I just had said everything I had to say, done everything I had to do with Mitford - which is a character all of its own in these books - and it was time to move on to something fresh for me the author. Certainly, perhaps even foremost in these books because they are going to such a wide audience and it’s so important to get it right. I don’t know how to tell you that a writer knows these things, but because my books are His books, I try to pay attention and sit up and listen to His guidance and direction on all that I do. I recently had the opportunity to speak with the author about her decision to end the series, as well as what lies ahead in her career.īELINDA ELLIOTT: What made you decide that it was time to end the series? In November of last year, when Karon announced she would be ending the much-loved Mitford series with the publication of Light From Heaven, many of her fans expressed disappointment.

Several books in the series have won God Medallion Awards, and her last five books have all landed on the New York Times bestseller list. Karon’s fiction is best known for its small-town charm and its lack of profanity, violence, and sex. Since that time fans have grown to love her Mitford series, a collection of nine novels about Episcopal priest Father Tim Cavanaugh and his life in the small town of Mitford, North Carolina. After two years of struggling to find a suitable idea for a novel, and two more years of rejections from publishers, Karon’s first book, At Home in Mitford, was published in 1996. Although her writing career initially took her into the field of advertising, and one of her print advertising campaigns won a prestigious award, her true dream was to become a novelist.Īt age 50, after feeling that the Lord had showed her it was time to finally pursue that dream, she left her lucrative advertising career and began writing fiction. Karon wrote her first novel at the age of 10. This is the joy that radiates from bestselling author Jan Karon. CBN.comThere is a peace and a joy that comes when one knows they are doing what God created them to do.

At home in mitford series