Greetings from Chris
My latest novel, Under A Cloudless Sky, is a complex unraveling of a secret hidden 70 years by a woman named Ruby. Her daughter, Frances, desperately wants to protect her mother from making a mistake on the road—so she takes her mother's car keys.
This, as they say in the writing business, is the inciting incident.
And that "taking of the keys" produces some unintended consequences in the lives of everyone in Ruby's life—and some who aren't in her life.
I dedicate this story to my grandparents on both sides of my family. In some ways they lived it because they were part of the hard life of living in the southwest coalfields of West Virginia. It was a hard, harsh life they built against the backdrop of the violence and beauty of those mountains.
I hope you'll not only read about Ruby and Bean, Hollis and Juniper, and the rest of the cast of this novel—I hope your life will be enriched by the story and that you'll see yourself in these pages.
Awards
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An Exciting New Venture!
Chris is very excited to announce a new venture that he hopes will allow him to use his decades of writing experience to benefit aspiring writers!
"Hey, You Can Write!" is a mentoring program that reflects Chris' passion to give what he was given forty years ago, when a journalism professor wrote four words on a sheet of paper that encouraged and inspired him. Now Chris wants to do the same for others who also have a dream to write and need some educated encouragement along the way.
Learn more by watching the preview video below, and be sure to visit HeyYouCanWrite.com to find out how you (or someone you know) can take the first step toward making your writing dream a reality!
Christy Award Hall of Fame
Chris was honored to be inducted into the Christy Award Hall of Fame at the ECPA's annual awards ceremony on November 7 in Nashville, TN.
Awarded to authors who have received four or more Christy Awards, the Hall of Fame designation is conferred as "the highest author honor of the program, recognizing the author's legacy and contributions to Christian fiction." Five of Chris' novels—Dogwood, Almost Heaven, Not in the Heart, The Promise of Jesse Woods, and Looking into You—have been recipients of the Christy Award.
Karen Watson, publisher of Tyndale House fiction, stated, "We are always delighted when the excellent work of our authors is recognized. Tyndale's long-term investment in bringing impactful stories and skilled, God-gifted authors to the marketplace is an important part of our mission. Chris Fabry has been an integral part of achieving this mission at Tyndale."
Find out more about the Christy Award Hall of Fame at the Christy Awards website.
Latest Release: Under a Cloudless Sky
A lush and storied coal-mining town—and the good people who live there—is in danger of being destroyed for the sake of profit. Will the truth about the past—including the decades-old secret of a feisty octogenarian named Ruby—be the town's final undoing or its saving grace?
1933. In the mining town of Beulah Mountain, West Virginia, two young girls form an unbreakable bond against the lush Appalachian landscape, coal dust and old hymns filling their lungs and hearts. Despite the polarizing forces of their fathers—one a mine owner, one a disgruntled miner—Ruby and Bean thrive under the tender care of Bean's mama, blissfully unaware of the rising conflict in town and the coming tragedy that will tear them apart forever.
2004. Hollis Beasley is taking his last stand. Neighbors up and down the hollow have sold their land to Coleman Coal and Energy, but Hollis is determined to hold on to his family legacy on Beulah Mountain. Standing in his way is Buddy Coleman, an upstart mining executive who hopes to revitalize the dying town by increasing coal production and opening the Company Store Museum. He'll pay homage to the past—even the massacre of 1933—while positioning the company for growth at all costs.
What surprises them all is how their stories will intersect with a feisty octogenarian living hundreds of miles away. When Ruby Handley Freeman's grown children threaten her independence, she takes a stand of her own and disappears, propelling her on a journey to face a decades-old secret that will change everything for her and those she meets.
Read More about Under a Cloudless Sky
"Under a Cloudless Sky captivated me from page one. I cared immediately what happened to Ruby and Bean, and the stakes kept rising as tidbits of history were revealed, unraveling the mystery that held Ruby captive. A terrific reading experience!"
— Francine Rivers, New York Times bestselling author
The Promise of Jesse Woods
The summer of 1972 was the most pivotal of Matt Plumley's childhood. While his beloved Pirates battle for back-to-back World Series titles, Matt's family moves from Pittsburgh to Dogwood, West Virginia.
A fish out of water, Matt forges a fast bond with two unlikely friends: Dickie Darrel Lee Hancock, a mixed-race boy, and Jesse Woods, a tough-as-nails girl with a sister on her hip and no dad in sight. As the trio traipses the hills and hollers, Matt begins to fall for Jesse, and their promises to each other draw him deeper into her terrifying reality.
One night, Matt joins Jesse in a rescue that saves one life and ends another . . . and severs the bond of their friendship.
Years later, Matt is pulled back to Dogwood and to memories of that momentous summer, determined to learn the truth behind the only promise Jesse Woods ever broke.
Read More about The Promise of Jesse Woods
The Promise of Jesse Woods was awarded the 2017 Christy Award in the General Fiction category. For a complete list of winners and finalists, please visit the Christy Awards website.
War Room: The Novel
Tony and Elizabeth Jordan seem to have it all—but appearances can be deceiving. Their world is actually crumbling under the strain of a failing marriage.
But their lives take an unexpected turn when Elizabeth meets her newest client, Miss Clara, and is challenged to establish a "war room" and a battle plan of prayer for her family.
Based on the motion picture by Alex and Stephen Kendrick.
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The Dogwood Collection
The Dogwood Collection bundles three of Chris' beloved novels into one eBook for a great value!
Walk the roads of West Virginia with Karin, Ruthie, June Bug, Billy, and other memorable friends in this recently released collection of Dogwood, June Bug, and Almost Heaven. Available on Amazon Kindle and other major e-readers.
"Solidly literary fiction with deep, flawed characters and beautiful prose."
— Novel Reviews on Dogwood