Bodie and Brock Thoene, Frank Peretti sign new contracts with Summerside Press, Howard Books

Three of Christian fiction’s leading names from the last 20 years are on the move for their next new releases.

Husband-and-wife team Bodie and Brock Thoene have signed with Summerside Press for a sequel to their two popular previous “Zion” series, while Frank Peretti has contracted with Howard Books to publish his first solo work since 2005.

The Thoenes’ “The Zion Diaries” revisits the World War II setting of their “Zion Covenant” series and “Zion Chronicles” series, which were published by Tyndale House Publishers.

The first in the new three-title series, The Gathering Storm, will be released in August and tell the story of Loralei Kepler, the daughter of a German resistance leader and school headmaster. The as-yet-untitled second and third books will follow in spring and fall of 2011.

The Thoenes’ partnership with Summerside follows the company’s publishing in May of Love Finds You in Lahaina as part of its “Love Finds You” romance series. Based on the story of Hawaiian princess Kaiulani, the novel had been written years ago, but remained unpublished.

Bodie Thoene said that fans had been asking for another “Zion” series for more than two decades, but she and her husband had felt led by God to first complete their “A.D.” series of Bible-based novels published by Tyndale.

“We discovered a strong mutual interest in pursuing this new and exciting Zion series,” said Summerside President Carlton Garborg. “It was perfect timing, as we were poised on the edge of our next expansion—launching a general, author-driven fiction line. We’re delighted to kick off this Signature Series, which will feature established and up-and-coming authors, with the Thoenes.”

This summer, Summerside is to follow “Love Finds You” with the new “When I Fall in Love” line, built around the titles of famous songs like Love Me Tender and I’ll Be Home for Christmas.

Peretti’s Howard Books title will come out in late 2011 and be his first since 2006’s House (Thomas Nelson), co-written with Ted Dekker, and the first title written solely by Peretti since 2005’s New York Times best-selling Monster (Thomas Nelson).

Peretti is “a natural storyteller and we’re pleased to collaborate with him on delivering this next title to his waiting audience,” said Rebekah Nesbitt, vice president and editor in chief for Howard Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint.

The Thoenes have written more than 50 works of award-winning historical fiction, selling a total of more than 20 million copies. Peretti has more than 12 million books in print.

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