Shelly Beach’s First Novel, Hallie’s Heart, Announced as a Nominee for the 2008 Christy Awards

The 2008 Christy Award nomination list has been formed, and Kregel Publications author Shelly Beach is on it. Her novel, Hallie’s Heart, was named among the nominees in the Lits category.

The novel’s setting is based on a number of local features from the community in which Beach resides—Muskegon, MI. Beach’s main character, Mona VanderMolen, an antique dealer in a small Michigan town, is trying to keep her business alive. As Mona faces the uncertainties of her own future, Hallie, her fifteen-year-old niece, suddenly arrives on her doorstep. Guilt-ridden over her sister's drowning several years earlier, Hallie has run off to her aunt’s cottage. As the two women work through their problems and learn to forgive, will an unfortunate accident tear them apart once again?

Beach says that she hopes readers of Hallie’s Heart will better understand “the message that a loving God stands with open arms, ready to forgive us and accept us, wherever we may be—whether we’re a fifteen-year-old teenager struggling with guilt or a middle-aged woman struggling with anger toward her father; and the message that we’re responsible for taking steps to restore relationships and forgive those who have wounded us.”

Shelly Beach is a Christian communicator who speaks at women’s conferences, retreats, seminars, and writers' conferences. She is a college instructor and writing consultant in Michigan, and the author of Precious Lord, Take My Hand (Discovery House Publishers, 2007).

For more information, visit Shelly Beach's website.

The well-respected Christy Awards—named in honor of Catherine Marshall’s novel Christy—have recognized novelists in several genres of Christian fiction since 1999. Previous winners include Jerry Jenkins, Ted Dekker, Beverly Lewis, Karen Hancock, and Kregel’s own Debbie Wilson. The Christy Award winners will be announced at a dinner on July 12, 2008, at The Rosen Centre, Orlando, Florida, from 6:30 to 9:00 PM (Eastern). The awards are traditionally announced before the opening of the annual International Christian Retail Show (ICRS).

The complete list of 2008 Christy Award nominees can be viewed at www.christyawards.com.

“To have published Hallie's Heart is a privilege,” said Kregel managing editor Steve Barclift. “Working with authors like Shelly Beach reminds us why we do what we do. We witnessed the cross-generational appeal of the book when Shelly signed books at the recent Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College, and saw the interest of teenagers and more seasoned readers alike. Shelly’s tenacity and heart come through in her writing, and make Hallie’s Heart the compelling story that it is. This is a terrific book, and Shelly Beach is certainly deserving of this recognition.”