Ingermanson, and others. I was also thrilled to meet and talk with authors such as Athol Dickson (I brought my copy of "River Rising" and asked him to sign it), Dale Cramer, Karen Hancock, James Scott Bell, Patti Hill, Joel Rosenberg, Beverly Lewis, and others. For that matter, last night was the first time I met Deeanne Gist. Which leads me to the real point of this post: Christy Award winners. Drumroll, please.

• Contemporary/Stand Alone - Levi's Will by Dale Cramer (Bethany House)
• Contemporary/Sequels, Series & Novellas - The Road to Home by Vanessa Del Fabbro (Steeple Hill>
• Historical - Whence Came A Prince by Liz Curtis Higgs (Waterbrook Press)
• Romance - A Bride Most Begrudging by Deeanne Gist (Bethany House)
• Suspense/Mystery - River Rising by Athol Dickson (Bethany House)
• Visionary - Shadow Over Kiriath by Karen Hancock (Bethany House)
• First Novel - This Heavy Silence by Nicole Mazzarella (Paraclete Press)

A very good night for Bethany House, a company near and dear to my own heart. And congrats to all the authors who won--all of them were incredibly gracious and humble as they accepted their awards, and it was easy to sense the camaraderie among the folks assembled.

Bret Lott gave a speech, and a call to arms, that I'm sure will generate some commentary and discussion. I'm hoping to post some of my own thoughts on what he said soon, but am still working through all that; I'm guessing Dave Long may have a few things to say about Bret's speech as well. Dave, by the way, has to be considered Editor of the Year for Christian Fiction; both River Rising and A Bride Most Begrudging, acquired by Dave, won their respective categories. And, since he also acquired a book called Waking Lazarus (maybe you've heard of it), I think he's utterly brilliant.

More to come.