What people know about me is that I am a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author and Readers’ Favorite award winner with over sixty titles published in audio, eBook, and paperback, with translations in both German and French. My big family romance series have become a worldwide fan favorite and been at the top of Amazon’s bestseller list countless times.

But what many don’t know is that I am probably one of the most rejected authors out there. No one would publish me. Every literary agent and major publishing house turned me away. Added to that is the fact that I am a single mother of three, one of whom has autism, and that at one time the four of us were homeless. It was humbling and as close to hitting rock bottom as I have come, when for a time we were forced to live in a tent because we couldn’t find a home in our community. There were days I was scared because leaving would have meant giving up all the sacrifices I had made to get my autistic child the help he needed. I felt very much alone because I didn’t know what was around the corner and didn’t have the answers to get us out. At the same time, I learned pretty quickly that no one was going to rescue us. I had to be our rescuer. From then on, I swore I was not going to allow anything to keep me from achieving my dreams.

I never gave up. I moved us through those hard times, and I found us a place to live. I had to start all over at the bottom, advocating to get my son help, and never once did I give up on my dream of being published even though all the experts in the industry told me it couldn’t be done, even though they said, “We don’t want you.” What I believed and what I was told were two different things, and not giving up on my dream has allowed me to find the strength and vision to truly believe anything is possible. It’s never too late for anyone to start living and pursuing their dreams. I took risks, stayed focused, and worked my butt off to the point that I now have over sixty published works, a career, and a rewarding life for my children and me. Even though I sometimes write about overcoming the darkest hurdles, there is always hope, because if you truly believe as I do, anything is possible.

And let me tell you how good it feels. The Forgotten Child hit the Amazon Bestseller list and stayed there for two years running selling more than 500,000 copies worldwide, and is now translated into French & German. I never expected the response from fans, which then sparked the long running Friessen series, and it all began with The Forgotten Child,  the first book of The Outsider Series.  

“Eckhart has a new series that is definitely worth the read. The queen of the family saga started this series with a spin off of her wildly successful Friessen series.”