Jerry Jenkins' book Soon competed against his collaboration with Tim LaHaye, the "Left Behind" book Armageddon, to give Jenkins his first Christy Award at the Christy Awards show held Friday evening at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.

In the First Novel category, Brad Whittington took first place with Welcome to Fred (Broadman & Holman), outshining Ray Blackston's Flabbergasted and Neta Jackson's The Yada Yada Prayer Group.

Christy Awards administrator Donna Kehoe called the awards "extremely competitive this year." Twenty-three publishers and three self publishers submitted 137 novels for consideration this year.

The other winners were The Light of Eidon by Karen Hancock (Bethany House), Songbird by Lisa Samson (WaterBook), Fire by Night by Lynn Austin, Hideaway by Hannah Alexander (Steeple Hill) and Three by Ted Dekker (WestBow), who also won a Gold Medallion for the same book.

Calling the event "a powerful evening both emotionally and historically," keynote speaker and Christy Awards board member Phyllis Tickle addressed a crowd of publishers, authors and editors. Master of ceremonies James Scott Bell told the audience that Tickle, Publishers Weekly contributing editor in religion, "raised the class level of the evening."

John Fischer, artist and author of Love Him in the Morning (Revell), also entertained the audience with old favorites.

• Prev
• Next