ACFW 2024 Recap & Carol Award Winners

The 2024 ACFW conference took place last week in New Orleans. It was my first time, and I really enjoyed connecting with my writing friends and getting a teeny-tiny glimpse of the city. I didn’t make it to the French Quarter, because it rained four of the five days I was there, but I did slip out to the WWII Museum with my friend Tricia Goyer. I tend to be the person who attends everything when I’m at a conference, but I wasn’t teaching this year, and I was going to be so sad if I didn’t find my way the 3/4 of a mile to the museum. Still, I’m not sure I would have made the trek without her encouragement.

I am so glad I did! Before we even got inside the doors, I was seeing statutes that tied to my books. The photo below shows a soldier with his War Dog, and my novel Sandhill Dreams is set at Fort Robinson in the Sandhills of Nebraska where war dogs were trained. It only got better as we went inside. I need to go back and spend days there so I can spend the time to soak in the stories and oral histories to identify the sparks that will weave into possible future books.

Saturday night was the awards gala. It’s an excuse to dress up and celebrate with friends. I love the chance to celebrate as we award the Genesis for best-yet-to-be-published book and awards for Mentor-of-the-Year, Editor-of-the-Year, and Agent-of-the-Year. We also recognized author Deborah Raney with the Lifetime Achievement Award and two memebers with the Volunteer of the Year and Member Service Award.

Here are a few fun photos, and at the end is a list of the winners of the Carol Awards. These are for the best published books from last year. There are great books on the list.