Oklahoma writer wins national award
Linda Goodnight with her RITA Award (Photo provided).
Wewoka author Linda Goodnight won a RITA Award, the romance industry’s highest honor, earlier this month at the Romance Writers’ of America Conference in San Francisco, according to a news release.
Goodnight’s novel “A Touch of Grace” won the RITA for best inspirational novel of 2007. The Christian novel is the second book in a trilogy about the emotional journey of three brothers separated in childhood and reunited as adults. It addresses difficult issues such as loss, abandonment and healing.
Goodnight had read the other books in her category and didn’t believe she had a chance of winning, according to the release.
“When the title of my book was announced, my mind went completely blank. I never heard my name called. I just kept saying, ‘What? What did she say?’ until my editor gave me a little push and said, ‘Get up. You won.’ It was both thrilling and humbling,” she said in the release.
Goodnight also has won the Booksellers’ Best Award, American Christian Fiction Writers’ Book of the Year, and a Reviewers’ Choice Award from Romantic Times Magazine. The author of more than 25 novels, she has appeared on the Christian bestseller list and her books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
A former nurse and teacher, she makes it her goal to write fiction that carries a message of hope and light in a sometimes dark world, according to the release.
“A Time to Heal,” her next novel from Steeple Hill Love Inspired, comes out Sept. 1. It tells the story of a burned-out physician’s shame, loss and ultimate healing, a common theme in her work.
Goodnight lives on a small farm near Seminole with husband Gene.
More than 2,000 romance authors from around the world attended the annual Romance Writers’ of America Conference July 30-Aug. 2 in San Francisco. The RITA Awards capped the event.
To read the complete list of winners, click here.
-BAM
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Thanks for letting readers know about Linda and her wonderful books and achievements.