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Hallee Ann Bridgeman (born abroad as Hallee Ann Poe March 2, 1972) is an American author of fiction with Christian themes, including inspirational romance novels and cookbooks who has advocated and pioneered independent publishing, motivating and driving change within major guilds and organizations, particularly within the Christian community.

Before her first fiction novel was published in 2012, she was a full time blogger at Hallee the Homemaker^[1] and advocates a whole food/real food lifestyle based on Biblical principles laid out in the book of Leviticus^[2].

Professional Accomplishments

Hallee Bridgeman is a longtime board member of the Faith, Hope, and Love national chapter of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) where she has served as secretary, President-Elect, and President^[3]. In June 2014, Hallee Bridgeman became a recognized member of the Published Authors Network Community (PAN) within RWA, one of the first independently published Christian authors ever to obtain that status since RWA's Board of Directors set out the criteria^[4].

She became one of the first authors ever to obtain Qualified Independently Published (QIP) Status, which is conferred on authors within the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) whose sales equals or exceeds that of major publishing houses in the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). On May 4, 2015, Hallee Bridgeman became the very first QIP author ever to be interviewed on the ACFW fiction finder website.^[5] Hallee Bridgeman is one of the first QIP authors to serve as a Panelist at the ACFW national convention in Dallas in 2015.

A Kentucky resident, Hallee served on the board as a member-at-large for the 19th Kentucky Christian Writers Conference (KCWC) in 2015 in Elizabethtown, KY and taught two classes at that conference^[6]. She served as a planning committee board member for the 20th Kentucky Christian Writers Conference^[7].

Hallee Bridgeman was among the first independent Christian authors recognized by and permitted full dues-paying membership^[8] to Novelist, Inc. (NINC), a professional organization for career novelists.

She is a frequent contributor to numerous websites, magazines, and aggregators including Seekerville^[9][10], The Mighty^[11][12], Yahoo parenting^[13], InspyRomance^[14], and Bookfun Magazine.

Biography

Hallee Bridgeman is a best selling Christian novelist, blogger, and author of cookbooks who is best known for her realistic depiction of real life as it relates to matters of real faith in fictional stories.

An avid reader and lover of books all her life, Hallee had never had any desire to write. After graduating from Spencer High School in Columbus, Georgia near Fort Benning in 1990, then Hallee Poe married Eric in 1992. Hallee worked for a government contractor near Miami, then a large Florida bank, and eventually as the office manager for a general contractor in Tallahassee. In 1999, her employer purchased new computers for the company and gave Hallee one of the older used computers to take home. She had never had a computer of her own before then.

In 1999 just before her daughter's second birthday, she woke from a dream at 2 AM and began writing her first manuscript. For the next six weeks, she wrote in secret between 4 AM and 6 AM and wrote the words on what would end up being the first draft of the romantic suspense novel A Melody for James.

She continued to write in secret in the early morning hours for the next two years and finished 10 complete unpublished novels before her eventual divorce in 2001. She remarried, Gregg, in 2002 before he deployed to Afghanistan.

Early years

Hallee Ann Poe was born the second child and first daughter of Army Sergeant Major William James Poe and homemaker Kaye while her father was stationed near Nurnburg, Germany. She was very nearly delivered aboard a helicopter while in flight which was transporting her mother to the hospital while she was in labor. Her father was a US Army Ranger and as an Army Brat, Hallee grew up on post or near bases in Germany, Florida, New York, Oregon, and Georgia.

Marriages and Family

She graduated from Spencer High School in Columbus, Georgia in 1990. Two years later, she married her first husband, Eric. Her first child and only daughter arrived in 1997. After Eric admitted to an affair in 2001, she divorced and later remarried, Gregg Bridgeman, who deployed to Afghanistan months after they married. Hallee's two sons arrived in 2006 and 2008^[15]. Her first born son was born at 30 weeks and weighed just over 3 pounds and has been diagnosed with Autism.

Career

Hallee never had any desire to write as a child and only began writing after the birth of her daughter. In 1999 just before her daughter's second birthday, she woke from a dream at 2 AM and began writing her first manuscript. For the next six weeks, she wrote in secret between 4 AM and 6 AM and ended up with the first draft of the romantic suspense novel A Melody for James.

She continued to write in secret in the early morning hours for the next two years and finished 10 complete unpublished novels before her eventual divorce in 2001.

In 2011, Hallee submitted her first published novel, Sapphire Ice to a major publishing house. The next day, she realized that she could not allow it to be published in its current secular form and set about rewriting the novel as a Christian novel. The morning she finished, she received an acceptance letter for the book. Instead of signing the contract, she sent them the revised manuscript and asked them to forward it to an editor in their inspirational line. Within a week, she received a request to revise the manuscript to make it less realistic and more formula.^[16]

Instead of compromising the realism of the story, in 2012 Hallee independently published Sapphire Ice herself, and later the entire series. Within two years of the entire series being published, Hallee had risen to become a best-selling Christian author, with combined sales for printed editions and downloads of her ebooks exceeding half a million copies.

Bibliography

Christian–inspirational romance novels

• Jewel Series: (March 2012–)
  • Sapphire Ice (March 2012)
  • Greater Than Rubies (December 2012)
  • Emerald Fire (April 2012)
  • Topaz Heat (May 2012)

• The Jewel Series Anthology (July 2012)

• Jewel Series Holiday novellas: (2013–)
  • Christmas Diamond (November 2013)
  • Christmas Star Sapphire (November 2015)

Christian–inspirational romantic suspense novels

• Song of Suspense Series: (2013–)
  • A Melody for James (June 2013)
  • An Aria for Nick (November 2013)
  • A Carol for Kent (May 2014)
  • A Harmony for Steve (upcoming)

Christian–inspirational historical novellas

• Virtues and Valor Series: (2014–)
  • Part 1, Temperance's Trial (September 2014)
  • Part 2, Homeland's Hope (October 2014)
  • Part 3, Charity's Code (November 2014)
  • Part 4, A Parcel for Prudence (December 2014)
  • Part 5, Grace's Ground War (January 2015)
  • Part 6, Mission of Mercy (February 2015)
  • Part 7, Flight of Faith (March 2015)
  • Part 8, Valor's Vigil (upcoming)

Parody Cookbook Series

• Parody Cookbooks (2013)
  • Fifty Shades of Gravy, a Christian Gets Saucy (February 2013)
  • The Walking Bread, the Bread Will Rise! (September 2013)
  • Iron Skillet Man, the Stark truth about Pepper and Pots (March 2014)
  • Hallee Crockpotter, and the Chamber of Sacred Ingredients (upcoming)

References

External links

• Hallee Bridgeman official homepage

Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American novelists Category:21st-century American novelists Category:American romantic fiction writers Category:American women novelists Category:Christian novelists Category:Women historical fiction writers Category:Women romantic fiction writers Category:20th-century women writers Category:21st-century women writers