I’m posting today in my role of Zone Director of the Beyond the Borders zone of American Christian Fiction Writers, which includes many Australian and New Zealand members.
American Christian Fiction Writers is a writing organisation devoted to improving the craft of Christian Fiction. Members can benefit from:
- Online critique groups, writing training, and webinars.
- Discounted entry to the First Impressions and Genesis Awards for unpublished writers.
- Discounted entry to the Carol Awards for novels published in the previous year.
- Free announcements of new releases.
- Member rates for the annual ACFW Conference.
ACFW also has regional zone groups and local chapters. The Beyond the Borders zone covers all members outside the USA—there are almost 100 of us, from over a dozen different countries.
We’re sharing what our members have achieved in the last few months.
Award News
Selah Awards
We have some finalists in the 2022 Selah Awards:
Susan Mason is a finalist in the Historical Romance category for To Find Her Place.
Darlene L Turner is a finalist in the Romantic Suspense category for Abducted in Alaska and Lethal Cover-Up.
Click here to read the full list.
Darlene L Turner is also a finalist in the Directors’ Choice Awards – Fiction, for Lethal Cover-Up.
Genesis Award
ACFW organises two contests each year for unpublished writers:
- First Impressions opens for entries in September, and winners are announced in December. The contest judges the first five pages of a fiction manuscript, plus a short book description.
- Genesis opens for entries in January, and winners are announced at the annual conference in September. The contest judges the first fifteen pages of a fiction manuscript, plus a one-page synopsis.
ACFW have recently announced the 2022 Genesis semi-finalists, and we’re thrilled to see Dienece Darling, Mindy Graham, and Jebraun Clifford on the list.
Click here to read the full list.
Congratulations, ladies!
New Releases
Safe House by Darlene L Turner
Released 22 February 2022
Instead, it left them completely exposed…
Canadian border patrol officer Emma James has only one concern after putting a crime boss behind bars: keeping her daughter safe. But witness protection has a leak, and Emma’s enemies know exactly where to find her. Now on the run with no safe haven, trusting her estranged former brother-in-law, police constable Mason James, to shield them is her only hope…
Checked Impressions by Carolyn Miller
Released 24 February 2022
Sparks fly when a hometown hockey hero meets a classy art-loving museum guide hiding a secret…
Jai Mullins is used to being the fastest man on ice. Trouble is, his ability to find a genuine woman is tracking at glacial melt levels. He’s trusting God she’s out there, but he’s wary of getting trapped by a superfan, when all he wants is someone with whom he can be real.
Allie Davis has two great loves: impressionist art and hockey. More specifically, a certain hockey player. But between her shyness and her family, she’s convinced she’ll never meet him, let alone connect with him in a non-embarrassing way.
Until she does. And they connect. And romance sparks.
But she is hiding a big secret, and he’s about to find that first impressions sometimes need a reality check. Will they learn to trust and find a way forward, or will half-truths lead to further hurt on opposite sides of the country and lonely lives?
This Windy City romance has plenty of heart, humor, and swoon-worthy kisses in the third book of the Original Six, a sweet, slightly sporty Christian contemporary romance series.
Every Star in the Sky (two sparrows for a penny #1) by Sara Davison
Released 2 March 2022.
She is willing to testify against her trafficker.
If she can stay alive that long.
“You’re safe here, Starr.”
How many times has Detective Cole Blacksky said that to her since helping her escape the life she’d been forced into eight years earlier?
Starr desperately wants to believe him, but she knows Brady Erickson, her former captor, too well. Although Cole has promised her protective custody on his family’s remote ranch, no place on earth is safe enough. Brady will stop at nothing to permanently silence her before she ever reaches the witness stand.
And he is powerful enough to do it.
If Starr wants to help the other women, she has no choice but to put herself in God’s hands. And Cole’s. But the longer she and Cole stay hidden, the more her life is at risk.
And her heart.
Gracie’s Surrender (Shenandoah Brides #4) by Blossom Turner
Released 8 March 2022
Helping the orphan children in Richmond just might overturn everything Gracie thought she knew, including the value of love.
Gracie Williams has always had an adventurous streak, which led her from her home in the Shenandoah Valley to Richmond, Virginia, where she can devote her life to the orphan children. Though her beauty has brought on the advances of many men, she has no plans to marry, and finds suitors an unfortunate irritation she doesn’t have time for—much to her parents’ chagrin.
When she befriends Matthew Weston, the mature and serious orphanage superintendent, she confides in him and believes he shares her goals. Neither are prepared for the sparks that fly. Tension grows as Matthew falls in love with her, yet realizes he is just another man in the long line of would-be suitors.
A family crisis, an orphan train, and the plight of a sweet orphan named Emma throw the couple together in deep and meaningful ways. But will this be enough for Gracie to embrace a new way of thinking, and the gift of love that only true soulmates can share?
Bitter Truth (Green Dory Inn #3) by Janet Sketchley
Released 29 March 2022
Who would want Ciara dead? And why?
Against all odds, Landon Smith and her ordinary-hero neighbour Bobby Hawke survived a murderous plot six weeks ago. Now, she’s determined to leave solving mysteries to the experts—like handsome local police officer Dylan Tremblay.
But when a friend is nearly killed in a daring daylight attack, Landon can’t sit this out. Not when she knows the anger of being a victim.
Her faith tells her to leave room for God’s vengeance. Her heart says to retaliate.
The fight to expose Ciara’s enemy will uncover secrets and betrayal that could cost Landon her life.
Big Apple Atonement by Carolyn Miller
Released 5 May 2022
She’s the saint with a secret. He’s the sinner with a heart of gold.
For Emma Moritello, giving abandoned and rejected children a safe home is her life’s purpose, but pressures at work means her dream may be coming to a close. And just when she thought life couldn’t get more challenging, along comes hockey’s bad boy, keen to make amends. God might want her to love her enemies, but it doesn’t mean she has to like them. Especially this hockey enforcer, who has the nerve to try to stir her heart.
TJ Woletsky has never tried to hide his sins—his exploits are tabloid fodder, and hockey teams love to hate him. Including his own. When a trade takes him to New York he’s confronted with the repercussions of his past, and time spent with the unfortunate helps ignite his desire to turn his life around. Until an incident in a nightclub makes everyone question whether this sinner can ever really change.
Coming Soon
Midnight’s Budding Morrow by Carolyn Miller
Releases 31 May 2022
Can real love grow between a wallflower and an unrepentant rogue?
When James Langley returns to his family’s estate, he can’t be bothered to pay attention to his responsibilities as the heir. War is raging and he wants only distraction, not serious tethers. But his roguish ways have backed him into a corner, and he has little choice but to obey his father’s stunning decree: marry before returning to war, or else. Suddenly he finds himself wedded to a clever and capable woman he does not love.
Sarah craves love and a place to belong, neither of which James offered before returning to the battlefront. Now everyone around her thinks she married above her station, and they have no intention of rewarding her for such impertinence. It isn’t until her husband returns from war seemingly changed that she begins to hope they may find real happiness. But can she trust that this rake has truly reformed?
When tragedy strikes, this pair must learn to trust God and his plans. Will they be destroyed . . . or will they discover that even in the darkest depths of night, the morning still holds hope?
Winning Julia’s Heart (Sydney Sweethearts #2) by Narelle Atkins
Releases 24 June 2022
Can a former bad boy be redeemed?
It took time and faith, but Sean is finally on the right path. And his feelings for Julia have only grown stronger. But when Sean’s past threatens to jeopardize their future, can he convince Julia they both want the same thing; a love that can overcome every mistake?
Congrats all. and good to see the Aussie/NZ Genesis short list are all different categories.
The excitement of seeing my name popping up in things hasn’t worn off yet. 🙂 And like Jenny said, I’m so glad we’re all in different categories. I was also pleased to see some of the new releases that interested me were in Kindle Unlimited. I was just looking for something new to read (within my limited budget). Perfect timing!