My husband indulged my, uh, scientific side and took me to the museum today.  Considering his aversion to bodily fluids, surgery, and other types of gore – he can’t even watch the midwife draw blood from my arm – it really was an act of love on his part.  And I wandered about the exhibits, peering at body parts floating in jars and wax casts of dozens of eye ailments.

This is not a place for those who get queasy at the sight of 70-pound preserved ovarian tumors or gangrene feet.  But, if you’re curious, some of the other “treasures” include:

• The plaster cast of the torso of world-famous Siamese Twins, Chang & Eng, and their conjoined livers
• Joseph Hyrtl’s collection of skulls
• Preserved body of the “Soap Lady”
• Collection of 2,000 objects extracted from people’s throats
• Cancerous growth removed from President Grover Cleveland
• Tallest skeleton on display in North America

According to the website, “the Mütter Museum was founded to educate future doctors about anatomy and human medical anomalies. Today, it serves as a valuable resource for educating and enlightening the public about our medical past and telling important stories about what it means to be human. The Mütter Museum embodies The College of Physicians of Philadelphia ’s mission to advance the cause of health, and uphold the ideals and heritage of medicine.”

For more information, visit www.muttermuseum.org

Nashville, TN, May 3, 2010 – The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) has announced the winners for the 2010 Christian Book Awards.  Presented annually to the finest in Christian publishing since 1978, the Christian Book Awards honors titles in six categories – Bibles, Bible Reference & Study, Christian Life, Fiction, Children & Youth, and Inspiration & Gift.

The winners in each category were announced at the ECPA Awards banquet held Monday, May 3, during ECPA’s annual Executive Leadership Summit in Nashville, TN.  One title, The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns, received the top honor by being named the 2010 Christian Book of the Year.

The Christian Book Awards selects five finalists in each category based on both editorial excellence and category-specific criteria. This year, 226 entries (published in the last year) were submitted by 33 ECPA member publishers for review and scoring by a total of 72 judges.

The 2010 Christian Book Award winners are:

2010 Christian Book of the Year

The Hole in Our Gospel, Richard Stearns, Thomas Nelson, 9780785229186

Bibles

Glo, Immersion Digital, Zondervan, 9780981990200

Bible Reference & Study

The New Moody Atlas of the Bible, Barry J. Beitzel, Moody Publishers, 9780802404411

Christian Life

The Hole in Our Gospel, Richard Stearns, Thomas Nelson, 9780785229186

Fiction

Watch Over Me, Christa Parrish, Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group, 9780764205545

Children & Youth

B4UD8- Before You Date, Hayley and Michael DiMarco, Revell/ Baker Publishing Group, 9780800733087

Inspiration & Gift

Grace Notes, Philip Yancey, Zondervan, 9780310287728

“We are proud of all the 2010 Christian Book Award winners, and we hope the honor of being named ‘Christian Book of the Year’ will help The Hole in Our Gospel mobilize even more Christians to care for the poor worldwide,” comments ECPA’s President Mark Kuyper. “In a year of unforgettable world disasters, including the devastating earthquake in Haiti, we are eager to encourage believers to take action for those in need.”

ECPA is partnering with Christianity Today Inc. (CTi) to promote the winning titles to its consumer base.  ECPA has also confirmed support from national retail outlets to create in-store and consumer promotions to build awareness of the Christian Book Award winning titles.

The Christian Book Awards, established in 1978 as the Gold Medallion Book Awards by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, recognize the absolute highest quality in Christian books. Based on excellence in content, literary quality, design and impact, the Christian Book Awards are the oldest and among the most prestigious in the religious publishing industry. For more information, go to www.ecpa.org.

The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) is an international non-profit trade organization, comprised of over 150 member companies worldwide, representing a combined revenue of nearly two billion dollars. Founded in 1974, ECPA is dedicated to serving the Christian publishing industry through equipping its members through cutting-edge technology, meaningful data, dynamic educational opportunity and unprecedented access to markets.  Contact ECPA at 480-966-3998, 9633 South 48th Street, Suite 140, Phoenix, Arizona 85044, info@ecpa.org or visit the website at www.ecpa.org

This year’s fiction nominees are (seven due to a tie):

Blood Bayou
Karen Young
Howard Books, 9781416587507

Michal
Jill Eileen Smith
Revell/ Baker Publishing Group, 9780800733209

The Centurion’s Wife
Davis Bunn and Janette Oke
Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group, 9780764205149

Veiled Freedom
Jeanette Windle
Tyndale House Publishers, 9781414314754

Healing Waters
Stephen Arterburn and Nancy Rue
Thomas Nelson, 9781595544315

Watch Over Me
Christa Parrish
Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group, 9780764205545

June Bug
Chris Fabry
Tyndale House Publishers, 9781414319568

I am honored to be nominated again this year (Home Another Way was a finalist for the award in 2009), and congratulations to all the other nominees – especially fellow Bethany House authors Davis Bunn and Janette Oke, who I had the honor of meeting at last year’s award’s dinner; and Nancy Rue, who has been such an encouragement to me, particularly when I was just beginning my writing journey.

In the Religious Fiction category:

• City of the Dead by T.L. Higley
• Cradle to Cross Trilogy Gift Set by Mac McConnell
• Ecumensus by Clifford Lane Mark
• Falling into the Sun by Charrie Hazard
• Joseph, The Father’s Journey by Mac McConnell
• Loves First Light by Jamie Carie
• Powers by John B. Olson
• Seeing Things by Patti Hill
• The Purple Culture by Stephen Boehrer
• The Cloak and the Parchments by Frank Spinella
• The Death of a Pope by Piers Paul Read
• The Sacred Cipher by Terry Brennan
• Though Waters Roar by Lynn Austin
• Watch Over Me by Christa Parrish
• What the Bayou Saw by Patti Lacy

The winners will be determined by a panel of librarians and booksellers selected from our readership. Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners, as well as Editor’s Choice Prizes for Fiction and Nonfiction will be announced at a special program at BookExpo America in New York City on May 25. The winners of the two Editor’s Choice Prizes will be awarded $1,500 each. The ceremony is open to all BEA attendees.

ForeWord’s Book of the Year Awards program was designed to discover distinctive books from independent publishers across a number of genres.

Watch Over Me is She Reads (www.shereads.org) March book club pick.  If you leave a comment or sign up for the She Reads newsletter, you’ll have a chance to not only win a copy of Watch Over Me, but also a beautiful handmade pottery vase (if you’ve read the novel, you know one of the main characters is a potter).

If you don’t know about She Reads, check it out.  From its website:

She Reads exists to honor Christ by connecting readers with novels that:

• inspire through excellent writing
• explore deep issues of faith
• initiate change in the reader’s life

Each quarter, the She Reads book club will offer three current titles as featured selections. Readers have vast differences in taste and for this reason diverse genres and authors will be chosen, with a total of twelve books per year.

Why should I join She Reads?

Readers who join She Reads receive a number of benefits, including:

• Connection with other readers on the She Reads blog who are passionate about great fiction and uplifting stories.
• Information via the She Reads newsletter that will keep readers up to date on their favorite authors, and books, with a few surprises thrown in for fun.
• Reviews of newly released titles written by a variety of readers, writers, and industry professionals.
• Options to create a She Reads book club or bring an existing club under the She Reads umbrella.
• Relationships developed within the intimate setting of a regular book club meeting.
• Fun planned study guides with activities and interesting facts developed specifically for the She Reads book club.
• Online Community for those who can’t participate in a monthly meeting (or don’t live near an existing club), via the She Reads blog and Facebook group.
• Pre-selected novels they can trust and appreciate – an important aspect in today’s economy where every buying decision requires a second thought.
• Access to authors they love through print interviews, meet and greets, conference calls, etc. Each selected author will participate in two conference calls with the first 100 guests (per call) who sign up. This will be a free service and a chance for readers to have their questions answered by the authors themselves!
• Free books from time to time via contests, giveaways, and publisher promotions.

Who is running this thing anyway?

On a large scale, She Reads is an offshoot of Proverbs 31 Ministries, helping bring God’s peace, perspective, and purpose to today’s busy woman. As an organization, Proverbs provides leadership and technical support.

On a daily basis, She Reads is run by Marybeth Whalen (Director) and Ariel Lawhon (Assistant Director), pictured below.

Keep checking back all through the month of March, as there will be other goodies – recipes, interviews, etc. – posted regarding Watch Over Me and my writing.

Speaking of Proverbs 31 Ministries, yesterday it featured a devotion I wrote.  Encouragement For Today, the daily online devotional ministry of Proverbs 31, “reaches approximately over 300,000 people all over the world every day at no charge through email. These inspirational messages written by our team of speakers and writers draw women (and men) into the powerful and relevant truth of God’s Word.”  You can sign up to receive Encouragement For Today through email.

The devotion I wrote, “Too Many Eyes,” focuses on who we were made to be in Christ, and how God has created each one of with unique gifts and talents (and quirkiness!) that fit exactly into His plans for us and those around us.

On Valentine’s Day, She Reads posted the story of how two fiction authors “just happened” to fall in love and get married.  Well, one of those authors happens to be me.  The other is my wonderful husband of almost 5 months, Chris Coppernoll.  I know, some of you are saying, “I didn’t even know there was a wedding!”  There just didn’t seem a way to announce it without fanfare – and those who know me in real life know I’m not much for fanfare.  But, it *is* a great story, if anyone is interested.

If you want to learn more about Chris’ latest novel, Screen Play, She Reads also featured it in its Worth Reading section.

Christa Parrish’s writing is a breath of fresh air in Christian publishing. Watch Over Me is just as impressive as her debut story, Home Another Way, written with heart to touch your soul.

Perceptive and authentic, Christa peels back the layers of the disintegrating marriage of Benjamin and Abbi Patel, revealing two hurting souls fearful healing their relationship is beyond them. Highlighting the isolation of battle trauma that has altered Ben’s personality and the corrosive affect infertility has on Abbi’s self worth, this is a painful yet ultimately uplifting read yet not in the way you expect. Other complex relationships are explored in the home of Matthew Savoie as the young teen struggles to overcome his disability and find acceptance from his dismissive Aunt and troubled cousins. Christa’s literary gifts are many but her unerring ability to write authentically about the human heart and genuine spiritual struggle sets her apart from most of her contemporaries. Watch Over Me is a journey that will linger in your heart and mind long after the final chapter ends.

As a side note: Rel does a amazing job reviewing Christian fiction.  Please stop by her blog and read her posts – I’m sure you’ll discover authors you’ve never read, but will enjoy.

Many of you know about the, uh, arduous task of titling Home Another Way.  Watch Over Me came a little easier (even though I loved my working title – Things Found in the Morning – but no one else did).  But this process was so simple, I was quite shocked.  My working title had been The Air I Breathe – which I didn’t love, but it was okay.  I submitted it with about four other ideas to Bethany House Publishers, and a few days later received an email telling me The Air We Breathe had been approved.  A slight tweak, but very close to the original.  Maybe I’m just getting better at knowing the market.

All three titles have some relationship to songs.

I already have a working title (and synopsis) for book four (and the title has nothing to do with a song, as far as I know).  As soon as I finish up The Air We Breathe, my agent and I will begin the proposal process all over again.

I am a ruminator. I like to think, to pick at my words, to poke through the rubble and find perfection. That takes a loooong time. It also, often, causes me to “freeze up” as I’m writing. Yes, there are times when I’m literally unable to type a single word. However, Write or Die has given me a kick in the pants as book three’s deadline approaches, apparently feeding my need for outside pressure.  (I have always performed best in the 11th hour, so to speak.  I won’t mention how I used to start my 40+ page lab reports at midnight the day they were due, skip all my other classes, and work on pure adrenaline for 16 hours straight, printing the report out minutes before it was due and dashing into my class at the last moment.)

From Dr. Wicked’s Write or Die site:

The idea is to instill in the would-be writer with a fear of not writing. We do this by employing principles taught in Introduction to Psychology. Anyone remember Operant Conditioning and Negative Reinforcement?

Negative Reinforcement “strengthens a behavior because a negative condition is stopped or avoided as a consequence of the behavior.”

Consequences:

• Gentle Mode: A certain amount of time after you stop writing, a box will pop up, gently reminding you to continue writing.
• Normal Mode: If you persistently avoid writing, you will be played a most unpleasant sound. The sound will stop if and only if you continue to write.
• Kamikaze Mode: Keep Writing or Your Work Will Unwrite Itself

These consequences will persist until your preset conditions have been met (that is, your time is up or you’ve written you word count goal or both).

I set it for Kamikaze mode with an “evil” grace period.  Imagine my horror when, the first time I used the application, it started EATING my words because I stopped typing for a few seconds.

Write or Die claims to put the “Prod in Productivity.”  Why it works for me, I don’t know.  But I plan to keep using it.

I truly fell in love with the struggling characters in Watch Over Me, a novel about loss, need, soul damage, and relationships that heal. Christa Parrish knows how to draw a reader into a complex, emotional, but not overwrought story. Her subtlety is superb. She entices the reader with just enough to want more, painstakingly unfolding the story.

Watch over Me opens with a marriage in crisis, a PTSD former soldier struggling with unruly emotions and his peace-loving wife. Distance defines them. When the husband, now a police officer, finds an abandoned baby and brings her home to foster, the fissures in their marriage widen. Woven into that relationship is a deaf teenage boy who desperately needs a family. I loved this book. Loved the characters. Loved everything about it.

While you’re at it, visit Mary’s excellent blog to learn more about her two critically-acclaimed new novels, Daisy Chain and A Slow Burn.

Watch Over Me | Christa Parrish
This novel has lots of story threads—an abandoned baby, an eating disorder, a failing marriage, an unloved teen. Christa Parrish redeems those gritty plot elements with a story about grace for troubled people with messy lives. She has drawn believable Christian characters who face marital discord and personal demons—and try to cope with them on their own strength. The facade they’ve built keeps others from knowing how deep is their despair—and it takes an infant to begin to turn them outward. Throughout the novel the main characters run from God, but Parrish shows (not tells) how God pursues them, even through terrible heartache. She writes with sensitivity and grace.