Nashville, TN—Fresh after the release of ECPA’s report naming Thomas Nelson Fiction the leading provider of Christian fiction,* the division announces the signing of three debut authors: Cara Lynn James, Kelly Long, and Caroline Friday.

“We listen closely to the readers and retailers to deliver the optimal mix of genres, formats and prices for our novels,” said Allen Arnold, Senior VP and Publisher, Thomas Nelson Fiction.

Each of the three latest additions to the roster will contribute a unique, fresh voice in inspirational romance:

Cara Lynn James will release Love on a Dime, her finalist entry for the coveted Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award for Unpublished Authors. Love on a Dime is first in a series of historical romance novels set in Newport, Rhode Island, during the Gilded Age of the 1890s, slated for a June 2010 release. A native New Englander, James now lives in northwest Florida near the Gulf Coast. A member of Romance Writers of America, the Faith, Hope, and Love Chapter of RWA, and the Gulf Coast Chapter of RWA, James is also a member of American Christian Fiction Writers.

Kelly Long’s Amish romance series, Designed by Love, features novels each inspired by popular Amish quilting patterns. The series is set among the Old Order Amish of rural north-central Pennsylvania, whose adage “there is no beauty without function” is exemplified by their superb handmade quilts.  The first novel in her series, Sarah’s Garden, is slated for July 2010 release.
Making Long’s Amish series particularly distinctive, the author grew up, as an Englisher, in a community with a high population of Amish residents.  Long is an alumnus of Pennsylvania State University and the University of New Hampshire where she received numerous writing scholarships. She is a high school humanities teacher in Marietta, Georgia.

Caroline Friday’s first novel, a Southern historical romance titled The River Flows, is set in 1920s North Carolina and slated for release in April 2011. Friday is the award-winning writer of eleven screenplays, one of which inspired The River Flows. Friday is also a founder and Executive Vice President of Sixth Day Media, LLC, a family and faith-based film finance and production company headquartered in the Atlanta area.

* PubTrack Quarterly Category Analysis Reports for January – June, 2009, published by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association.

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