Statistics Fun

 So the announcements last night were rather hit-and-run, were they not? I apologize for that. But now you get to read a very long ramble to make up for it! I think some of you may get a grin out of at least ONE of our fill-in responses.

Overall, the Verve Lit 2012 poll ended with 48 votes. I am very blessed with this, because I had been praying for about 50. Thanks to all those people!

First I'll start with the Series category. Most people skipped the other categories and voted in Independent. Only 17 people voted in Series, two votes each for Benjamin Pratt and The Red Blazer Girls. The other thirteen were filled in, and is where we got our winner!

Auralia's Colors by Jeffrey Overstreet - Goodreads describes this as a series about monsters and witches. One of the obviously-not-Christian reviewers couldn't get over how glad she was it had no inclination to Christian values.

Dragons in Our Midst by Bryan Davis - ... a series about a boy who finds out he was a dragon in a past life, and learns how to have faith. Whatever that means. Take what you wish from that synopsis.

Swipe by Evan Angler - A person must receive the mark in their wrist or they-don't-get-that-job-at-McDonalds. Yep. It got a lot of good reviews on Goodreads.

The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Peter's Angel by Aubrey Hansen - This book releases next month from the winner of the Independent category. It's historical fiction.

Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan - Self explanatory. I think everyone has heard about this book, which is probably why someone voted for it. It's about wizards and menacing cloaks, apparently.

Pirates and Faith by Molly Evangeline (received 3 votes) - Winner of Series. I plan on reading the first book soon.

Provost's Dog by Tamora Pierce - Not really sure what this book is about. Wikipedia says it's a fantasy.

The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis - ...

The Destiny Trilogy (by Sarah Holman) - The independents took over ever category, didn't they?

Firmament by J. Grace Pennington

Then there was the Realism category. I was sad because the only book that didn't receive a vote was in the line up: The Running Dream. This is such a great book!
The Penderwicks - 4 votes ; Okay For Now - 3 votes ; Wonder Struck - 1 vote ; fill-in 8 votes...

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Swipe by Evan Angler
Chomp by Carl Hiaasen
1984 by Geore Orwell (could some one explain to me how this is a children's book...? Anyways, in 1984 they spelled George without the second G.)
The Pirate Daughter's Promise by Molly Evangeline (2 votes)
Trickster's Girl by Hilari Bell
The Destiny Of a Galaxy

Independent - only 7 skips.

Red Rain by Aubrey Hansen - 29 votes
The Destiny Trilogy by Sarah Holman - 8 votes
Fill-in: Johnny Vic by Ann Rich Duncan (Historical Fantasy) ; The Pirate Daughter's Promise by Molly Evangeline (3 votes)

Reader's Choice - 7 skips as well. I think people are sending me a message that they prefer Indie novels.

Firmament: Radialloy by J. Grace Pennington  - 26 votes
The Pirate Daughter's Promise by Molly Evangeline - 14 votes
The Charity's Diary Series by Elisabeth Allen - 1 vote -- Aw, come on! I feel rather bad that she only got one vote, her series looked utterly delightful. :-)

I plan on reading all three Reader's Choice books in this next year.



 And there are your stats! I don't know about anyone else, but I got a giggle out of George Orwell being voted for... I mean his work sounds very interesting... but I'm not sure how he fits our niche. Haha.

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

After many long months and a LOT of delays, the Verve Literary Awards now have winners!

Click through to find out which books got the most votes in each category.

Updates Aug 2nd

 Hello, readers!

It's August (most obvious statement ever), and the voting period for the Verve Lit Award has crossed the halfway mark. You can vote HERE, on this website, or on Facebook.

And if you haven't seen it yet, here is some news I posted on Facebook about a book/series that became eligible in two categories because of YOU GUYS! :

Big news! I was checking the fill-in responses on the poll, and Molly Evangeline's books have qualified in two new categories: The Pirate Daughter's Series [edited; this is not a trilogy] in SERIES, and The Pirate Daughter's Promise in INDEPENDENT (a book must receive three votes as a fill-in to qualify in a new category).

Also, the only books in the whole lot that have not received one vote are The Running Dream and Wonder Struck. I guess my fellow Indie-published/Small Publisher fans are sending a message! ;-D

If you haven't voted yet, you still have until August 15th. Don't wait too long, go out there and support your favorites (even if it is a fill-in :-) ).

(source)

VOTE HERE VOTE NOW.

Tada! Voting is HERE. Nothing fancy, and you don't need to put any personal info in. I'll update this post with the options as soon as I can fix a few coding problems...

You may only vote once on the poll. Authors may vote for their own books. ;-D

 It has come to my attention that some people were voting for the same book in each category through the fill-in option. These extra votes will only count in the category one placed them in, and will only be valid if over three people add that book in the fill-in option.





By Category, your options are:

Series

• Benjamin Pratt & The Keepers of the School by Andrew Clements
• The Red Blazer Girls by Michael D. Beil

Realism

• The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
• The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
• Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt
• Wonder Struck by Brian Selznick

Independant (Self-Published)

• Red Rain by Aubrey Hansen
• The Destiny Trilogy by Sarah Holman

Reader's Choice Wild Card

• The Charity's Diary Series by Elisabeth Allen
• The Pirate Daughter's Promise by Molly Evangeline
• Firmament: Radialloy by J. Grace Pennington

Tomorrow, tomorrow.

HEY READERS.

Tomorrow the poll will be open! You will be able to give your favorite books a vote of appreciation! It will be fantastic!

 As I said earlier, the voting now runs from July 15th to August 15th, 2012.

 There is also another surprise.

 There's a wild card category! Because I (Jess) was unable to get my act together, the lovely looking books that our blog readers suggested were not reviewed or officially nominated. So to make up for this, voters will have the option tomorrow of supporting one of these books:

• The Charity's Diary Series by Elisabeth Allen
• The Pirate Daughter's Promise by Molly Evangeline
• Firmament: Radialloy by J. Grace Pennington

That's it for now. I will be posting updates and news (plus a late review or two) later this week. If you would like to see another book on our wild card list, please comment on this post by this Tuesday. My final list will be updated on the 'nominations' page by tomorrow.

For the smaller updates and random polls, check out our Facebook and our Twitter.

Blessed,

-Jess

The Destiny Trilogy [nomination]

The Destiny of One

I don't think I have read many, if any, books that take place in outer-space before. So that is probably why at first it was kind of weird reading about life being so "normal" on another planet, but WOW was it ever a great book! I ended up not wanting to even put the book down!

The Destiny of a Few

And Sarah Holman's next book in the Destiny Trilogy was wonderful too! By that point I could hardly tear myself away from her story! I could not wait to read her third and last book in the Destiny Trilogy, and it was well worth the wait! It was amazing!

 The Destiny Trilogy is about Maria Morris, a young lady who was trying to figure out what destiny God had for her, and what to do with her life.
But when her parents go on a business trip for her Fathers job and ended up missing, Maria is entrusted with two long kept secret clues. She must try to find the last prince, and the crown jewels, from long ago when the last King of Earth ruled, back before Wyndemere I took over the Galaxy. But then to complicate matters Wyndemere II began making Christians be marked.
And while on a trip to another planet for her mission she is caught and marked. But since marked Christians were not allowed to travel from planet to planet, Maria might never be able to get home or finish her mission if she can not find a way to travel. And she has to finish her mission for the future of the galaxy. I would love to say more about what happens in the books but I would not want to accidentally give away any of the great twists and turns of the story! I really like how thought out the story is. It is great how you find clues and pieces to the puzzle right along with Maria. And it is so great how you see simple things happen that later in the story turn in to something big! And another thing I love about the Destiny Trilogy is that it is a believable story of people living on other planets. There is no super crazy stuff that's even silly for outer-space. And the characters are really well done, and some even have accents that are just perfect for them! It is just such a wonderful set of books, and I highly recommend them!

NOMINATED BY: LeAnne

The Destiny Trilogy  by Sarah Holman

Lulu Publishing,

Book 1, The Destiny Of One, 2011, Length Approx 206 pages.

Book 2, The Destiny Of A Few, 2011, Length Approx 227 pages.

Book 3, The Destiny Of A Galaxy, 2012, Length Approx 220 pages.

Age range ~ recommended to anyone who likes adventurer!

SELF-PUBLISHED

A copy of The Destiny of the Galaxy was provided to the VLA from the author.

Apologies

I bet you are all wondering where and the heck the voting is and when it will start! It was supposed to be up on the first of July, but due to some unforeseen reviewing delays the voting will not be opened until Sunday, July 15th. To adjust for this, voting will end one month later on Wednesday, August 15th.

There was going to be a few more self-published book nominated for the 2012 VLA, but unfortunately I missed all of the e-book sales on Amazon this week and will be unable to afford them. :-( I feel really bad about that, because I know of some great books that I just wasn't able to review!

There is a little bit of good news, however. Some time this week we're going to officially nominate Sarah Holman's Destiny Trilogy! It looks like a lot of sci fi fun.

 Also, if anyone has read a really awesome independently published novel/series and would like to do the review themselves, PLEASE send us an email at the address on the Contact page BY THE THIRTEENTH! No attachments please, or it will go to the Spam folder and I won't see it. If you have not written a review yet please contact us ASAP so that we can discuss if it is a good fit for the VLA and have time to work out the details.

We are so sorry for the voting delay!

 Thanks so much for reading,

-Jess Verve