Brandilyn Collins Books In Order

Publication Order of Chelsea Adams Books

Publication Order of Bradleyville Books

Publication Order of Hidden Faces Books

Publication Order of Kanner Lake Books

Publication Order of The Rayne Tour Books

Publication Order of Dearing Family Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Brandilyn Collins is an American author that writes suspense novels with underlying Christian themes. Collins’ books have been categorized as ‘Seatbelt Suspense’ because of their rapid pace and frequent twists and turns.

+Biography

Brandilyn Collins was born in India. Her parents, Ruth and J.T. Seamands were missionaries and evangelists that lived in India at the time of her bath. Collins inherited her Christian faith from them and she has allowed it to permeate every aspect of her literary works.

Despite being born in India, the author actually grew up in Kentucky. Before she took up the pen to produce fiction, Collins worked in marketing. In college, she had studied acting and journalism.

The qualifications had empowered her to open her own business through which she wrote marketing materials for companies. And she was pretty good at it. However, after a while, the author began to yearn for fiction writing.

Brandilyn Collins’ acting classes in college had taught her how to create characters on the stage. Collins realized that she now desired to create those same characters on the page.

The author began experimenting with fiction in 1990. It took her ten years of writing and rewriting and submitting and dealing with rejections and criticisms before her stories finally elicited the interest of a publisher.

Most readers have come to associate the name Brandilyn Collins with suspense and thriller. But the author initially wrote women’s fiction. Collins herself has never bothered to categorize the books in her bibliography.

But she accepts that, even with the themes that connect them, her works exist within different fields. Collins knew early on that she wanted to write about strong but vulnerable women that were pushed into a corner and forced to contend with some truly difficult odds.

And she did just that with her women’s fiction. But then a conversation with her publisher drew her attention to the thriller and suspense genres. Forensics was a pretty popular field at the time, not only in literary crime fiction but in movies and television shows.

Being a Christian writer, Collins realized that the Christian publishing landscape was largely devoid of forensics-based novels, and that drove her to produce ‘Hidden Faces’, the series for which she is best known.

While all Brandilyn Collins’ books can be described as Seatbelt Suspense, her “Hard Faces’ novels tend to take darker turns and deal rather openly with the concept of death and murder.

Collins doesn’t just want to intrigue and engage her readers. She wants her audiences disturbed and uneasy. And her fans believe that she achieves that objective with every book she writes.

Collins refuses to be categorized as a suspense/thriller author. She tends to switch back and forth between thriller/suspense and women’s fiction. Though, she has admitted that women’s fiction is primarily attractive to her because it gives her a break from the dreary nature of her thrillers.

Sometimes Collins grows fatigued with writing stories that involve murder and mayhem. And the thriller/suspense genre isn’t without its challenge. While all of Collins’ ideas for plots, concepts, and characters are assembled in her head, her thriller fiction, especially the forensics-driven novels require extensive research.

Sometimes an internet search will solve all her problems. Other times, she must seek out industry professionals that can help her achieve the necessary accuracy.

The suspense/thrillers definitely take Brandilyn Collins longer to write because of the detailed outlines required. Collins outlines all her books. But the suspense/thrillers present more of a challenge because she has to make thorough preparations for all the clues that will set up all those twists and turns for which she is known.

The author doesn’t believe it is possible to write by the seat of her pants and produce novels that are as tightly written and plotted as the ones she delivers.

Collins is hesitant to accept the moniker of ‘Christian author’. Her goal is to write novels that appeal to a wide range of readers. As such, she always sets out to produce stories that are fast-paced and character-driven.

Once those two aspects are catered for, the author will then endeavor to inject twists and turns into the mix. The Christian thread is the last element to fall into place. At no point does Collins ever set out to produce Christian suspense or women’s fiction.

The author crafts her story in such a way that God’s message of love and mercy emerges. But she tries to achieve this effect organically, so much so that it is unlikely to impact the reading experience of any audience members that are only looking for the suspense aspect of her stories.

Collins will be the first person to repudiate suggestions that she is ashamed of her faith. The author is very vocal about her beliefs; beliefs that have only grown stronger since Collins suffered horrendously under the influence of Lyme disease and then saw God heal her.

The author frequently tackles issues of faith in her interactions with fans and industry professionals. However, she does not set out to preach to readers via her novels.

+Brink of Death

Erin Willet saw it happen. She woke up to darkness and immediately knew that something had roused her but she did not know what. The 12-year-old girl witnessed the murder.

She saw the intruder that killed her mother. But she was so traumatized by the incident that she has been unable to help the police do their job, and that doesn’t sit well with Annie Kingston.

Annie came to Grove Landing because it was safe and quiet. Now her neighbor is dead and the police are at a loss. Annie is drawn into the investigation because of her background in art.

The police want her to talk to Erin and possibly draw a composite. Annie doesn’t know anything about interviewing the victim of a crime. But she wants to help any way she can and her only hope is that God will rise to the occasion and guide her.

+Stain of Guilt

The police have been looking for Bill Bland for two decades. The killer is responsible for a brutal double murder for which they have failed to bring him to justice. Annie Kingston is brought into the mix because of her background in art.

The producers of a popular television show called American Fugitive want her to draw the updated face of Bland. To achieve the objective, Annie will seek to immerse herself in the mind of a killer even as a nefarious force fights to stop her.

2 Responses to “Brandilyn Collins”

1. Flossie Calhoun: 1 year ago

   Please let me know if Brandilyn plans to write anymore, she is one of my absolute favorites.

   Reply
2. judy goates: 1 year ago

   Will there be any more Brandilyn Collins books? Love her and read them all.

   Reply