2014 Free Publishing Contest Winners
By Word Alive Press
We’ve had a fantastic crop of entrants for our Free Publishing Contest, and after much deliberation, we are excited to finally announce our shortlist and grand prize winners!
Fiction Shortlist:
Karen V. Robichaud – The Unforgiving Sea
The Unforgiving Sea is the story of a 13-year-old boy who loses his faith when his father, a CF-18 pilot in Canadian Armed Forces, dies in a tragic plane crash. When he and his mother move to his grandmother’s home in a seaside town in Nova Scotia, Logan begins a downward slide of skipping school to go lobster fishing, lying to his mom, stealing other fisherman’s catches, and getting involved with a very bad influence. When a looming tragedy threatens his very life, Logan must learn how to ask for forgiveness and find healing.
Lynn Glover – Crossed Off the List
As a child, Phyzz had a close relationship with God and loved Him, but because of life’s many hurts, she now feels He has rejected her. After suffering a loved one’s betrayal, battling an anxiety disorder, and feeling utterly lost, Phyzz embarks on a journey to face her own demons and rediscover Him.
Courtenay Burden – Adelaide’s Orphans
Adelaide Westall, a Victorian girl growing up on a Northumberland sheep farm, stumbles upon a group of orphans in a nearby village and determines to help them out of their poverty. Adelaide could not have imagined how the mysterious Highbank Castle, the Duke of Northumberland, and a painting of an unknown Puritan would influence her plans.
Kendra Wray – Breaking Enchantments
When Erin discovers an enchanted property in her neighbourhood, strange events begin to occur in her neighbourhood and at school. Determined to unlock the mystery behind these strange happenings, Erin must learn to appreciate both teamwork and the ethnic diversity within her own family, as two distinct, creative story threads are interwoven in Breaking Enchantments.
Mary Lou Cornish – Unexpected Treasures
Twelve-year-old Jemma has a normal spill off her new bike sprains her wrist as many other children have. The difference for Jemma is that her injury never heals. She embarks upon a journey of discovery that begins in the hospital and includes Valerie, a 14-year-old paraplegic, and Oscar, a six-year-old from the Dominican Republic, as well as her 15-year-old brother, Scott.
Judy Kirwin – Cross Your Heart
Kyle Newman’s cyberbullying has caused George Gadde to commit suicide. In his attempt to hide his guilt, Kyle is plunged into another world that takes him on a journey to find true forgiveness and freedom.
Joy Belle Friesen – Tossed into Dawn
Eve is nominally religious, but when her entire family dies tragically she is thrown into her past memories and is faced by the need for change in herself. Moving from a West Indies plantation to a rocky, barren, Scottish moor, Eve becomes an unwilling witness to smuggling. Will she ever find the inner strength she craves?
Patricia Ridgway – Virtually Everything
In a futuristic society where nobody acknowledges that poor people exist, one girl courageously defies the status quo when she dares to help a starving young mother. Discovering the bleak underbelly of poverty that her world has glossed over, she risks everything to help the poor that her own community has attempted to sweep under the rug.
Terrie Todd – The Silver Suitcase
On the brink of World War II, 17-year old Cornelia Simpson is alone, pregnant, and forced to give up her child for adoption. After her death in 2006, her granddaughter Benita inherits Cornelia’s diaries and discovers this secret. The diaries lead Benita—caught up in her own grief and pain—on a journey of healing, reunion, and faith.
Non-Fiction Shortlist
Lisa Elliott – Dancing in the Rain
Dancing in the Rain: One Family’s Journey through Grief and Loss follows the journey of the Elliott family in the aftermath of Lisa’s 18-year-old son, Ben’s death as well as new challenges that have come their way since. The reader will discover biblical principles to guide him/her through a crisis of faith, relationship and marriage enrichment, making healthy transitions, dealing with denial and regret, handling multiple crises, and working through depression. Additionally, it includes practical tips and personal or group studies.
Katherine Derman Goertz – My Fathers’ Daughter
Nazi father; hero father – these were the two disparate fathers’ identities which Saskia had to reconcile as she learned to know her Heavenly Father’s love and came to trust Him. Her story is one of complexity, international intrigue and amazing grace.
Judi Peers – Playing Second Fiddle
Judi Peers takes on the issue of women and the church as God incredibly reveals His heart to her. The world that Paul addressed is not the world we live in today; in harmonious accord with twenty-first century culture, Peers exemplifies how both men and women are called to play second fiddle and look to Christ to play the lead.
Jay R. Cooling – Becoming Revival
Becoming Revival has been designed to encourage, empower, and activate the ordinary Believer into an extraordinary lifestyle of revival — just like Jesus. Through profound Biblical insights, real-world testimonials, and strategic end-of-chapter assignments, the reader will undoubtedly be launched into a life that’s beyond their expectations.
Dr. Randy Kloss – Barely Living or Fully Alive
God did not create us to be sick, weak, and afraid of illness. We have been given bodies designed perfectly in every way, and it is our responsibility to take care of them in a way that keeps us healthy, energetic, and honours God. Experienced chiropractor Dr. Randy Kloss guides readers to examine their own lifestyle choices, and to find the secret to becoming the healthiest they can be.
Benno A. Kurvits – Designed to Work
We are all designed to work in God’s service—but sometimes we get a bit lost along the way. This book seeks to briefly describe many of the Biblical principles affecting pastoral leadership in the Church. It aims to have the reader see, appreciate, and even recover these principles.
Diana Lamothe – Mu Millions
Mu Millions tells culturally insightful stories about a Canadian family that lived in China from 2012 to 2014, highlighting areas where God is at work and inviting the reader to join the spiritual harvest in China. Based on Psalm 33:13-15, Mu Millions considers how God sees the Chinese, fashioned their hearts, and understands them.
Terry Pitts – It Matters
It Matters is a unique and new look at the mystery of Bible Prophesy and the end times. To bring prophecy to life, each of its 21 chapters begins with the continuing story of Judy and Allen as they survive through the portion of the Tribulation to be explained in the rest of the chapter.
Glenda Dekkema-de Vries – As the Ink Flows
As The Ink Flows is a devotional book by Christian writers, for Christian writers, educators, pastors, and speakers. Tackling issues such as what it means to be a Christian writer, how to improve our craft, and what to do when the ink stops flowing onto the page, As the Ink Flows is meant to inspire and guide writers into using their craft to glorify God.
And now, drrrrumroll please, as we congratulate our grand prize winners:
2014 Fiction Winner: Erin E. M. Hatton, Legacy of Faith
Legacy of Faith is based on the true stories of three generations of one family who lived their lives for the sake of the Kingdom. Follow the lives of Jennie McKillican, a spinster nurse in her thirties who becomes a missionary to China in the 1880’s; John, a young Presbyterian minister in Scotland in 1656, risking his life to preach the Word of God to a congregation that gathers in defiance of Anglican law; and William, a Congregationalist minister and Scottish immigrant who brings his family to Ontario to set up a homestead in 1816.
2014 Non-Fiction Winner: Bobbi Junior, The Reluctant Caregiver
How do you care for someone who doesn’t want to be cared for? Bobbi struggles to answer this question as she works with her ailing, yet fiercely independent 90-year-old mother, Nancy. As her mother’s dementia worsens, it becomes clear that Nancy can no longer live independently, but she is wary of accepting help from her estranged daughter. Using Jesus as her only resource, Bobbi supports Nancy, sometimes reluctantly, through this tumultuous season in their lives.
Thanks again to all who entered our contest. We hope this opportunity has inspired you all to reach for new heights! Never stop writing, and here’s to another great year!
About this Contributor:
Every year, we go on a search of fresh new talent for the Word Alive Press Free Publishing Contest. We encourage authors to submit unpublished manuscripts and select one fiction and one non-fiction manuscript to be published traditionally, distributed, and marketed by us!
Our next contest opens in spring of 2015. Keep an eye out for contest information, and if you would like to be on the mailing list for our contest announcement, please contact us!