The 2025 Christy Award Book of the Year

 

I'm pretty sure I'm still in shock after participating in 

The Christy Award ceremony webcast last Friday!

Here's my story.

After I finished writing my novel Appalachian Song in 2022, I wanted to set my next book during World War II. My Daddy was a WWII veteran, and I've always wanted to write a novel about that generation. So I set out to discover what was happening in Tennessee during the war. I landed on information about a large military installation in Tullahoma named Camp Forrest. Interestingly, German POWs had been housed at Camp Forrest, which I found fascinating, so I kept on digging. It wasn't long before I read ONE line in an article that changed everything:

"German enemy aliens were also housed at Camp Forrest."  

I was familiar with the history about people in the United States with ties to Japan who were detained in internment camps throughout the war, but I hadn't known that Germans and Italians were too. I set out to learn everything I could about that time in history, and the result is my novel All We Thought We Knew.  

Fast forward to the evening of Friday, November 7, 2025. That novel is up for a Christy Award in the Historical category with two other novels written by fabulously talented authors---Tessa Afshar and Amanda Dykes. I've read books by these lovely ladies and highly recommend them! Honestly, I didn't think my book had a chance. 

To my utter amazement, All We Thought We Knew tied for the Christy Award with Born of Gilded Mountains by Amanda Dykes. To say I was thrilled is an understatement. I'd had two previous books nominated for Christy's in past years --- Under the Tulip Tree and Appalachian Song --- but neither took home the award. 

Because All We Thought We Knew was a winner in one of the nine categories, it was now eligible for the Book of the Year award. There was absolutely no way it was going to win. How could it, when it was up against so many amazing books by some of the best writers on the planet?

When my friend and fellow Tyndale House author T.I. (Tonya) Lowe announced All We Thought We Knew was the 2025 Christy Award Book of the Year, I started to cry. I have no idea what I said in my acceptance speech, because I wasn't at all prepared for such an honor. I'd also been very, very rattled throughout the entire ceremony because a fierce thunderstorm was rolling through Nashville. It started at almost the exact minute the ceremony webcast was going live and continued for over an hour. Our electricity flickered and then we lost the internet connection. After experiencing a full blown panic attack that was not pretty, I and my hero husband dashed out into the pouring rain to our truck, drove up the hill to our boss's house where there is a generator the size of Texas, and was able to join the live, already-in-progress webcast as though I wasn't soaked, frazzled, and terrified I would lose the internet connection again. (I didn't, thank you Jesus!) Although I remembered to thank most everyone I'd intended, I didn't have the presence of mind to say what was really on my heart. 

Here are a few things I would like to say now.

It is an honor and a profound privilege to write books for the Kingdom of GOD. 

I firmly believe Christians are called to GO and PROCLAIM the GOSPEL as Jesus said in Mark 16:15. We cannot be silent. The world is a dark and hurting place. People need the Light. As authors of Christian fiction, we offer that light to our readers. There are millions and millions of books in the world that don't do this, but we have the amazing opportunity to bring Jesus to readers through beautiful stories of faith!

Jesus will always be welcome in the pages of my books.  

I've often asked myself, "Why do I write?" There have been different answers to that question throughout the years, some of which I haven't liked very much. They usually centered around me. My hopes. My dreams. Me, me, me. But I understand now that the reason I write novels is the same reason I breathe. GOD puts air in my lungs, and He's put a calling in my heart to obey Him. The obedience of faith. We all have that calling, and GOD graciously equips each of us with the gifts (his word, not mine) to fulfill it. And because the calling and gifts are from GOD, the purpose for them is NOT to elevate ourselves. They are given to us for one purpose only: to bring GOD glory. In the wise words of Pastor Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Life, "It's not about YOU!" Our purpose, our lives, our books....are not about us. When we are in sync with Him and His purposes, everything else we need will be taken care of.

"But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God), and all these things will be given to you also." Matthew 6:33 AMP

Biblical truth matters. 

In His never-ending love for us, GOD gave us His Word --- first to the authors of his choosing and then to us in written form --- to live by. From Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, GOD's Word is trustworthy. It has stood the test of time for thousands of years, and will continue to do so. But for reasons that absolutely baffle me, people have convinced themselves the Word of GOD isn't important. Isn't accurate. That the Bible is a mere allegory, the stuff of fairytales. I often say people are being led by their 3-pound brain instead of the GOD who created it! That's why we need Biblically sound Christian writings. Non-fiction as well as fiction. Portraying the hope and healing found in Jesus Christ through authentic faith journeys is something that is desperately needed in the world, now more than ever.

 

I am incredibly honored and truly humbled that All We Thought We Knew was named Book of the Year. Thank you to everyone at ECPA for all you do to celebrate Christian fiction. Thank you to my amazing Tyndale House family! Y'all are the absolute best, and I'm so grateful to partner with so many Jesus-loving people on my books. Thanks also goes to my agent Bob Hostetler. 

I could not (and wouldn't want to) do this writing gig without the loving support of my hero-husband, our beautiful family -- sons, daughters-in-love, and extended family -- and treasured friends. 

Above all, thank you to my LORD and SAVIOR, Jesus Christ, for dying for me, for redeeming me, for calling me, and for blessing me all the days of my life far more than I could have ever hoped or imagined. 

Soli Deo gloria!

Click HERE for more information about this WWII - Vietnam War-era 

novel set on a Tennessee horse farm