Stephen & Janet Bly Books In Order

Publication Order of Carson City Chronicles Books

Publication Order of Hidden West Books

Publication Order of Crystal Blake Adventures Books

Publication Order of Trails of Reba Hill Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Stephen and Janet Bly are a husband & wife pair of American writers, who like to write Christian fiction, historical fiction, religion, and nonfiction books. They have written several book series together and have gained a lot of popularity for their work. Stephen Bly was a more established author, who has over 100 books and numerous articles to his name. Janet used to assist him in the process of novel writing and has collaborated with him for writing a couple of book series. After the death of Stephen, his son Russell has continued writing a few of his novel series. Some of the most popular series penned by Stephen Bly include the Stuart Brannon series, Nathan T. Riggins series, Code of the West series, Old California series, Austin Stoner Files series, Fortunes of Black Hill series, Lewis & Clark Squad series, The Homestead series, Belles of Lordsburg series, Crystal Blake series, Carson City Chronicles series, Hidden West series, etc.

Stephen has more than a hundred novels and hundreds of short stories, poems, and articles to his credit. He won the Christy Award in 2002 for his book called The Long Trail Home. Also, he was a finalist for the same award for three more of his books. His books primarily fall in the genre of Western novels and have contemporary and historical settings. They are usually written from the Christian worldview. Stephen was born on August 17, 1944, in Ivanhoe, California. He had a sibling named Judith Bly and was brought up on a farm located in the San Joaquin Valley in central California. For a major part of his early life, Stephen was involved in ranching. Initially, he ranched in Coalinga with his uncle MJ Allen and then joined his father, Arthur Bly in his hometown of Ivanhoe. He spent the first 30 years of his life in ranching. Stephen graduated from California State University in 1971 with a degree in Philosophy. He also obtained an M. Div from the Fuller Theological Seminary in 1974.

Stephen had a short stint in politics when he helped Assemblyman Gorn Duffy in winning his first term in the California State Legislature. He stayed as Gordon Duffy’s administrative assistant for some time. Stephen was part of many Presbyterian churches as a pastor. He was also the pastor of the Winchester Community Church. Stephen was elected as the city councilman for several terms. He was also Winchester’s mayor between 2000 and 2007. Besides his political commitments, Stephen was actively involved with the WWA. He is responsible for collecting and restoring antique Winchesters. Between 1982 and 1996, Stephen was in the team of speakers that represented Conferences of Family Living for the Moody Bible Institute. Stephen traveled with other speakers like Gary Chapman, Gary Ezzo, Kevin Leman, Greg Speck, and Dr. Harold Sala. Stephen & Janet were involved in mentoring students for the Christian Writers Guild of Jerry Jenkins.

In an interview, Stephen once told that he doesn’t like to write about places that he has never visited. During the high time of his career, Stephen traveled through the different western states of the United States, having spent less time on highways and more on unpaved roads. Stephen met his wife Janet Chester while studying at Redwood High School in California. She is also a writer by profession. The two became proud parents of three children named Russell, Aaron, and Michael. In June 2011, Stephen breathed his last at the St Josephs’s Medical Center after battling prostate cancer. He was working on the last Stuart Brannon book when he died. After his death, Stephen’s wife and his three sons completed the novel and released it in 2012. Janet Bly has penned 32 novels altogether, both independently and in collaboration with her deceased husband. She holds a Literature, Languages, and Performing & Fine Arts degree. These days, she spends her time enjoying hobbies such as decorating her house, shopping, making wreaths, reading, walking, and reviewing books of different genres. Janet also likes to attend writers’ conferences, family seminars, women’s retreats, etc. She has taken up the duties of a speaker at such events on many occasions.

A successful series written by Stephen & Janet Bly is known as the Carson City Chronicles series. It is comprised of a total of 3 books, all of which were released in 2000. The central characters of this series include Judge Hollis Kingston and Judith Kingston. Several other essential characters created by Stephen and Janet for this series include Major Lansford Fallon, Marthellen Farnsworth, Roberta Day, David, Turner Bowman, etc. Every novel of the series is set in Carson City. The debut book of this series is entitled ‘Judith and the Judge’. It was released by Christian Large Print publication. Initially, it is mentioned that a rich woman is found abandoned and battered, while her womanizing husband is not found anywhere. It appears that he has vanished mysteriously.

The sister of the vanished husband arrives in Carson City to avenge the lost reputation of her brother. She alleges that her brother was framed and that she will not rest until she succeeds in reaching the bottom of this mystery. Her allegations put Judith Kingston in a difficult situation. She intends to solve this mystery before anyone gets hurt. Judith hopes to succeed in her attempt to serving justice and stay safe in the process. The second installment of the series is called ‘Marthellen and the Major’. It was also published in 2000 by the same publishing company. This novel opens by mentioning that Carson City is filled with robber barons and people tend to fall for get-rich-quick schemes. In such a difficult time, a charming land developer visits Carson City.

As soon as the developer Lansford Fallen arrives, he wins the affection of Marthellen Farnsworth. Marthellen is the housekeeper of Judith Kingston and her dearest friend. Through Marthellen, Fallon gets acquainted with the Kingston family and presents them with his plans of building a health sanitarium on the outskirts of the city. Hollis and Judith seem impressed by Fallon’s plans and agree to provide the financial backing required for the project. The story undergoes many twists and turns when evil plans of forgery and fraud are revealed and the necessary course of action is taken by the Kingston family.