Jodi Thomas
http://www.jodithomas.com/
A fifth generation Texan who taught family living, Jodi
Thomas chooses to set the majority of her novels in her home
state, where her grandmother was born in a covered wagon. A
former teacher, Thomas traces the beginning of her
storytelling career to the days when her twin sisters were
young and impressionable.
“I’d tell them stories at night that made them
too scared to get up and go to the bathroom. I got in
trouble for that,“ Thomas claims. “I told them
wild stories of school until they cried not to go. I got in
trouble for that too. Mother said she’s not sure, but
she thinks I was 10 before I ever told the truth about
anything. And all my life stories have always been in my
head.”
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 four Romance Writers
of America RITAs, the $1.5 billion romance publishing
industry’s equivalent of an “Oscar.” 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. Thomas is also a member of the Romance
Writers of America Hall of Fame.
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, which houses the Panhandle Plains
Historical Museum, the state?s largest historical museum.
“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, the members of various
chapters of Desk and Derrick Clubs 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. More information is
available at the author’s website, www.jodithomas.com.
When not working on a novel or inspiring students to pursue
a writing career, Thomas enjoys traveling with her husband
and renovating an historical home they bought in Amarillo.
Jodi’s website, www.jodithomas.com is where
readers can learn more about her books. There is also
information on signing up for her e-mail newsletter. For
more questions about Jodi or her novels, she can be
contacted though her e-mail address jodi@jodithomas.com.
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Books
The Tender Texan
November 1, 2011
A Shocking Proposition
Bold and beautiful, Anna Meyer dared to walk into a campsite
full of Texas cattlemen . . . and offer one hundred dollars
to the man who’d help her forge Read more...
Texas Blue
(A Whispering Mountain Novel #5)
April 5, 2011
Gambling man Lewton Paterson wants to marry into a
respectable family. After fleecing a train ticket, Lewt
makes his way to Whispering Mountain. But seducing a
well-bred woman is hard, and Lewt realizes Read more...
Somewhere Along the Way
(A Harmony Novel #2)
November 2, 2010
Second in the trilogy that’s captured
America’s heart.
Ever since she claimed Harmony, Texas, as her home,
eighteen-year-old Reagan Truman finds herself drawn to
others who have made their way here. Shaped by Read more...
Welcome to Harmony
June 1, 2010
Never-before-published—from the New York
Times bestselling author of Rewriting Monday.
Sixteen-year-old runaway Reagan has always wanted a place to
belong. She’s never had a real home of her own, but
perhaps she could Read more...
The Lone Texan
(A Whispering Mountain Novel #4)
October 6, 2009
Three days after arriving in Galveston, newly widowed Sage
McMurray finds herself taken hostage in a robbery. She fears
she may never see Whispering Mountain again when the outlaws
decide to auction their Read more...
Rewriting Monday
April 7, 2009
Reporter Pepper Malone moved to Bailey, Texas, after a news
story nearly got her killed. Now she wants to be left alone
to do her job in relative peace and quiet. But Read more...
Tall, Dark, and Texan
(A Whispering Mountain Novel #3)
October 28, 2008
Teagen McMurray would ride to hell and back to protect his
land. He'd certainly never felt that way about a woman. Not
at least until Jessie Barton showed up with her three Read more...
Twisted Creek
April 1, 2008
Bad luck has been biting at Allie Daniel's heels all her
life, so when she inherits a cafe in a small Texas lake
community she's sure there's a catch. But Allie decides Read more...
Texas Princess
(A Whispering Mountain Novel #2)
November 6, 2007
Hiding out from her financé in her father's barn,
Liberty Mayfield can't deny that she made the biggest
mistake of her life when she agreed to marry ruthless
Captain Samuel Buchanan. If Read more...
Texas Rain
(A Whispering Mountain Novel #1)
November 7, 2006
The first time Rainey Adams meets Texas Ranger Travis
McMurray, she steals a kiss—and then his horse. Now
Travis is determined to track down this intriguing woman and
bring her back to the Read more...
Easy On the Heart
August 29, 2006
The Texan's Reward
November 1, 2005
Jodi Thomas's novels about a lottery in which love is the
prize have won rave reviews from readers and critics alike.
Now the New York Times bestselling author gives us a
surprise treat Read more...
Secrets of Rosa Lee
August 1, 2005
A Texan's Luck
November 1, 2004
Captain Walker Larson received the shock of his life when
a beautiful stranger boldly walked into his
office—claiming to be his wife. His father may have
bought Lacy Larson for Read more...
Finding Mary Blaine
August 1, 2004
How to Lasso a Cowboy
May 25, 2004
They are a symbol of the Old West, from the tops of their
ten-gallon hats to the tips of their spurs, and an image
that sets women's hearts to quivering. Read more...
When a Texan Gambles
November 1, 2003
It all started when she got thrown off the wagon train.
Now, a crook is dead and Sarah Andrews has been raffled
off in a "Wife Lottery." That Read more...
The Widows of Wichita County
August 1, 2003
The Texan's Wager
November 9, 2002
Thrown off a wagon train with two other women and trying
to avoid jail for a murder they committed, Bailee Moore
agrees to enter a "Wife Lottery" — a ploy Read more...
The Texan's Dream
October 31, 2001
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