Debut Author: Bonnie Grove (Talking to the Dead/David C. Cook); Liz Johnson (The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn/Steeple Hill); Kirk Outerbridge (Eternity Falls/Marcher Lord Press); Jill Eileen Smith (Michal/Revell/Baker Publishing Group); and Dan Walsh (The Unfinished Gift/Revell/Baker Publishing Group).

Long Contemporary (six finalists due to tie): The Familiar Stranger by Christina Berry (Moody Publishers); A Widow's Hope by Mary Ellis (Harvest House Publishers); The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow by Joyce Magnin (Abingdon Press); White Picket Fences by Susan Meissner (WaterBrook Press); If Tomorrow Never Comes by Marlo Schalesky (Multnomah Books); and Nothing But Trouble by Susan May Warren (Tyndale House Publishers).

Long Contemporary Romance: Critical Care by Candace Calvert (Tyndale House); Seaside Letters by Denise Hunter (Thomas Nelson); Just Between You and Me by Jenny B. Jones (Thomas Nelson); Plain Promise by Beth Wiseman (Thomas Nelson); and The Hope of Refuge by Cindy Woodsmall (WaterBrook Press).

Contemporary Novella (six finalists due to tie): One Child by Barbara Cameron (part of An Amish Christmas, Thomas Nelson); When Winter Comes by Barbara Cameron (part of An Amish Gathering, Thomas Nelson); A Mule Hollow Match by Debra Clopton (part of Small-Town Brides, Steeple Hill); The Great Christmas Bowl by Susan May Warren (Tyndale House); A Change of Heart by Beth Wiseman (part of An Amish Gathering, Thomas Nelson); and A Choice to Forgive by Beth Wiseman (part of An Amish Christmas, Thomas Nelson).

The winners will be announced at ACFW's annual conference, to be held Sept. 17-20 in Indianapolis. Carol Johnson, the award's namesake, and author Janette Oke will serve as guest award presenters. Johnson broke ground in Christian publishing in 1979 by acquiring Oke's Love Comes Softly for Bethany House, where she was an editor.

Click here for a complete list of finalists and more information about the American Christian Fiction Writers.

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