Barbour Publishing Confirms Commitment to Fiction

Demonstrating its continuing commitment to fiction, Barbour Publishing has signed five authors to exclusive, multi-book contracts. Current authors Mary Connealy, M. L. Tyndall, Christine Lynxwiler, and Kelly Eileen Hake, along with new author Marcia Gruver, will write a combined 30 books for Barbour over the next few years.

"Barbour has long been known for doing inspirational romance well, and we have plans to continue to grow that strength with the launch of our cozy mystery series in January 2008 and with more full-length fiction novels on each new list," said Rebecca Germany, fiction editor for Barbour.

Mary Connealy, whose first two books Petticoat Ranch and Golden Days released in February, is known for bringing humor to historical settings. Connealy has agreed to write nine books for release over the next three years, beginning with Calico Canyon in August 2008 and Gingham Mountain in spring 2009. Following that series, she will write a series of humorous romances set in Montana. Her next book, Of Mice...and Murder, releases in early 2008.

M. L. Tyndall, who earned a 2007 Christy Award nomination for her book, The Redemption, has agreed to a six-book contract over the next three years. Tyndall, who has written three inspirational pirate romance novels set in the Caribbean, will release The Falcon and the Sparrow in August 2008, a stand-alone novel set in England during the Napoleon Wars, followed by a sisters' trilogy set in Charleston, South Carolina, prior to the American Revolution.

Award-winning author Christine Lynxwiler is set to release six books starting in spring 2009. Lynxwiler, who won the Book of the Year award from American Christian Fiction Writers, writes lighthearted contemporary fiction. Barbour reports strong sales for her latest release, Forever Christmas, and her Arkansas story collection has become a Barbour bestseller. Her next book, Along Came a Cowboy, is due out in fall 2008.

Kelly Eileen Hake is a reader favorite of Barbour's Heartsong Presents program, where she has released several books. Currently a credentialed Secondary English teacher, she is pursuing her MA in Writing Popular Fiction. Her Prairie Promises trilogy, set in the 1850s Nebraska Territory, features her special style of witty, heartwarming historical romance. Barbour plans to release the first of this collection, The Bride Bargain, in fall 2008.

Joining the Barbour family will be new author Marcia Gruver, who has agreed to a three-book series. Gruver, who lives in Texas, found out about her contract when Germany made the annual surprise announcement at the American Christian Fiction Writers conference in September. The first book in Gruver's historical Texas Fortunes trilogy, Diamond Duo, is scheduled for a fall 2008 release.