Karen Kingsbury (born June 8, 1963) is an American Christian novelist born in Fairfax, Virginia.She was a sports writer for the Los Angeles Times and later wrote for the Los Angeles Daily News. Her first book, Missy's Murder (1991), was based on a murder story that she covered in Los Angeles. During this time, she had an article published in People Magazine.She has written or co-written almost 100 novels or short stories, and (as of 2008) has nearly 13 million copies of her novels in print. She is a #1 New York Times and USA Today best selling novelist with the last dozen books published topping bestseller lists. Some of her novels are being developed into movies by The Hallmark Channel, including The Bridge, A Time to Dance (2015), and Maggie's Christmas Miracle (2017). Her Baxter Family series is being adapted into a television series. Lightworkers Media and Roma Downey have the rights to develop the series.Kingsbury also does public speaking, and through national events she reaches more than 100,000 people each year.