She writes historical fiction, holds a master’s degree in history—and only recently gave up riding the motorcycle she named Kitty. Stephanie Grace Whitson has made a career out of playing with imaginary friends, and it all began in an abandoned pioneer cemetery on a tiny corner of land near where the Whitson family lived in the 1990s (mostly providing comic relief for the neighbors who had spent generations farming). That cemetery provided both a hands-on history lesson for Stephanie’s four homeschooled children and a topic of personal study. Since writing had always been a favorite hobby, it was only natural for Stephanie to begin jotting down scenes in the life of an imaginary woman crossing Nebraska on the Oregon Trail. Eventually, that story took on a life of its own, and Stephanie sent off a query letter—expecting instant rejection.
God had a different plan. Thomas Nelson Publishers offered a three-book contract. Two of Whitson’s first three books landed on the ECPA best-seller list, and two of her first nine books were finalists for the Christy Award. In 2012, The Shadow on the Quilt, book 2 in the Quilt Chronicles series, was awarded Romantic Times Magazine’s Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Inspirational Romance.
A lifelong learner, Stephanie continues to be fascinated by the real events and people who inspire her stories. She loves wandering old cemeteries, lingering in museums, adding out-of-print books to her large personal library, hand-quilting, celebrating family, and studying God’s Word.
