Stephanie Grace Irwin was born in 1952 in East St. Louis, Illinois. She graduated from Southern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Arts in French in 1973, the same year she married Robert Whitson.
The Whitsons moved to Nebraska in 1975, where they settled into a comfortable relationship with friends and family and their local church, home-schooled their four children (two sons and two daughters), grew organic produce for sale at local farmers markets, and created homemade crafts.
Stephanie’s first novel, Walks the Fire, was published in 1995. Following her growing success as an author, and husband Bob’s need for more frequent medical care (he was diagnosed with cancer in 1996), the family moved from their rural property to Lincoln.
Since Bob’s death in 2001, Stephanie has happily seen some of her children get married, and has remarried herself. She remains in Lincoln, NE and continues to publish, on average, at least one new book per year. She is perhaps best known for her historical inspirational romances, most often set on the Great Plains. In addition to her fiction, she has also published two non-fiction books, How to Help a Grieving Friend: A Candid Guide for Those Who Care (2005) and Home on the Plains: Quilts and the Sod House Experience (2005).
Additional information about Stephanie Grace Whitson can be found at the following Web sites:
Walks the Fire
(1995)
Prairie Winds Series, book 1.
Soaring Eagle
(1996)
Prairie Winds Series, book 2.
Red Bird
(1997)
Prairie Winds Series, book 3.
Sarah’s Patchwork
(1998)
Keepsake Legacies Series, book 1.
Nora’s Ribbon of Memories
(1999)
Keepsake Legacies Series, book 2.
Karyn’s Memory Box
(1999)
Keepsake Legacies Series, book 3.
Valley of the Shadow
(2000)
Dakota Moons Series, book 1.
Edge of the Wilderness
(2001)
Dakota Moons Series, book 2.
Heart of the Sandhills
(2002)
Dakota Moons Series, book 3.
Secrets on the Wind
(2003)
Pine Ridge Portraits, book 1.
Watchers on the Hill
(2004)
Pine Ridge Portraits, book 2.
Footprints on the Horizon
(2005)
Pine Ridge Portraits, book 3.
A Garden in Paris
(2005)
A Hilltop in Tuscany
(2006)
Jacob’s List
(2007)
Unbridled Dreams
(2008)
A Claim of Her Own
(2009)
Sixteen Brides
(2010)
A Most Unsuitable Match
[2011)
The Shadow on the Quilt
(2012)
The Quilt Chronicles, book 1.
The Key on the Quilt
(2012)
The Quilt Chronicles, book 2
The Message on the Quilt
(2013)
The Quilt Chronicles, book 3.
A Captain for Laura Rose
(2014)
A Basket Brigade Christmas: Three Women, Three Love Stories, a Country Divided
(2015)
Includes Whitson’s “A Stitch in Time”, along with stories by Judith Miller and Nancy Moser
Daughter of the Regiment
(2015)
Messenger by Moonlight
(2016)
Belle of the Wild West
(2017)
(Self-published via CreateSpace on Amazon.com)
How to Help a Grieving Friend: A Candid Guide for Those Who Care
(2005)
Non-fiction book — 248.866 Whi.
Home on the Plains: Quilts and the Sod House Experience
Co-authored with Kathleen L. Moore
(2005)
Non-fiction book –746.46 qMoo.
Stephanie Grace Whitson has appeared in several John H. Ames reading series episodes at the libraries:
Stephanie Grace Whitson: Author
(1997)
Heritage DVD 813 Whi. (also available for viewing on the libraries YouTube page at this link)
Stephanie Grace Whitson: Author
(2005)
Heritage DVD 813 Whi. (also available for viewing on the libraries YouTube page at this link)
Five Nebraska authors : [the 208th Ames reading special] : Stephanie Grace Whitson, Karen Gettert Shoemaker, Helen Waring Johnson, Andrew Jewell and Twyla Hansen
Co-authored with Kathleen L. Moore
(2005)
Heritage DVD 810.098 Fiv 2014.
posted to the web March 2006 sdc / last updated May 2023 sdc