Terri Blackstock

Blackstock was born in Belleville, Illinois in 1957, and her family moved multiple times during her childhood to follow her father's career as a US Air Force officer.[1] At age 11, she began writing poetry.[1] After her parents divorced, she moved to Mississippi with her mother and graduated from Wingfield High School in Jackson, Mississippi in 1975.[1] She completed a bachelor's degree in English from Northeast Louisiana University in 1981.[1] She left graduate school to focus on writing.[1]

Blackstock began her writing career with romance novels under the pseudonym Terri Herrington, and published her first novel, Blue Fire, in 1984.[1] She also wrote under the pseudonym Tracy Hughes, and by the mid-1990s had published thirty-three romance novels under her pseudonyms.[1]

In 1994, Blackstock shifted to Christian fiction, with a focus on the suspense genre, and began publishing under her married name with Zondervan, a Christian publishing imprint of HarperCollins.[1][2] By 2004, the first three books in her "Cape Refuge" series reached the top of the Christian Booksellers Association bestseller list before the fourth book in the series was released.[2] In January 2010, the first two books in the series reached the top two places in the Kindle bestseller list after Zondervan temporarily made the books available for free downloads.[3]

In 2014, Blackstock cited Barbara Kingsolver, John Grisham, Dean Koontz, Jodi Piccoult, Harlen Coben, Pat Conroy, and Christian authors as influences on her work.[4] By 2017, she had written 80 titles, including novels, story collections, and a devotional,[5] and more than 7 million copies of her books had been sold.[6]

In addition to her suspense novels, she has written Christian fiction in the women's fiction genre, including the "Seasons" series co-written with Beverly LaHaye, a founder of Concerned Women for America[7] and the wife of Tim LaHaye.[8]

• 1988 Golden Medallion for Best Short Contemporary Novel, Romance Writers of America - for Stolen Moments (Terri Harrington)[8][1]
• 1990 Career Achievement Award, Romantic Times[8][1]
• RITA Award finalist, inspirational romance category - for Presumption of Guilt (1997)[1]
• 2010 Carol Award, Suspense category - for Intervention (2009)[1]
• 2011 Carol Award, Suspense/Thriller category - for Predator (2010)[1][9][10]
• 2014 Carol Award, Murder/Suspense/Thriller category - for Truth-Stained Lies (2013)[1][10]
• 2016 Christy Award for Suspense - for Twisted Innocence (2015)[11]
• 2019 Short Form Christy Award - for Catching Christmas (2018)[12][13]

The Sun Coast Chronicles

• Evidence of Mercy (1995)
• Justifiable Means (1996)
• Ulterior Motive (1996)[14]
• Presumption of Guilt (1997)

Second Chances

• Never Again Good-bye (1996)
• When Dreams Cross (2000)[15]
• Blind Trust (2000)[16]
• Broken Wings (2000)[17]

Newpointe 911[18]

• Private Justice (1998)[19]
• Shadow of Doubt (1998)[20]
• Word of Honor (1999)[21]
• Trial by Fire (2000)
• Line of Duty (2003)[22]

Seasons, co-written with Beverly LaHaye

• Seasons Under Heaven (2001)[7][23]
• Showers in Season (2001)
• Times and Seasons (2002)[24]
• Season of Blessing (2003)

Cape Refuge

• Cape Refuge (2002)[25]
• Southern Storm (2003)
• River's Edge (2005)[26]
• Breaker's Reef (2005)

Restoration

• Last Light (2006)[27]
• Night Light (2006)
• True Light (2007)[28]
• Dawn's Light (2008)[29]

Intervention

• Intervention (2010)[30]
• Vicious Cycle (2011)
• Downfall (2012)

Moon Lighter

• Truth Stained Lies (2013)[31]
• Distortion (2014)
• Twisted Innocence (2015)

If I Run

• If I Run (2016)[32]
• If I'm Found (2017)[33]
• If I Live (2018)[34]

Stand-Alones

• The Heart Reader (2000)[35]
• Emerald Windows (2001)[36]
• Seaside (2001)[37]
• The Gifted (2002)[38]
• The Gifted Sophomores (2002)
• The Heart Reader of Franklin High (2008)
• The Listener: What if you could hear what God hears? (2008)
• Double Minds (2009)
• Predator (2010)[39]
• Shadow in Serenity (2011)[40]
• Covenant Child (2012)[41]
• Catching Christmas (2018)[42]
• Smoke Screen (2021)[43]
• Aftermath (2022)[44]

• Official website