The American Christian Fiction Writers recently announced the winners of its fourth annual Book of the Year Contest. The contest, held every September since 2001, is part of the group's national conference. The event was held last month in Nashville.

More than 65 published authors submitted books in six categories. The winners for each category were as follows: Novella, Simply Christmas by Pamela Dowd, Christine Lynxwiler and Wanda Luttrell (Barbour Books); Contemporary Romance (Short), One Last Christmas by Joyce Livingston (Heartsong); Historical Romance (Short), Faithful Traitor by Jill Stengl (Heartsong); Historical Romance (Long), Night Song by Tricia Goyer (Moody Publishers); General Historical, Retribution by Randall Ingermanson (Zondervan); General Fiction, Legend of the Emerald Rose by Linda Wichman (Kregel Publications); Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Dead of Night by Brandilyn Collins (Zondervan); and Contemporary Fiction, Dreaming in Black & White by Laura Jensen Walker (WestBow Press).