Pick up WINTER'S CAMP
and begin the incredible journey into Ransom
Canyon!
New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas has captivated readers
around the world with her sweeping, heartfelt family sagas. To introduce her
brand-new series, Jodi tells the story behind the unforgiving Texas landscape
and how one man claims Ransom Canyon—and a timid beauty—for his legacy…
A wanderer’s life was all James Randall Kirkland had known since he was an
orphaned boy in San Antonio. And while years of adventure had satisfied his
younger self, now he’s longing to put down roots of his own and is prepared to
go it alone. But when he sees the Apache slave woman with the startling blue
eyes, the course of his journey is changed forever.
Ever since the Comanche raided her village and took her for their own, Millie
hasn’t known any kind of freedom. After years of being outcast, beaten and
traded from tribe to tribe, she’s unprepared for James’s patient tone and gentle
ways. Still, as her handsome savior slowly earns her trust, Millie struggles
between desire and fear, sure it’s just a matter of time before James tires of
her and her burgeoning feelings are nothing but another wasted memory.
A fifth generation Texan, Jodi Thomas chooses to set the majority of her
novels in her home state.
The stories Thomas has committed to paper have earned her an impressive list of
distinguished awards. Her first book, BENEATH THE TEXAS SKY (1988), won the
National Press Women's Novel of the Year in its category. Book two, NORTHERN
STAR (1990), was named best novel by the (Texas) Panhandle Professional Writers
and the Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc., an organization of writers' groups
from several states. Book three, THE TENDER TEXAN (1991), was Thomas's first
national bestseller and won her the first of her Romance Writers of America
RITA's, the $1.5 billion romance publishing industry's equivalent of an "Oscar."
Jodi won her second RITA for TO TAME A TEXAN’S HEART (1994). Book twelve, TO
KISS A TEXAN (1999) was her first novel to score on the USA TODAY Best-selling
Books list. For THE TEXAN'S WAGER (2002), sixteen was the magic number. As
Thomas's sixteenth novel, the book scored number sixteen on the NEW YORK TIMES
extended bestseller list. FINDING MARY BLAINE, (2004) received the National
Readers' Choice Award in 2005. Thomas was inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame in
2006 for winning her third RITA for THE TEXAN'S REWARD (2005). In 2009, Jodi
received the National Readers' Choice Award for two of her books: TWISTED CREEK
(2008) and TALL, DARK, and TEXAN (2008). In 2010, THE LONE TEXAN won the
Reader's Choice 2009 Best Western Romance from Love Western Romances.com. Jodi
received a RITA for WELCOME TO HARMONY (2010) and the Booksellers’ Best Award
for SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY (2010) at Romance Writers of America in 2011. At the
2012 Romantic Times Conference, Jodi won the Romance Pioneer Award and the 2011
Reviewers’ Choice Award for TEXAS BLUE. JUST DOWN THE ROAD (2012) scored number
15 on the New York Times Best Seller List.In 2013, Jodi won a Holt Medallion for
Wild Texas Rose (2012) and the West Texas Books Festival’s A.C. Green Award.
Then in 2014, Jodi Thomas won the National Readers’ Choice Award’s Contemporary
Single Title for Can’t Stop Believing (2013).
With a degree in Family Studies, Thomas is a marriage and family counselor by
education, a background that enables her to write about family dynamics. Honored
in 2002 as a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Thomas
enjoys interacting with students on the West Texas A & M University campus,
where she currently serves as Writer In Residence.
"My door is usually open to students all morning," explains Thomas, who talks to
the classes at the University and on other campuses during her many speaking
engagements when not writing in her spacious office in WTAMU's Cornette Library.
"They come by to visit and ask questions about being a writer. When I was a
child, being a writer wasn't an option. All the people I knew had regular jobs.
I'm hoping that students will see that being a writer is a possibility. This is
particularly important in these days when programs in the arts are being cut in
the public schools."
Commenting on her contribution to the arts, Thomas said, "When I was teaching
classes full time, I thought I was making the world a better place. Now I think
of a teacher, or nurse, or mother settling back and relaxing with one of my
books. I want to take her away on an adventure that will entertain her. Maybe,
in a small way, I'm still making the world a better place."
While the author toured the country speaking to Desk and Derrick clubs about her
2003 novel, THE WIDOWS OF WICHITA COUNTY, the members of various chapters formed
a Jodi Thomas Fan Club. The group enthusiastically promotes her novels and
public appearances and even volunteers to provide drivers for her out-of-town
engagements.
When not working on a novel or inspiring students to pursue a writing career,
Thomas enjoys traveling with her husband, Tom, renovating a historic home they
bought in Amarillo, and "checking up" on their two grown sons.
Website | Facebook |
Twitter | Instagram |
Pinterest
3 comments posted.