Name This Author – Win a Novel (Round 27)

Oh, goody. It’s Wednesday once again. Another chance for Write Thinking readers to win a book or two. And this week’s featured author has given us lots of fun facts.

This author began life as a surprise, the caboose on a train of siblings 9, 11, and 13 years old. One of her earliest memories involves a brother bringing home a new pet from his job … and her being terrified to go outside when her brother released his new pet (a banana spider) in the back yard. She was painfully shy until college, but when she came out of her shell it was for good. In college she performed a Handel aria and played at “crazy” in a Moliere comedy. The “liberated woman” in her circle of college friends, she wore jeans with a patch that said “nobody owns me,” and enjoyed a brief modeling stint that left her with great memories and a photo of herself in a designer gown standing next to a Rolls Royce. As a young mother she made all her family’s bread from scratch, gathered wild fruit for jams and jellies, and sold organic produce at a local Farmer’s Market. She’s founded three companies and decorates her office with memorabilia that includes a truck driver’s uniform hat, rocks from Long Island, and a 1993 Equus magazine with Secretariat on the cover. (Click on photo to see larger version.)

The Rules:

• Entrant must put their guess in a comment on the Write Thinking blog. Commenting on Facebook or Twitter doesn’t count toward a chance to win. (At present, commenters are not required to sign in, making it easier for more folks to play.)
• Entrant must have a USA mailing address to be eligible to win a book. (Sorry. Cost of postage outside the US is too prohibitive.)
• The first person to name the featured author correctly wins a Robin Lee Hatcher novel (of Robin’s choice). If no one has guessed correctly by Friday morning, there will be no winner for this round.
• If there is a winner, he or she will be announced in an update at the bottom of this post. If the winner fails to contact Robin at her Write Thinking email address (see left sidebar) with his/her mailing address, no prize will be awarded to a runner-up.
• No one who has won a book within one month is eligible to win.

Be sure to check back to this post on Friday to see the answer and to see if you’ve won.

Update: Looks like we stumped you this week. Lots of good guesses, though.

This week’s featured author is Stephanie Grace Whitson. A native of southern Illinois, she has lived in Nebraska since 1975. She began what she calls “playing with imaginary friends” (writing fiction) when, as a result of teaching her four homeschooled children Nebraska history, she was personally encouraged and challenged by the lives of pioneer women in the West. Since her first book, Walks the Fire, was published in 1995, Stephanie’s fiction titles have appeared on the ECPA bestseller list numerous times and been finalists for the Christy Award, the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award, and ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year. To learn more about Stephanie and her books, please visit her web site.

Be sure to come back next week for another chance to win.

~robin