ACFW Board Members

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Colleen Coble

CEO

USAToday Best-selling author Colleen Coble’s novels have won or finaled in awards ranging from the Best Books of Indiana, the ACFW Carol Award, the Romance Writers of America RITA, the Holt Medallion, the Daphne du Maurier, National Readers’ Choice, and the Booksellers Best. She has over 5 million books in print and writes romantic mysteries because she loves to see justice prevail. When she’s not writing, Colleen is playing Pokemon Go! with the family or traveling to the locales where she sets her novels. She’s a perpetual learner and a natural health nut. Colleen is CEO of American Christian Fiction Writers. She lives with her husband Dave in Indiana.

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Rick Acker

Rick Acker writes novels during his commute to and from his "real job" as a Supervising Deputy Attorney General in the California Department of Justice. His unit prosecutes corporate fraud lawsuits of the type described in his #1 bestseller, WHEN THE DEVIL WHISTLES. Rick has led investigations and lawsuits that made headlines in and out of California. Most recently, he and his team won a string record-breaking judgments and settlements against the Wall Street players who created the toxic mortgage securities that triggered the Great Recession. When Rick isn't writing or lawyering, you can usually find him with his wife, Anette, and their four children. They'll be exploring in the hills east of San Francisco, watching a good movie together, or, of course, reading.

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Pepper Basham - ACFW

Pepper Basham

PEPPER BASHAM is an award-winning author who writes romance “peppered” with grace and humor. Writing both historical and contemporary novels, she loves to incorporate her native Appalachian culture and/or her unabashed adoration of the UK into her stories. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she is the wife of a fantastic pastor, mom of five great kids, a speech-language pathologist, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus. You can learn more about Pepper and her books on her website.

Brandilyn Collins

Brandilyn Collins is a best-selling novelist known for her trademark Seatbelt Suspense®—fast-paced, character-driven suspense with myriad twists and an interwoven thread of faith. She also writes insightful contemporary novels, often laced with humor. Her first book “A Question of Innocence,” was published by Avon in 1995. Its promotion landed her on local and national TV and radio, including the Phil Donahue and Leeza talk shows. Brandilyn’s awards for her novels include the ACFW Carol Award (three times), Inspirational Readers Choice, the Inspy, Christian Retailer’s Best Award (twice), and Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice.

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Angela Hunt

Christy-Award winner Angela Hunt writes for readers who expect the unexpected in novels. With over five million copies of her books sold worldwide, she is the best-selling author of more than 150 works ranging from picture books (The Tale of Three Trees) to non-fiction books, to novels. Her books have won the coveted Christy Award, several Angel Awards from Excellence in Media, and the Gold and Silver Medallions from Foreword Magazine’s Book of the Year Award. In 2007, her novel The Note was featured as a Christmas movie on the Hallmark channel. Romantic Times Book Club presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award from American Christian Fiction Writers in 2019. Now that her two children are grown, Angie and her husband live in Florida with Very Big Dogs (a direct result of watching Turner and Hooch and Sandlot too many times).

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Rachel Hauck - ACFW

Rachel Hauck

Rachel Hauck is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling, author of contemporary romance and split time fiction. She is a Carol Award and Christy Award winner and double RITA finalist. Her book "Once Upon A Prince" was made into an original Hallmark movie. A graduate of Ohio State University, Rachel lives in central Florida where she is a worship and prayer leader. She’s married to the love of her life. They share living space with a cat named Hepzibah.

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Joy K. Massenburge - ACFW

Joy K. Massenburge

Author and speaker, JOY K. MASSENBURGE, crafts the love stories of pastors and their kids. She was born the sixth child of a pastor. She married a football player turned pastor…they raised pastor’s kids; a son and two daughters. Her contemporary romance debut novel “A Heart Surrendered” is a top-seller. She is also the audio voice of Beatrice “Mama B” Jackson in author, Michelle Stimpson’s Mama B Book series. When she is not writing or recording, she is speaking at retreats and conferences. Believing it is better to give than receive, she serves as American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW East Texas Writers) chapter’s President. If ever you visit Tyler, Texas, you can find her curled up on her back-porch swing reading a good book with her four grandchildren, caretaking for her donkey and a dog, or filling her five-acre country home with fifty-plus people for a Blue Bell ice cream party. You can learn more about Joy on her website.

Cara Putman - ACFW

Cara Putman

Cara Putman is the award-winning author of 20 novels and one non-fiction title with more books on the way. She is also an attorney, lecturer at a Big Ten university, adjunct faculty at a community college, homeschooling mama, and all around crazy woman. Crazy about God, her husband and her kids. She lives in Indiana with her family.

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Deborah Raney - ACFW

Kathleen Y'Barbo

Publishers Weekly Bestselling author KATHLEEN Y'BARBO is a multiple Carol Award and RITA nominee and bestselling author of more than one hundred books with over two million copies of her books in print in the US and abroad. A tenth-generation Texan and certified paralegal, Kathleen and her hero in combat boots husband have their own surprise love story that unfolded on social media a few years back. They make their home north of Houston, Texas and are the parents and in-laws of a blended family of Texans, Okies, and a family of three adorable Londoners. Though she’s an avid reader and loves road trips with her husband, if it’s a Saturday in the fall you’ll find Kathleen cheering on her beloved Texas Aggies.

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