WINCHESTER, Ky. (LEX 18) — An author from Winchester doesn't just think of the awards physically sitting on the patio table in her yard.
"I love real-life kind of stories where people act and react in a way that real people would," said Hallee Bridgeman.
Bridgeman has recently won the Carol Award for her book "Word of Honor." She describes the award as the Oscars of Christian fiction.
"A faith arc, and a suspense arc, and a romance arc," she said. "So that's what I write."
"I want that reader to completely feel whatever the characters are going through," she added. "I want my reader to have that emotion too."
The award comes at a time when Bridgeman was going through something of her own.
"It was awful," she said. "Our son was walking home from Walmart in Winchester and he was struck by a truck and he was killed instantly."
Her son, Jeb, died back in April. He was just 14 years old.
"He was my biggest fan, and he was sincerely like — I'm sure that sounds very trite — but he was sincerely my biggest fan," she said.
Jeb was her biggest fan, and even her go-to with her writing.
"If I wanted to toss around a plot idea with him, he would be the first person in line to say yes, let's talk about this," she said. "I want to hear about this. I want to be part of this with you because it's a big deal to me that you're doing this."
Bridgeman thinks back to when she and her husband cleaned out Jeb's room. She says there were bibles and bible studies, but something else that tugs at the heartstrings.
"When we cleaned out his room, we found almost all of my books. Every one of them had been dog-eared, bookmarked, highlighted," she recalled. He had several books he had started writing that would fall in my series."
If you want to learn more about her books and the award-winning series "Love and Honor," click here.
