Awards for Firebird, Courageous Teens

It's been a great month for two projects that bear my name.

Really, I was just given the privilege of working on them. For Firebird, I adapted the story from the film Unconditional, brilliantly written by Brent McCorkle and based on a real person, Papa Joe,  from right here in Nashville. And on Courageous Teens, I worked with Michael Catt (executive producer of the films Fireproof and Courageous) to adapt his call to courage for a teen audience. His message has already inspired so many adults; if we can instill Christian courage at a teen level, I cannot imagine the impact we would see in our world.

Apparently, the market agrees on both accounts. Firebird was named a finalist for the 2013 Christian Book Award. They're announcing the winners on April 29 (and the ceremony just happens to be at my church :).

Courageous Teens is a finalist in Christian Retailing's Best awards, a list that also names an adorable little oriole as a finalist. The winners will be announced at the International Christian Retail Show in June.

I don't do this job for the awards. (If I did, I would've quit a long time ago. ;) But I do thank God for industry recognition; it's His way of opening a few more doors. And you'd better believe that I'm celebrating right along with the team who made these books happen.

If you have either of these books on your bookshelf or even if you've told a friend about them, you're a part of that team. Thank you.

Let's celebrate!