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Thursday, May 14, 2009

GENESIS 2009 FINALISTS

Today the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) announced the 2009 Genesis Finalists. This annual contest for unpublished authors is gaining more recognition each year and is a contest that's very close to my heart. The past two years I've been fortunate enough (thrilled and humbled) to final and then win my category. It's a nerve-wracking, exhilarating learning experience, but when I looked back over the past couple of years' finalists, I saw many names who've now been published or are contracted. Nice, huh?? The category winners will be announced at the ACFW conference in Denver this coming September.

So here they are: The 2009 Genesis Finalists:

CONTEMPORARY FICTION:

Sharon Ball
David W. Fry
Jennifer Griffith
Ane Mulligan
Patty Slack

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE:

Cathy Bryant
Kathleen Haynes
Lisa Jordan
Christy LaShea Smith
Eileen Astels Watson

HISTORICAL FICTION:

Nancy Herriman
D'Ann Mateer
Christina Miller
Sandi Rog
Christine Schmidtke

HISTORICAL ROMANCE (six finalist entries due to a tie, but one is a
double finalist):

Jody Hedlund (double finalist with two entries)
Lisa Richardson
Connie Stevens
Gina Welborn
Lacy Williams

MYSTERY/SUSPENSE/THRILLER:

David Fry
Anne Greene
Dineen Miller
Lynda Schab
Alan Schleimer

ROMANTIC SUSPENSE:

Mary F. Allen
Wenda Dottridge
Danica Favorite-McDonald
Kelly Ann Riley
Janet Warren

SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/SPECULATIVE FICTION:

Valerie Comer
Megan Ebba
David Fry
Suzanne Krein
Lisa Tuttle

WOMEN'S FICTION:

Cathleen Armstrong
Marie Wells Coutu
Candee Fick
Julie Garmon
Ashely Weis

YOUNG ADULT:

Kasey L. Heinly
Gretchen Hoffman
Susan Miura
Diana Sharples (double finalist with two entries)

Congrats one and all!

Here are some numbers for you to ponder:
  • This year, the Genesis had a whopping 454 entries.
  • That's a 43% increase from last year.
  • Each of the 454 entries was given to three judges
  • That translates to 1,362 entries to send back to entrants.
Camy Tang (the Genesis Coordinator) and her crew have done a phenomenol job. Next time you see her, you might tell her thanks. Also, if you recognize any names on this list, sent them a sweet note, okay?
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3 comments:

Camille Eide said...

THANK YOU Carla for posting this...I've been falling off the edge of my seat waiting.

CONGRATULATIONS FINALISTS!! WOO HOO!! And a big shout out to Camy Tang for coordinating the contest. That's a huge batch of entries!

Any word on when entrants will receive judges feedback?

Thanks Carla, you ROCK my friend!

May 15, 2009 at 10:10 AM
Erica Vetsch said...

Yay, Carla! I'm so excited for the finalists this year. I got to call the Women's Fiction finalists, and I wanted to squeal and jump for joy with them. :)

This year at the banquet, you and I can just sit back and relax and eat the good food and not sweat out the Genesis results. Ahhhhh. But next year you'll have to be all tense and expectant as you sweat out the BOTY results. :)

Camille, the non-finaling entries will be sent back to the contestants by June 15th.

May 15, 2009 at 3:07 PM
carla stewart said...

Thanks, Camille. This year's contest seemed pretty competitive. I'm on the edge of my seat, too, to see if any of the entries I judged are in the finals. Since the titles aren't released until after the final judging, I have no way of knowing. Sad that so many people I know didn't final.

Erica, I'll have two easy-breezy conferences. My book won't qualify for BOTY until 2011. It will be fun to relax and cheer for the winners instead of gnawing my fingernails to the hubs.

May 15, 2009 at 4:25 PM

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