If Indiana Jones had a pen instead of a whip, hed probably be Clive Cussler.Born on July 15, 1931, in Aurora, Illinois, Clive Eric Cussler wasnt just your average writerhe was an adventurer disguised as a novelist or maybe a novelist disguised as an adventurer. Either way, he lived a life most of us only dream of filled with sunken ships, secret missions, globespanning conspiracies, and yesmore than one largerthanlife hero with a jaw carved from granite and nerves made of steel.He passed away on February 24, 2020, in Scottsdale, Arizona, leaving behind not only a legacy of over 80 bestselling ...

If theres one name in the world of faithbased storytelling thats etched deeply into the hearts of millions, its Karen Kingsbury. Born on June 8, 1963, in the sunny heart of Fairfax, Virginia, Karen wasnt always the household name she is today. In fact, before her novels lined the shelves of readers across the globe, she was a crime beat reporter writing stories that bore the sharp edge of reality. Ironic, isnt it? The same woman who now writes with tenderness, hope, and grace once chronicled murders and mayhem. But perhaps thats what makes her novels hit harder than a Sunday sermon and stay wi...

What if we told you that Charles Todd is not one man, but two? What if the dark, brooding inspector you met in the pages of the Ian Rutledge mysteries wasnt born from the mind of a warscarred Englishman, but from the combined imagination of a quiet motherson duo living in America? Welcome to the strange and brilliant world of Charles Todd a pen name that conceals one of crime fictions most unique literary partnerships.Who is Charles Todd really?Behind the name Charles Todd are Caroline Todd and her son Charles Todd, a dynamic writing duo who managed to pull off the ultimate literary sleight o...

Imagine an American mind so enamored by the English countryside, so immersed in British aristocracy, murder, and intrigue, that she convincingly paints the fog, the tea, the centuriesold grudges, and the tweed coats better than the Brits themselves. That mind belongs to none other than Elizabeth Georgea woman who turned her love of language and character psychology into a career of plotting intricate mysteries with chilling precision.Born to Tell Tales with a Psychological TwistElizabeth George was born on February 26, 1949, in Warren, Ohio, USAa long way from the damp, cobbled lanes of London...

If youve ever wandered into the dustchoked streets of Absaroka County or saddled up beside Sheriff Walt Longmire in a blizzard of secrets and justice, youve already met the shadow of Craig Johnson a modernday storyteller with the grit of an old cowboy and the irony of a man who understands that the Wild West never really disappeared it just learned how to use a cell phone.Craig Johnson was born on January 16, 1961, in Huntington, West Virginia, but dont let that East Coast origin fool you. His heart and his imagination belong entirely to the sweeping plains and windscoured badlands of the A...

There are some authors who stumble upon greatness by accident. And then theres Phillip Margolin a man who calculated his path to the top with the precision of a seasoned attorney and the heart of a born storyteller. Born on April 8, 1944, in New York City, Margolins journey from the bustling streets of the Bronx to the glittering shelves of bestseller lists wasnt just fate it was a battle of grit, passion, and an unwavering belief in the power of stories.Phillip Margolins early life was anything but the stuff of leisure. After graduating from the American University in Washington, D.C., in 1...

Behind the sleek, sharp moniker J.D. Robb, a name synonymous with futuristic crime thrillers, is a literary powerhouse who once dared to dominate not just one genrebut twolike a literary shapeshifter in a tailored trench coat. Born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950, in Silver Spring, Maryland, she never diedbecause, lets be honest, writers like her live on in their characters long after the last page is turned.Before she was J.D. Robb, the queen of the gritty and romantic In Death series, she wasand still isthe iconic Nora Roberts, a name that sits at the throne of romance fiction ro...

If youve ever wandered through a bookstore and picked up a novel that made you question why you never learned about a certain woman in history class, chances are youve encountered the work of Marie Benedict. But Marie Benedict isnt just a historical fiction authorshes a literary detective of sorts, unearthing the lives of brilliant, silenced, and often overlooked women and resurrecting them with prose that makes you feel like youre living their lives, one page at a time.Born as Heather Terrell, Marie Benedict was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, though her exact date of birth has not been wid...

Born on July 21, 1969, Lysa TerKeurst didnt step into this world holding a pen or preaching to thousandsshe walked into a storm. Before becoming the bestselling Christian author we now know and quote on coffee mugs and Pinterest boards, she was just a girl growing up in the wake of deep, private chaos. Her early life was marked by the kind of trauma most people run from, not toward her parents divorce shattered her family unit, and the sudden loss of her 16monthold sister to a rare heart condition cracked her childhood wide open.She attended Furman University in South Carolina, where her major...

Born on March 25, 1946, in Kansas City, Missouri, Stephen Hunter didnt just stumble into storytellinghe locked, loaded, and fired his way into it with precision. The son of a Northwestern University speech professor and a childrens book author, Hunters childhood was filled with words, ideas, and a simmering intensity that would one day ignite into some of the finest action novels America has ever seen.Education? Hunter kept it classic and potent, graduating from Northwestern University in 1968 with a degree in journalism. Little did the world know, this softspoken graduate would soon become a ...