Meet The Authors
Chris Tarpley
OCFW President
Chris Tarpley once moonlighted in the IT industry, but his heart has always been devoted to storytelling. He lives in rural Oklahoma with his wife and children, two dogs, a cat, and the occasional field mouse that evades the traps. Chris is a contributing author of The Legacy Letters, Cracked Ice, By This Sign, Secrets, Spies and Allies, and The Many Lives of Veronica Carner. He is currently working on City of Ruins, book one of the Virid Flame series of fantasy novels. Follow him at www.christarpleybooks.com
Kristy Werner
OCFW Vice President
Kristy Werner is an award-winning author of Contemporary Christian Romance who lives in the Dream Zone and vacations in reality. She's a wife, a mom, a child of God. She was born to create and is never without her laptop, Nikon, or a good Micron pen. She was born in Tulsa, OK, the setting of her Tulsa Town Romance series where she spent most of her time tucked away in her room writing, drawing, and reading. She holds a BS in Zoology from OSU and works at her local bank. You can find out more about her and her books at kristywernerauthor.com
Christina Rost
OCFW Secretary
Christina Rost is a mother to three amazing children and is married to her high school sweetheart. After spending twenty-four years as an Air Force wife, her husband retired, and they settled in Oklahoma. Now she's pursuing her dream of writing Inspirational Contemporary Romance. She signed with Scrivenings Press in 2022 and her debut novel The Decision will be available June 2023!
​
Sharon Srock
OCFW Treasurer
Author Sharon Srock went from science fiction to Christian fiction at slightly less than warp speed. Thirty-five years ago, she cut her writer's teeth on Star Trek fiction. Today, she writes inspirational stories that focus on ordinary women using their faith to accomplish extraordinary things. Sharon lives in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma with her husband and three very large dogs. When she isn’t writing, she loves to read, cook, and travel. She’s still working on a way to do all three at the same time.
Shannon Pearson
OCFW Event Coordinator
Shannon D. Pearson is a former band nerd and holds degrees in American Sign Language and accounting. She loves her role as a wife and homeschooling mother of a growing family. Pen and paper are her tools. After all, stories can be handwritten while cradling a baby.
She and her family live only a few miles from where she grew up in Oklahoma. She’s attended the same church since in her mother’s womb, a legacy her children are continuing.
Her alter ego, “paperclip girl,” fights chaos with organization, and you shouldn’t be surprised to see Shannon wearing paperclips.
Shannon can be found on Facebook.
Craig Hastings
Born in Muncie, IN, Craig is as typical middle-America as they come. He was young when his parents divorced and his grandmother came to live with him, his mother, and two sisters. Seeing his grandmother’s faith in God on a regular basis led him to accept and know everything is okay, God’s in charge.
Craig served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force and followed this as a DoD contractor where he had multiple tours overseas and around the U.S. While there were events in his life that tested his faith in God, nothing compared to when his first son was born with major medical issues. As a twenty-one-year-old father with a young devastated wife, his faith had never been tested more. After enduring several surgeries, some considered experimental, his son passed away at six months and two weeks. But even in his brief life, he had a tremendous impact on Craig and others.
Since then, God has blessed Craig with two more sons and has been a constant guidance in his life. Craig’s time in the military and as a contractor afterward included over 20 years overseas, where he was part of local mission churches. On their last return to the states, God led him and his wife to Oklahoma, where he teaches Bible studies and serves in a local church.
The memory of what God did to help him through his parent’s divorce, his son’s illness and death, and many other events in his life, has led him to want to share what impact God had and has with him.
Nowhere are we promised a life without tragedies, setbacks, problems, or devastating events we have no control over, but God’s word does promise, ‘It’s okay, God’s in charge.’
Kathryn Spurgeon
Kathryn Spurgeon, an award-winning author, has published over a hundred stories, articles, and poems. She has published two Christian Historical Novels, A Promise to Break and A Promise Child and a forty-day Devotional titled, Jesus, One on One. Kathryn grew up on an Oklahoma farm before moving to Korea, where she adopted two children. She and her husband, Bill, hold weekly studies in their home for international college students. They have 6 children and 12 grandchildren.
Linda Goodnight
Linda Goodnight, New York Times and USA Today Bestseller, has authored fifty sweet and Christian romance novels. Among her numerous awards are the RITA and the CAROL. Like the characters in her books, Linda is a small town girl with a penchant for home cooking, family, local festivals, and lovable mutts. She enjoys playing matchmaker between her honorable (if badly broken) heroes and the strong, smart women who help them heal.
You can contact Linda at www.lindagoodnight.com and Facebook. Her latest releases are available at http://amzn.to/2ES8l1p.
Erin Taylor Young
Erin Taylor Young is an award-winning humor writer whose books, Surviving Henry and Still Surviving Henry, have been repeatedly accused of making readers laugh until they cry. She also teaches workshops about writing and publishing, cohosts the Write from the Deep podcast and works as the co-managing editor of Serenade Books. She loves football (Da Bears), photography, and hiking in pretty places. Learn more about Erin at erintayloryoung.com where she blogs about writing, God, and her aversion to spiders.
Terri Weldon
Terri Weldon is a lead analyst by day and an award winning author by night. Her novella The Christmas Bride Wore Boots won the best novella category in the 2016 Lyra Awards. She enjoys traveling, gardening, reading, spending time with her family, and shopping for shoes. One of her favorite pastimes is volunteering as the librarian at her church. It allows her to shop for books and spend someone else’s money! Plus, she has the great joy of introducing people to Christian fiction. Terri has two adorable Westies – Crosby and Nolly Grace. Readers can connect with Terri at www.terriweldon.com