More pictures from Canadian Christian authors event

Here are some more pictures from the Christian authors event at Faith Family Books in Scarborough on Friday night.

For a list of the authors who were there, go here.

The pictures include singer Jassette Haughton, who sang a few rousing Christian songs Friday evening.

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Marian den Boer, who is the one person who bought my novel The Defilers. Marian read from her devotional, prayer-journal Blooming and what a funny, perceptive work it seems to be.

Next is Phil Wagler who read from his book on growing the missional church.

Then there's a blurry photo of me reading from The Defilers.

Next is a young customer going through the extensive children's book section. I gotta say, this is an impressive Christian book store, with wifi, a coffee shop, a selection of real Christian Christmas cards, (what a concept!), books and music and gifts.

Then we see Marilyn Meyers reading from From Fire and Sea, true life stories about her participation with Mercy Ships Canada, a ministry that sends shipboard hospitals to minister to the poorest of the earth.

Next is Mags Storey with her contemporary novel If Only You Knew. It sounds like a fun read.


Then we see Monica Leis and Johanne Robertson, the folks behind the excellent Maranatha Christian News, a newspaper I write for sometimes. They do a wonderful service with this newspaper.

Then we have Les Lindquist, who with his wife Nancy aka NJ, helped make The Word Guild the excellent association it is to help mentor, network and promote Canadian Christian authors and editors.

I'm not sure who the other folks are.

Christmas is coming up and you might do well to take a look at what Canadian Christian authors have to offer when you think of your Christmas presents this year.

There's a lot of variety, including some good fiction to curl up with by the fireplace over the holidays.

Consider my novel The Defilers, which comes highly recommended by Kathy Shaidle and others and you know Kathy wouldn't just say she liked it to be nice.

Kathy writes:

"Deborah's debut, The Defilers, is the first fiction book I've read in years. When she sent it to me, she described it as "an airport novel", and indeed, some smart mass market paperback publisher should snap it up. This police procedural has it all: exorcisms and the occult, murder, cultish kiddie p*rn, romance -- but Deborah didn't win this year's Best New Canadian Christian Fiction Award for nothing. Believe it or not, she manages to tell this twisted mystery tale without graphic sex scenes -- or even swearing -- but this isn't "goodie goodie" tacky "Christian" fiction, either.

Each chapter is a cliff-hanger. It was a fun, yet reverent read, with lots of unexpected plot twists (and characters who aren't who you think they are...) to keep you guessing. I think most of my readers would be quite touched by the angry heroine's faltering journey back to the faith.

Deborah's own faith history is harrowing in its own way. She has more about the book, including reviews, at her site."

Poet, author and blogger Kathy Shaidle, of one of the blogosphere's first Catholic bloggers, at Relapsed Catholic. (she's now at Five Feet of Fury and politically correct she is not!)

If you would like to order signed copies of The Defilers, I have some copies on hand. Send me your info via the comments section of this post (I will not publish them) and I'll pop them in the mail for you.

Two of my favorite Christian authors weigh in on The Defilers:

A great read that had me pinned to the book long into the night. Deborah treats this difficult subject matter with realism and grace and with traces of Frank Peretti. I highly recommend this book.

Linda Hall, author of Dark Water and many other award winning mysteries

The Defilers has all the components of a commercial bestseller: strong plot, interesting characters, suspense, surprise, and, at the right times, beautiful ambiguity. Gyapong's characters are multi-dimensional; they don't fit into simple stereotypes. The book tackles a difficult subject matter (the child porn industry) with grace. The Defilers is a good plane read--fast paced and well written--but its story will stay with you long after you disembark.

Mary E. DeMuth, author of Wishing on Dandelions and Watching the Tree Limbs.

It was nice to see Mary's latest books Daisy Chain and A Slow Burn on the shelves at Faith Family Books and Gifts.

For more pictures from Friday's event, go here.