And the Nominees Are. . . .

Saturday night in Denver the 2009 Christy Awards will be presented. Established in 1988 and named in honor of Catherine Marshall's novel and of her contribution to growth of the fiction Christians love to read, the Christy Award is designed to:

• Nurture and encourage creativity and quality in the writing and publishing of fiction written from a Christian worldview.
  
• Bring a new awareness of the breadth and depth of fiction choices available, helping to broaden the readership.
  
• Provide opportunity to recognize novelists whose work may not have reached bestseller status

Here are the categories and nominees for this year's Awards. (Books I have reviewed are linked to those reviews.)

Contemporary Romance

• Beyond the Night by Marlo Schalesky
  (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)
  
• Finding Stefanie by Susan May Warren
  (Tyndale House Publishers)
  
• Zora and Nicky: A Novel in Black and Whiteby Claudia Mair Burney
  (David C. Cook)

Contemporary Series, Sequels, and Novellas

• Sisterchicks Go Brit! by Robin Jones Gunn
  (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)
  
• Summer Snow by Nicole Baart
  (Tyndale House Publisher)
  
• You Had Me at Good-bye by Tracey Bateman
  (FaithWords)

Contemporary Standalone

• Dogwood by Chris Fabry
  (Tyndale House Publishers)
  
• Embrace Me by Lisa Samson
  (Thomas Nelson)
  
• Tuesday Night at the Blue Moon by Debbie Fuller Thomas
  (Moody Publishers)

First Novel

• Blue Hole Back Home by Joy Jordan-Lake
  (David C. Cook)
  
• Rain Song by Alice J. Wisler
  (Bethany House Publishers)
  
• Safe at Home by Richard Doster
  (David C. Cook)

Historical

• Shadow of Colossus by T.L. Higley
  (B&H Publishing Group)
  
• Until We Reach Home by Lynn Austin
  (Bethany House Publishers)
  
• Washington’s Lady by Nancy Moser
  (Bethany House Publishers)

Historical Romance

• Calico Canyon by Mary Connealy
  (Barbour Publishers)
  
• From a Distance by Tamera Alexander
  (Bethany House Publishers)
  
• The Moon in the Mango Tree by Pamela Binnings Ewen
  (B&H Publishing Group)

Suspense

• By Reason of Insanity by Randy Singer
  (Tyndale House Publishers)
  
• The Rook by Steven James
  (Revell)
  
• Winter Haven by Athol Dickson
  (Bethany House Publishers)

Visionary

• The Battle for Vast Dominion by George Bryan Polivka
  (Harvest House Publishers)
  
• Shade by John B. Olson
  (B&H Publishing Group)
  
• Vanish by Tom Pawlik
  (Tyndale House Publishers)

Young Adult

• The Fruit of My Lipstick by Shelley Adina
  (FaithWords)
  
• I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires by Cathy Gohlke
  (Moody Publishers)
  
• On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson
  (WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group)

Stop back tomorrow for an author chat and giveaway of one of these nominated books!