Bonnie S. Calhoun is the Founder and Publisher of Christian Fiction Online Magazine . She is also the Owner and Director of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance which is the parent organization for the magazine.

In addition to her passion for spreading the word about Christian fiction, Bonnie is also an author of snarky suspense. Her novel Cooking The Books (A Sloane Templeton Novel) will release from Abingdon Press in April 2012. It is presently available for digital e-reader download if you are a book reviewer. Go to NetGalley.com, Abingdon Press as the publisher. http://www.netgalley.com/index2.php?module=catalog&genre=&type=4&txt=Abingdon

Our own Kim Ford, interviewer extraordinaire for CFOM, did a great job at interviewing some of the best and brightest in the Christian publishing world. Here is a sampling of her interviews. Take it away Kim!

I had an opportunity to attend the International Christian Retail Show this year, and although I grew up just north of Atlanta, it was the first time I actually lived downtown for a week! And what an amazing week it turned out to be!

I interviewed fiction and nonfiction authors and even tossed in a couple of musicians for spice! What amazed me most was that God was working in each individual author’s or artist’s life to deliver a profound and undeniably clear message: Get back to the truth found in God’s Word! Over and over again I encountered life lessons and spiritual leadership that led one and all to trumpet truth and obedience to God by whatever means they were given. What an amazing discovery!

I also discovered some little-known and fun facts about many authors, which I thought would entertain and amaze you just as they did me!

Steve Arterburn tackles serious issues in his Every Man’s Battle ministry. He helps both men and women overcome pornography addiction and the resulting chaos it brings to so many lives. Steve is also a teaching pastor, a talk show host, and a prolific writer. His latest release is Walking into Walls by Worthy Publishing, and he will introduce a new novella, The Encounter, with Thomas Nelson later this year. What else is Steve Arterburn doing? How about appearing on Wheel of Fortune with his twenty-year-old daughter! Steve said that this was a special memory he will have with his daughter for the rest of his life!

Liz Curtis Higgs has just released another stellar historical, Mine Is the Night, and she is excited that her readers will finally be able to enjoy the end of this fabulous Scottish trilogy. Liz also writes exceptional nonfiction, but she has discovered that her audiences rarely overlap. Her readers love either nonfiction or fiction, and because it takes her a year to write in either genre, readers wind up with a long wait between titles. So guess what? Liz is going to a format that is void of series and will write stand-alone titles that will shorten the readers’ wait! How is that for exciting! And do you know that she has over 900 books on Scotland? Never let it be said that this lady doesn’t do her research! She also admits that she is usually late turning in her manuscripts!

David Teems was a fascinating person to meet! The Lord saved David in 1981, and as a self-proclaimed Shakespeare “geek,” he was enamored with the language of the King James Bible. David operates best in an “all or nothing” mode, so he was thrilled when Thomas Nelson gave him the opportunity to research and record the life of King James. Majestie gives a new voice to the life of this seventeenth-century king, allowing readers to appreciate both his strengths and weaknesses. David also wants people to know that William Tyndale is largely responsible for a lot of the phraseology of the King James Bible because the translators had such a huge respect for him. He is currently working on another title for Thomas Nelson that will bring William Tyndale to vivid life in the readers’ minds! David has published eight books and just as many music albums. He is a multitalented gentleman who talks a million miles an hour! It was a blast spending time with him!

Ken Ham is the founder of Answers in Genesis ministries and his latest title, Already Compromised, is an excellent guide for parents who have children on the brink of entering college. Research undeniably proves that today’s colleges are severely compromised in many areas of Bible doctrine, and parents need to take an active role in helping their students choose a college home. Ken firmly believes that the young people today are hungry for answers, and they want to find those answers in church. Children want the adults in their lives to stand on the authority of God’s Word and give answers. Creationcolleges.org is a tool that parents can use to narrow their search for biblically sound colleges. It was truly an honor to speak with this man!

Dale Cramer is a self-taught writer who has spent most of his adult life working in construction. At the point in life when Dale’s writing truly took on a life of its own, he was a stay-at-home dad, working nights and weekends on small construction projects. The first article he published was born out of an argument he had with a neighbor about labor management. In the process of writing that article, Dale learned to self-edit, and he later joined a writing

forum that further developed his talent. When he began submitting articles and having one out of every six published (a figure that statistically should have been closer to one out of a hundred!), Dale realized his love for words and began his first novel. Dale is the great-grandson of an Amish man, and his life has been permeated with an Amish work ethic and a passion for displaying God’s ability to work on a life from the inside out. His work has appeared on the Publisher’s Weekly book-of-the-year list, and he is thrilled to be writing full time. Paradise Valley is his latest title.

Tosca Lee is an exotic and unique lady who loves to explore the question “Do we do the things we do out of fear or love?” Her unique point of view allowed her the opportunity to team up with Ted Dekker for an exciting trilogy entitled the Book of Mortals. Forbidden is the first book in the series, and Tosca is excited by the many promotional ideas that will be showcasing her work! She was secretive about these promotions, but she did tell me that they could be found on both her Website and Facebook page, as well as Ted’s. So be on the lookout for some exciting stories and some fabulous give-aways!

Ann Tatlock is an author I’ve been reading for years, and her latest title, Promises to Keep, tackles the harsh reality of spousal abuse and the quiet stalking of a young girl. One of the main characters in this story is a woman named Tilly, a character who came to Ann over twenty-five years ago! She admits that Tilly is probably one of the most eccentric and unique characters that her imagination has ever produced. Racism is one of many themes explored in this tender story, and it is a theme that reoccurs often in Ann’s writing. She wants readers to realize that sometimes it is necessary to let go of dreams and relationships in order to discover what is God’s best for their lives.

Tricia Goyer has a phenomenally tight writing schedule! She just released Beside Still Waters in April, and Along Wooded Paths will follow this fall! She also will release Remembering You with Guideposts this fall as well! Tricia has a fifteen-month-old at home, so her writing time is limited by nap times and evenings. It’s a good thing she is able to write quickly! Tricia is also working on an historical suspense novel entitled Chasing Mona Lisa, and once she finishes book three in her Amish series, she plans to dash on to a prodigal son–type story set aboard the Titanic! There is no end to the stories that travel from Tricia’s imagination onto the pages of a book!

Brian Litfin is the author of the Cheveis trilogy, and his latest novel, The Gift, was an amazing adventure that continued the search for God’s Word in a world in which it has been long hidden. Brian is a professor at Moody Bible Institute, and he loves teaching folks about God and His Word! That love of teaching is reflected in his fiction, because many of his fictional settings are based on real places he has traveled to in his studies. Brian wants the Cheveis trilogy to reflect the transforming power of God’s Word, and it is his hope that readers will encounter its preciousness as they’ve never encountered it before. He writes swashbuckling adventure tales that engage the reader’s heart and imagination.

Brock Eastman was attending ICRS as a debut author. He is employed full time by the marketing department of Focus on the Family, and he thinks of himself as a marketing guy. His book, Taken, was originally written just for friends and family, but as he continued to receive positive feedback from his readers, he began to pursue publication. Brock broke all the rules when he began to pitch his story, and it’s a good thing he did! He now has contracts for nine books in the next two years! His publishing story is as amazing as the stories themselves, and he gives God all the glory for his success. Brock is married with two young children at home, so he writes nights and weekends. With so many books to write, I guess we know what he’ll be doing for the next couple of years!

Well folks, I must end here for now! To visit others I met at ICRS, you’ll just have to stop by Window to My World for more in depth interviews and great give-aways!