CALEB Award Review | SHE by Jen Gibbs

By Iola Goulton @iolagoulton

Omega Writers is a Christian writing group serving Australian, New Zealand, and South Pacific Christian Writers. They held their annual writing conference the last weekend on October, in Adelaide, South Australia.

One much-anticipated part of conference is the Saturday night award ceremony for the CALEB Award. CALEB stands for:

Christian Authors Lifting Each others' Books

Today I'm checking out the winner of the non-fiction award, SHE by Jen Gibbs (with a little help from Kara Isaac and Christine Dillon).

I bought SHE at the conference, and I have started reading it. The writing is excellent, and it's a great topic. However, it's not the light Christian romance I ususally read, and it's going to take a while to read.

The cover gives the impression of a memoir or self-help book based on personal experience. SHE is that, but it's so much more. It's also an in-depth Bible study, looking at women of the Bible, at how Jesus treated women, and examining the underlying Hebrew and Greek.

For example, Gibbs points out that they word for "noble" in that famous passage in Proverbs 31 is also used to describe Gideon (where it's translated as "mighty warrior") and King David (brave warrior). That places quite a different emphasis on our famous "woman of noble character", and I'm looking foward to digging deeper into SHE and finding similar nuggets.

Kara Isaac says:

Part biblical exploration, part personal narrative, Jen Gibbs has crafted a compelling look at women of the Bible, their context and what we can learn from them as we wrestle with living lives of faith, hop, and love in the 21st century. An exciting addition to an important conversation.

Christine Dillon says:

An easy, encouraging read for any women who might doubt that God really seems them as valuable and precious. A book full of delving into women of the Bible who showed faith, hope and love. Plenty of discussion questions for groups or individuals. Sprinkled throughout are stories from Jen’s experience and doubts she’s wrestled with. I loved it that she didn’t have to give answers but was willing to raise questions.

About SHE: A Journey of Faith, Hope & Love with Women of the Bible:

Faith, Hope and Love. We get it, right? They are important. But sometimes they feel so intangible. How are we supposed to relate? What do we do with our faith through suffering? Why is hope even included in the "top three"? What does extravagant love really look like?

In this book Jen dives deep into Faith, Hope and Love as revealed through the lives of some incredible women of the Bible. Their lives point us to the heart of God for women. Through them we see a God who cherishes, strengthens, commissions, commends, esteems and cannot help but love us!

You can read the introduction to SHE: A Journey of Faith, Hope & Love with Women of the Bible below:

Book Review: The Boy in the Hoodie by Catriona McKeown (and Giveaway)

Review by Iola Goulton

The Boy in the Hoodie is the debut from Australian author Catriona McKeown, and winner of the 2016 Omega Writers CALEB Prize for an unpublished manuscript. It was a well-deserved win, because it's a great coming of age novel about making mistakes, paying the price, and becoming a better person through the experience.

Here's the description from the back cover:

One girl. One boy. And a friendship that could save them both.

Good-girl Kat knew drinking alcohol at school would have serious consequences. But to protect her friend from being expelled, Kat lands herself a terms worth of detentions.

Inside the detention room, she meets a strange boy who obsessively draws dark pictures and covers his head with a grey hoodie. Little does she know, the hoodie hides a dark past ...

An unlikely friendship forms between Kat and the boy in the hoodie. When she discovers a sinister truth hes been hiding, she somehow feels compelled to help him but at what cost? And how much is she willing to risk in order to keep him safe?

The Boy in the Hoodie is a real, unforgettable story about past scars and how the ones we love can sometimes heal them.

My Review

I enjoyed everything about The Boy in the Hoodie. Aussie setting, strong characters, solid plot, and excellent writing with enough humour to offset the often-serious nature of the story. Like this line, where Kat is wishing she could leave her current high school and go to a private school:

Well, I thought it was funny.

The set-up could have come across as contrived, but it didn't. I think this was because the story was told in first person from Kat's point of view, so we could see both why she lied for her friends, and what she thought about it. It was also interesting watching her get to know the boy in the hoodie and find out more about what the adults thought about her misdemeanor.

The boy was also an interesting character, and first person worked well in that I (as the reader) didn't know any more about him than Kat did, and got to know him as she did—for better and for worse.

I almost read The Boy in the Hoodie in one sitting—yes, it was that good. The 'almost' is because the tension got too much towards the end, so I had to take a break. I definitely recommend The Boy in the Hoodie for young adult and not-so-young adult readers.

Any chance of a sequel? I see Paige had issues and I want to know more ...

Giveaway

Cate has offered to give away two copies of The Boy in the Hoodie - one paperback copy to an Australian postal address, and one Kindle copy to an international reader.

If you'd like a chance to win, leave a comment and your email address, and tell us whether you ever got a detention in high school. If so, what was it for? 

We'll announce the winner next Friday, 2 February.

About Iola Goulton

Iola Goulton is a New Zealand book reviewer, freelance editor, and author, writing contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist. She is a member of the Sisterhood of Unpronounceable Names (Iola is pronounced yo-la, not eye-ola and definitely not Lola).

Iola holds a degree in marketing, has a background in human resource consulting, and currently works as a freelance editor. When she’s not working, Iola is usually reading or writing her next book review. Iola lives in the beautiful Bay of Plenty in New Zealand (not far from Hobbiton) with her husband, two teenagers and one cat.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter

2017 Omega Writers Conference Highlights #omega17 | Narelle Atkins

Left to Right: Elaine Fraser, Andrea Grigg, Iola Goulton, Margie Lawson, Jeanette O'Hagan, Narelle Atkins, Nola Passmore.

By Narelle Atkins

Wow. The 2017 Omega Writers Conference in Sydney last weekend was fabulous. Awesome. Brilliant. Inspiring. Around one hundred writers enjoyed the relaxed rural conference setting on the outskirts of Sydney. I feel blessed to belong to Omega Writers and the wider Christian writing community that encourages and supports writers in our part of the world.

Many thanks to Raewyn Elsegood and her conference team who worked hard behind the scenes. Jenny Glazebrook's new initiative to place attendees in host groups provided another avenue to build relationships and ensure first time conference attendees were welcomed into the Omega writing community.

The amazing Margie Lawson was our keynote speaker. We love Margie and love her teaching gift. Thank you Margie for blessing us by attending our conference. 

Margie is pictured above with the six Margie Immersion Grads who were at conference. Elaine Fraser is a 3-time Immersion Grad: Melbourne in August 2015, Sydney in August 2016 and a solo Immersion with Margie in Colorado in May 2017. Andrea Grigg and Iola Goulton attended an August 2015 Melbourne Immersion with Elaine (hosted by 4-time Immersion Grad Dorothy Adamek). Jeanette O'Hagan and Nola Passmore attended a Brisbane Immersion in August 2016. I attended a Canberra Immersion in March 2017.

Margie included quotes in her teaching points from Elaine Fraser's book Amazing Grace and Andrea Grigg's book All is Bright. It was exciting to see their excellent writing featured on the big screen.

Multi-published author Alex Marestaing from Southern California was our keynote speaker at the CALEB Awards. Yes, we really did have an international author who has worked with Disney attend our Aussie conference and teach our Young Adult and Middle Grade writers!

I had the pleasure of introducing the delightful Patricia Weerakoon and her much anticipated workshop 'Sex without Sleaze'. An informative and challenging workshop for fiction writers on how to write about sexuality and related issues in both the Christian market and general market from a Christian perspective. 

Multi-published regency romance author Carolyn Miller presented a fun and engaging workshop for fiction writers. We celebrated with Carolyn as her third book, The Dishonorable Miss DeLancey, was released in the USA during the week prior to conference.  

Omega Writers President Meredith Resce and Margie Lawson presented the certificates to the CALEB Award finalists. We live streamed the CALEB Awards via my Facebook Profile to Australasian Christian Writers and Christian Writers Downunder Facebook Groups. The video footage is in two parts and can be viewed at the links below.

2017 CALEB Awards via Facebook Live - Part 1

2017 CALEB Awards via Facebook Live - Part 2

Facebook Live Part 2 video includes Alex Marestaing's inspiring keynote address.

Facebook Live Part 2 video also includes Rachel Sweasey and Rochelle Manners from Rhiza Press and author Catriona McKeown (2016 CALEB Unpublished winner) discussing the upcoming release of YA novel The Boy in the Hoodie.

CALEB Awards co-ordinator Judy Rogers presented the CALEB Prize to the overall winner, Cecily Paterson.

2017 CALEB ~ Published Fiction

Winner: 
Charlie Frank is A-OK - Cecily Anne Paterson (CALEB Prize Winner)

Finalists: 
Daystar: The Days are Numbered - Anne Hamilton 

Forgiving Sky - Jenny Glazebrook 

Amazing Grace - Elaine Fraser

2017 CALEB ~ Children’s Picture Books 

Winner: 

Small and Big - Karen Collum illustrated by Ben Wood (CALEB Prize Runner Up)

Finalists: 

The Mighty, Mighty King Christmas Book - Penny Morrison illustrated by Lisa Flanagan 

My Imagination - written and illustrated by Ellen Wildig

2017 CALEB ~ Published Non-Fiction 

Winner: 
Burn My Letters: Tyranny to Refuge - Ruth Bonetti
Finalists: 
Heaven Tempers the Wind - Hazel Barker 
Becoming Me - Jo-Anne Berthelsen

2017 CALEB ~ Unpublished Manuscript 

Winner: 
Siren’s Fight - Kristen Young 
Finalists:
In the Middle of the Whirlwind - Hannah Currie 
The Gryphon Key - Elizabeth Klein 
Holy War - Anthony Peterson

Karen Collum & Cecily Paterson

Many thanks to Margaret Holahan who took hundreds of photos for Omega Writers during the weekend and allowed me to access the Dropbox and share photos in my post. The photos that are date stamped are from the Omega photo collection. Enjoy browsing the conference photos and plan to attend the 2018 Conference in Adelaide. 

Raewyn Elsegood & Margie Lawson

Jo-Anne Berthelsen

Rowena Beresford

Rose Dee at the Registration Desk

Katrina Roe

James Cooper

Penny Morrison

Calling Australian and Kiwi Writers!

by Iola Goulton

Entries for the 2016 CALEB Prize are open

Omega Writers have announced that they will again be running the CALEB Prize in 2016. The CALEB awards were inaugurated under the leadership of Anne Hamilton, who said:

CALEB is an acronym: it stands for Christian Authors Lifting Each other’s Books. That’s why Omega Writers sponsor the CALEB Prize. It’s about giving all entrants a higher profile for their books, regardless of whether they win or not . . . Promoting excellence, for the glory of God, so that the highest quality books are given that little bit of extra ‘oomph’.

Simon Kennedy, current President of Omega Writers, says:

Omega Writers exists to educate, support and inspire Australasian Christian writers towards excellence, impacting society with grace and truth. We want our words to change the world.

There are three categories for the 2016 CALEB Prize for faith-inspired writing:

• Published Children’s Picture Book
• Published Fiction
• Unpublished Manuscript

It is hoped that more categories can be added in future years . . . but for that to happen, Omega Writers needs volunteers to organize and judge categories. I’d encourage you to prayerfully consider this—I’ve found judging competitions is a valuable help to my own writing and editing.

Who can enter?

Residents and citizens of Australia and New Zealand with books published during the 2014 or 2015 calendar years (so, yes, missionaries based overseas are eligible to enter).

Can self-published books enter?

Yes, as long as the book was produced as a paperback or hardcover. Digital-only ebooks aren’t eligible (but if you want to enter your self-published ebook, you do have time to publish paper copies via CreateSpace or IngramSpark).

Does my entry have to be Christian?

No, but it does have to be inspired by some aspect of your Christian faith, and it must reflect language, themes and a world view that honour Christ. The motto of Omega Writers is Words that change the world: that’s probably a clue as to what the judges will be looking for.

Will I get feedback on my entry?

All entrants to the Unpublished manuscript category will receive feedback on their entry.

When will I find out if I’ve won?

There will be two rounds of judging. A shortlist for each category will be published in September, and the winners of each category and the overall winner will be announced at a Gala dinner to be held at the Omega Writer’s Conference on 29 October 2016.

What are the prizes?

Category winners will each receive a cash prize of AUD 250, and an engraved trophy.
The overall winner will receive an additional cash prize of AUD 500, an engraved trophy, plus AUD 300 towards the fees for any Omega Writers conference or workshop over the following 12 months.

If I win the Unpublished prize, will my book be published?

It’s a possibility—that decision isn’t up to Omega Writers! But at least two Australian publishers of faith-inspired fiction are expected to be present at the awards dinner, so who knows?

How much does it cost to enter the CALEB Prize?

AUD 50 for members of Omega Writers, and AUD 60 for non-members. You can join Omega Writers for AUD 52 per year.

When do entries close?

Monday 18 April 2016.

Additional information and entry instructions are on the Omega Writers website: http://www.omegawriters.org/events/caleb-prize-submissions/

Omega Writers Conference

The conference will run from 28-30 October, and will be held at the Edmund Rice Retreat and Conference Centre in Sydney. Further details will be announced once program details have been finalized—applications to present a session, lead a workshop or participate as part of a panel are open until 16 April. An Expression of Interest form is available on the Omega Writer’s website, at http://www.omegawriters.org/conference-2016/.

For those organized types who are already on the lookout for cheap earlybird airfares, there will be a shuttle bus from Sydney Airport to the venue on Friday afternoon, departing at 1:30pm. A return shuttle will go on Sunday afternoon, leaving the venue at 1:30pm and Omega say “it is expected to take about an hour to reach the airport” (if Sydney traffic is anything like Auckland traffic, that should probably read “at least”. I look forward to being proven wrong).

Are you planning to enter the CALEB Awards, attend the conference or both?

Do you have any questions about the CALEB Awards? 

Simon Kennedy, President of Omega Writers, has promised to drop in later today and answer any questions, so now is your chance.