Featured Debut Novelist: Carla Laureano

Carla Laureano is the author of the romance novel, Five Days in Skye, and as C.E. Laureano is the author of the young adult fantasy series, The Song of Seare.

Carla Laureano earned a degree in English from Pepperdine University in 1997. Since then, she has been a professional marketer, copywriter, and martial arts instructor, but her first love is telling stories that cause readers to look at their world and their faith in new ways.

Carla is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Romance Writers of America (RWA). She was selected as a finalist in ACFW’s 2012 Genesis contest in the speculative fiction category. She lives with her husband, two sons, and a menagerie of small pets in Denver, Colorado.

The following is a February 2014 interview with Carla.

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ENTER THE GIVEAWAY
AT THE END OF THE INTERVIEW

Be in to win a copy of
Five Days in Skye
by Carla Laureano

One copy to be won

Contest open to entrants worldwide.

Contest runs from 14-28 February NZDT

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The Carol Awards: 2013 Winners Announced

The Carol Awards are ACFW's recognition for the best Christian fiction published by traditional publishing houses in the previous calendar year.

The following are the winners for the 2013 Carol Awards that were announced during the the Gala held at the 2013  ACFW National Conference in Indianapolis on  September 15, 2013.

Feel free to leave comments of congratulations at the end of the blog post.

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Featured Debut Novelist: Rachel Coker

Rachel Coker resides in Virginia with her parents and two sisters. She has a passion for great books, and has been surrounded by them all her life. In fact, as a young child, Rachel helped her parents in a family-run Christian book business.

Her gift for writing became apparent at the age of eleven at which time her parents signed her up for a year of lessons with a professional writing coach. She signed with Zondervan in 2010, resulting in the publication of her YA fiction novel, Interrupted, in March 2012, when she was sixteen. Chasing Jupiter is her second book.

When she is not writing or playing the piano, Rachel enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

The following is an August 2013 interview with Rachel.

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ENTER THE GIVEAWAY 
AT THE END OF THE INTERVIEW

Be in to win a copy of either Interrupted or Chasing Jupiter - one copy of each to be won. 

Contest open to entrants in the USA only.

Contest runs from 16-31 August NZDT

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Featured Author Interview: Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Anne Elisabeth Stengl is the award-winning author of the Tales of Goldstone Wood, a series of fantasy adventure novels told in the classic Fairy Tale style.

She studied illustration at Grace College and English literature at Campbell University. She is the author of Heartless, Veiled Rose, Moonblood, and Starflower, with Dragonwitch releasing in July 2013. Her books are popular with adults and young adults alike. Heartless and Veiled Rose have each been honored with a Christy Award.

When she's not writing, she enjoys Shakespeare, opera, and tea, and studies piano, painting, and pastry baking. She is married to the handsome man she met at fencing class, Rohan, and lives with him, a gaggle of cats, and one long-suffering dog in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The following is a July 2013 interview with Anne Elisabeth.

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ENTER THE GIVEAWAY AT THE END OF THE INTERVIEW Be in to win one copy of Dragonwitch.  Giveaway open to entrants worldwide. Contest runs from July 1 - 7 NZDT

Cover Reveal: Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

"She Will Take Your
Own Two Hands

To Save Your Ancient,
Sorrowing Lands."
 

By her father's wish, Lady Daylily is betrothed to the Prince of Southlands. Not the prince she loves, handsome and dispossessed Lionheart, but his cousin, the awkward and foolish Prince Foxbrush. Unable to bear the future she sees as her wedding day dawns, Daylily flees into the dangerous Wilderlands, her only desire to vanish from living memory.

But Foxbrush, determined to rescue his betrothed, pursues Daylily into a new world of magic and peril, a world where vicious Faerie beasts hold sway, a world invaded by a lethal fey parasite . . .

A world that is hauntingly familiar.

Featured Author Interview: Colleen Coble

Colleen Coble is an American Christian author of romance, romantic suspense and historical fiction. She is also CEO of American Christian Fiction Writers. 

Colleen's thirty-five novels and novellas have sold a total of about 2 million copies, and have received numerous awards, including the Romance Writers of America prestigious RITA, the Holt Medallion, the ACFW Book of the Year, the Daphne du Maurier, National Readers’ Choice, the Booksellers Best, and the 2009 Best Books of Indiana-Fiction award.

Colleen says, “Born and raised in the Midwest (Indiana), I grew up on a farm with horses, pigs and chickens. I had plenty of adventure–from being dragged by my pony to running my brother Randy’s motorcycle through a fence. Maybe that’s why all my stories have action and adventure in them.”

The following is a May 2013 interview with Colleen.

The Christy Awards: 2013 Nominees Announced

The nominees for the 2013 Christy Awards were announced this weekend.

A total of 28 nominations over nine categories have been revealed. Winners will be announced and presented with their awards at the 14th annual Christy Awards dinner to be held Monday, June 24, 2013, at the Renaissance Grand Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri.

The following is a list of those categories and the nominations in each.

Featured Author Interview: Kathleen Fuller

Kathleen Fuller is an American writer, specializing in Christian and Amish romantic fiction.

She is the author of several books, including the Amish series Hearts of Middlefield and the Middlefield Family series for Thomas Nelson Publishers, as well as the young adult series Mysteries of Middlefield. She is also included in two Amish anthologies for Thomas Nelson, An Amish Christmas and An Amish Gathering, and in the upcoming Barbour anthology A Pioneer Christmas Collection.

Kathleen was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas and currently resides in Geneva, Ohio with her husband, James Fuller, and three children.

The following is an April 2013 interview with Kathleen.

Featured Author Interview: Melanie Dickerson

Melanie Dickerson

Melanie Dickerson is a two-time Christy Award finalist and her book, The Healer's Apprentice, won the National Readers Choice Award for Best First Book.

She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Romance Writers of America (RWA).

Melanie's books include The Healer's Apprentice, The Merchant's Daughter, and The Fairest Beauty, all fairy tale re-tellings set in Medieval Europe, popular with adult and young adult readers alike.

The following is a February 2013 interview with Melanie.