Lynn H. Blackburn

A month ago I shared a few thoughts on being a finalist for the Selah Awards in the Mystery and Suspense category. (You can read that post here).

In that post, I made the following statement…“I am not going to win.”

Well…

I was wrong.

To my absolute and complete shock, Covert Justice won the 2016 Selah Award for Mystery/Suspense! 

I’ve had almost a month to think about it, to let it settle in my mind, to stop looking at the plaque on my mantle in stunned disbelief, and I still don’t have the right words to describe how I feel.

I’m a writer. I really should be able to handle this.

All I know is that when my name was called, I temporarily lost all sense of time and space. It was truly like having an out of body experience. I remember fighting back tears. I remember walking up to the stage. I remember smiling at the camera. I remember stumbling back to my seat and people smiling and congratulating me as I passed. I remember sitting down and realizing that I was trembling from head to toe.

I forgot to take off my glasses (which I hate but am currently wearing all the time because of a tenacious eye infection). If I had been required to give a speech it would have been a disaster because in that moment I wasn’t entirely sure what my own name was. I’m pretty sure I looked like some bizarre version of the Joker because there was this weird grin plastered on my face that I couldn’t get control of.

But beyond that, I’m still processing the whys and hows of it all. 

I am so humbled. So stunned. And still wondering if there might have been a judging mistake. 🙂 

Covert Justice is my first book. I love it. It will always be special and dear, but in the year since it was released I have had so many days when I wondered if this writing thing was just too much to deal with right now. If maybe everyone would be better off if I walked away. (Can you say “Mom guilt”?) 

I have prayed so many times for clarity. Not for a sign, really. Just for peace and confidence that this journey was one I should be on.

Being a finalist and then actually winning an award like the Selah makes it hard not to believe that I’m at least moving in the right direction. 

I know God is up to something with my writing. I have no idea what, but I’m thrilled to be following His lead and I’m excited to see where He takes me next. I’m also terrified! It’s quite daunting to be faced with a very clear directive from the Almighty!

I want God to receive all the glory and praise. I want my readers not only to enjoy the stories I write, but to love Him more and to see Him more clearly than they did before. 

This summer, I am waiting to hear about my next book, writing a third, and brainstorming ideas for a new series. I would so appreciate your prayers as I lean hard into the Ultimate Storyteller and seek to craft new stories that will honor Him!