The winners of the 2008 Whitney Awards for LDS authors will be announced at a dinner event April 25, in Provo. This is the second year of the awards, which are given in conjunction with the sixth annual LDStorymakers Writers Conference April 24 and 25."Even compared to last year it has been amazing," said Robison Wells, director of the Whitney Awards."(In the best novel category) there's absolutely no book that is really standing out of the crowd. Any one of them could win and I would be thrilled. They're really all terrific."Two lifetime achievement awards will also be given at the event to authors Kerry Blair and Orson Scott Card.Blair is the author of nine novels and a well-known mentor of other authors. "She just has been a cheerleader for individual authors and for LDS writers as a whole," Wells said.Card, who writes a weekly column for Mormon Times, is more than a popular author, according to Wells. "There are several authors who write for a national audience, and then there are several authors who write for an LDS audience. He is one of the few that crosses back-and-forth between the two."This year a new genre category, best general fiction, was added to the Whitney Awards, making a total of eight different categories. The finalists are:Best novel of the year: "Bound on Earth," Angela Hallstrom; "Fool Me Twice," Stephanie Black; "The Hero of Ages" (Mistborn, Book 3), Brandon Sanderson; "Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow," Jessica Day George; and "Traitor," Sandra Grey.Best novel by a new author: "Bound on Earth," Hallstrom; "The Reckoning," Tanya Parker Mills; "Spare Change," Aubrey Mace; "Traitor," Grey; and "Waiting For the Light to Change," Annette Hawes.Best romance: "Seeking Persephone," Sarah Eden; "Servant to a King," Sariah Wilson; "The Sound of Rain," Anita Stansfield; "Spare Change," Mace; and "Taking Chances," Shannon Guymon.Best mystery/suspense: "Above and Beyond," Betsy Brannon Green; "Do No Harm," Gregg Luke; "Fool Me Twice," Black; "Freefall," Traci Hunter Abramson; and "Royal Target," Abramson.Best youth fiction: "The 13th Reality," James Dashner; "Alcatraz vs. The Scrivner's Bones," Brandon Sanderson; "Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague" (Book 3), Brandon Mull; "Farworld: Water Keep," J. Scott Savage; and "Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow," George.Best speculative fiction: "Ender in Exile," Card; "The Great and Terrible: From the End of Heaven" (Vol. 5), Chris Stewart; "The Hero of Ages" (Mistborn, Book 3), Sanderson; "The Host," Stephenie Meyer; and "The Wyrmling Horde: The Seventh Book of the Runelords," David Farland.Best historical: "Abinadi," H. B. Moore; "Isabelle Webb, Legend of the Jewel," N. C. Allen; "Master," Toni Sorenson; "The Ruby," Jennie Hansen; and "Traitor," Grey.Best general fiction: "Bound on Earth," Hallstrom; "Fields of Home," Rachel Ann Nunes; "Keeping Keller," Tracy Winegar; "The Reckoning," Mills; and "Waiting For the Light to Change," Hawes.Registration is closed for Saturday's dinner event, but the proceedings will be live-blogged at www.whitneyawards.com.
E-mail: mdegroote@desnews.com