Cindy Bauer Books
Inspirational Fiction - Good for the Soul!
Bonnie Leon
Bonnie Leon
Author & Speaker
Storytelling has been an integral part of Bonnie Leon’s life ever since her childhood, when she sat at the feet of her Aleut ancestors, listening to the legends and family history they shared.
Throughout the ensuing years, Bonnie dabbled at writing but didn’t seriously consider becoming a professional author. Instead, as a young woman, she happily stepped into the full-time profession of homemaker and mother. Pollywog hunting, finger-painting, blackberry picking, and creating fun messes in the kitchen with her children are some of her most precious and irreplaceable memories.
When her youngest child was nine years old, Bonnie decided it was time to return to the working world. She took a position in her hometown of Glide, Oregon, working with the elderly and handicapped.
Then on June 11, 1991, her world was shattered when a log truck hit the van she was driving. The accident left her unable to work, and after months of rehabilitation she was told by physicians that she would never return to a normal life. Facing a daunting fight to reclaim her life and feeling as if she had nothing to offer the world, she asked God to give her something to do that mattered.
His answer came when she received a scholarship to attend the Oregon Christian Writer’s Summer Conference. That conference ignited Bonnie’s passion for literature and for writing, and she has been writing ever since.
Her first book,
The Journey of Eleven Moons was released by Thomas Nelson in 1994 and made the CBA bestsellers list.Since that time, she has written and published thirteen historical novels. Her most recent series,
The Queensland Chronicles, published by Revell, has been contracted for a Dutch-language edition by Ultgeverij De Banier bv, an organization based in The Netherlands. Her books are truly being read across the globe!And with each book she writes, her love for the craft and the challenges of writing grows. “The learning never ends,” she says, “But I relish the challenge of becoming a writer known for quality storytelling.”
In addition to her work as a writer, Bonnie has a passion for teaching of all kinds, especially on the art and intricacies of storytelling. She teaches at conferences and workshops and says, “There’s nothing more thrilling than to see a student’s eyes light up with understanding as she grasps the concepts of the writing craft and begins to believe she can tell stories someone else will want to read.”
Bonnie is also a regular speaker at women’s church groups, writing groups, and business organizations. For more information on Bonnie’s speaking topics and schedule, please click here.
Bonnie's Books
BOOK: To Love Anew
ISBN: 080073176X
DATE: August 2007
PUBLISHER: Revell
Hannah Talbot has no one. Forced to leave the only home she's ever known, she works for a cruel employer who brutally takes the one thing she has left—her dignity. Defiled and facing the compounded shame of pregnancy, Hannah prays for the child’s death. When an ensuing miscarriage crushes her beneath a burden of guilt and shame, Hannah is certain her sin is too great for even a benevolent God to forgive.
John Bradshaw was a successful businessman whose untamed spirit sometimes wanted more. When he is betrayed by those closest to him, he loses everything—his wife, his business, even his freedom.
Then John and Hannah's paths cross aboard a ghastly, nineteenth-century prison ship en route to Australia. Can they find a way to keep hope alive and learn to trust the encompassing love of a merciful God?
BOOK: When the Storm Breaks
ISBN: 0800758986
DATE: April 2006
PUBLISHER: Revell
Queensland Chronicles Book 3
The terrible drought continues in Thornton Creek, parching the land and the strength of all who live there.
After a devastating fire eats up most of Douloo and leaves them with barely enough to survive, Daniel and Rebecca Thornton are forced to go to extremes to provide for their growing family.
Can hope be found in such a barren land?
BOOK: For the Love of the Land
ISBN: 0800758978
DATE: May 2005
PUBLISHER: Revell
Queensland Chronicles Book 2
Before Rebecca Thornton arrived at Douloo Station, she knew it would be very different from her beloved Boston. But she never imagined what troubles awaited her and her new husband, Daniel, or how their faith would be tested.
In the midst of a serious drought, Daniel’s heart becomes as parched as the flat prairie around him. And though she’s surrounded by family, Rebecca’s dreams of a happy life seem to be slipping away.
Can Rebecca and Daniel overcome the drought in their land and in their souls?
BOOK: The Heart of Thornton Creek
ISBN: 080075896X
DATE: January 2005
PUBLISHER: Revell
Queensland Chronicles Book 1
When proper Bostonian Rebecca Williams follows handsome Australian Daniel Thornton to his family's Queensland cattle station, she's in for a few surprises. Daniel's father, Bertram, not only controls the prosperous ranch, but everything and everybody for miles around--including his son.
Will Rebecca adjust to the bullying, or will Bertram drive the young couple apart?
BOOK: Home at Last
ISBN: 0805421556
DATE: January 2005
PUBLISHER: Revell
Matanuska Series Book 3
In this conclusion to the Matanuska Series, Luke’s feelings of resentment, anger, and betrayal continue to fester after Jean and Ray's wedding. He decides he must leave Alaska. Knowing that he needs to change his life, he searches the Bible for guidance, realizing like Jonah, he has been running from God.
Can Luke return home to make peace with all the things that drove him away?
BOOK: Worthy of Riches
ISBN: 0805421548
DATE: January 2005
PUBLISHER: Revell
Matanuska Series Book 2
When Will Harper dies, Ray Townsend struggles to come to grips with the guilt he feels. Acting on a promise to Will, Ray tries to help Jean, Will's widow, and her family. But not everyone in the family wants the man responsible for Will’s death to be around.
Everyone, including Ray, knows that he is everything Will Harper was not. How can Ray find the peace and forgiveness he seeks when he cannot forgive himself?
BOOK: Valley of Promises
ISBN: 080542153X
DATE: July 2001
PUBLISHER: B&H Publishing Group
Matanuska Series Book 1
Brought to their knees by the Great Drought of the 1930s, Will Hasper and his family give up their farm in Wisconsin to join a federal government project starting a colony of transplanted farmers in the Matanuska Valley of Alaska. However, the colonists meet resistance from earlier homesteaders in the Valley and their leader, Ray Townsend.
Laurel, Will’s daughter, who put aside her own desires and dreams to follow her family to Alaska, finds herself torn between two men vying for her love—Adam, a reporter writing a story on the colony’s experiences, and Robert, a colonist who can offer Laurel the stability she needs.
If the colony is going to survive, they must all learn to trust God’s promises.
A Sacred Place
ISBN: 0805421521
DATE: July 2000
PUBLISHER: Broadman & Holman
As World War I breaks out, the arranged marriage of Mary Matroona, an 18-year-old Aleut girl, to Sean Calhoun, an Irish immigrant, begins a story of enduring human spirit and the power of love to break through every barrier.
This young couple, strangers to each other, settles on an island called Unalga, located on the remote eastern rim of the Aleutian Chain of Alaska. As their adventure begins, so do their troubles and struggles, but as the months roll by, they discover their own strengths and weaknesses, a need to know God, and their love for one another. Stranded with few supplies, attacks from a poacher, and nearly losing each other to death, they discover something sacred on Unalga.
BOOK: Harvest of Truth
ISBN: 0805412743
DATE: January 2000
PUBLISHER: B&H Publishing Group
Sowers Trilogy Book 3
In the third and final installment of this dynamic saga, Yuri fights valiantly for faith and freedom against the stranglehold of communism. His sister, Tatyana, searches for contentment in her new land.
Will these young Russian heroes finally find each other again?
BOOK: In Fields of Freedom
ISBN: 0805412735
DATE: January 2000
PUBLISHER: B&H Publishing Group
Sowers Trilogy Book 2
Life in America isn’t easy for Dimitri and Tatyana. Faced with the grim prospects of the Depression, Dimitri travels cross-country looking for a job to pay for his wife’s passage to the Northwest. Penniless and heartbroken, he becomes painfully aware that in the land of the free, everything has a price.
In this second book of the Sowers Trilogy, Tatyana and Dimitri brave dangerous underground mines, harsh Northwest winds, and the political bigotry of their neighbors to make a bright and shining way for their unborn child. But even as they prosper, Tatyana fears for her brother, imprisoned thousands of miles away in a Russian work camp.
BOOK: Where Freedom Grows
ISBN: 0805412727
DATE: July 1998
PUBLISHER: Broadman & Holman
Sowers Trilogy Book 1
The year is 1930. Under the command of Joseph Stalin and the communist regime, Russian peasants are ordered to surrender their property and work on collective farms.
Yuri Letinov stands against oppression with his fellow farmers while he forces his sister, Tatyana, to sail to America and avoid the gathering danger. While pursuing their separate destinies, Yuri and Tatyana must come to terms with the crumbling economic and political systems around them as they discover their true places in the world and in God’s kingdom.
BOOK: Return to the Misty Shore
ISBN: 0785274138
DATE: July 1998
PUBLISHER: Broadman & Holman
Northern Lights Book 3
It's 1889 in Juneau, Alaska, and sixteen-year-old Luba Engstrom is sure she's old enough to make her own decisins. Though Anna, Erik, and their three children are contented living in Juneau, Luba wonders if there isn't more to life than this small northern city.
Then she falls in love with strong, silent Nicholas. Luba is soon convinced that she must marry this man, whether her parents approve or not. But Nicholas is only visiting Juneau and plans to return to his home in the Aleutian Islands.
When Luba impulsively runs away with him, the consequences affect not only the family she leaves behind but also her own happiness and faith.
In the Land of White Nights
ISBN: 0785276688
DATE: January 1996
PUBLISHER: Thomas Nelson Inc
Northern Lights Book 2
Book two in the Northern Lights series continues the saga of Anna, an Aleutian Indian, and Erik as they begin their married life on the frontier of Alaska.
Confronted with many challenges, including racism, the couple is determined to persevere and set a Christian example of forgiveness and love.
The Journey of Eleven Moons
ISBN: 0785279741
DATE: January 1995
PUBLISHER: Thomas Nelson Inc
Northern Lights Book 1
Anna, a young Aleutian girl, watches in horror as everything and everyone dear to her is swept away in a tsunami. Only she and her small sister Iya are left, and they must struggle on alone. A white-skinned, blue-eyed outsider seems to want to help, but Anna mistrusts Erik and his God.
As the two Alaskan girls and the Norwegian form an unlikely bond, they face a long winter, predators, starvation, and rejection. Erik seems to believe in the white man's God, the God that crushed Anna's hopes and dreams.
Can she accept Erik and his God, or will she be alone forever?
Visit Bonnie at ShoutLife!