Despite appearances to the contrary, I have not completely disappeared! Since returning from my amazing trip to the States and ACFW, my life has been full of unexpected personal upheaval, that has come with significant emotional fallout, weariness, and uncertainty. With the busyness of the Christmas season, my eldest’s 16th the week before Christmas, our new puppy Sherlock, and coping with significant change, I’ve been struggling to read and blog but I hope to be back in action soon as I’ve realised what joy my involvement with books, authors, bloggers, publicists, and readers bring to my life. All things bookish will return to Relz Reviewz shortly and I’m looking forward to another terrific year celebrating stories, authors, and faith!

Another blessing is the privilege of teaming up with a brilliant group of women who have been hard at work polishing the criteria, processes, and policies of the fourth annual INSPY Awards which I introduce to you now:

The Inspy Awards were created to select and showcase books with the highest literary standards that grapple with the Christian faith and were designed to help readers in their search for the preeminent faith-inspired literature of today.  This program is organized and judged by book bloggers who have considerable experience and knowledge of books published for both the CBA and general markets.

Please note that the advisory board has made the following changes to book eligibility and the nomination process:

• Debut Novel and Historical Romance categories have been introduced.

• The Romance category has been broadened and renamed the Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense category

• The dates of eligibility have returned to a 12 month timeframe and will include books published between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013.

• Self-published books have been eliminated from consideration.

• Books can not be self-nominated by their author.

Books may be nominated in any of the following categories:

• Debut Novel
• General Fiction
• Contemporary Romance/Romantic Suspense
• Historical Romance
• Speculative Fiction
• Mystery & Thriller
• Literature for Young Adults

For more detailed description of categories please see the Revised Nomination Categories.

The deadline to nominate a book is January 16. Winners of the fourth annual INSPY awards will be announced June 28, 2014.

To stay up to date with all things INSPYs follow along on:

Twitter
Facebook
Google+
Goodreads

We look forward to your nominations. Besides nominating the best in faith-driven literature, another way to help today is to spread the word — blog about the INSPYs, tell your friends.