Liz is a wife, mother, second generation homeschooler, writer, and most importantly, a Jesus follower. She firmly believe that God has placed the desire in her heart to write stories that honor Him while being authentic and raw.
Her first love for stories developed when she was a fifth grader who struggled to read. It was painful. But when she got a hold of a series of books (early reader chapter books) called the Three Cousins Detectives Club, she discovered that reading was fun. And she found it rather intriguing that the first series of books she developed as a writer are about a group of detectives (although these cases are much more serious in nature). She love how God works all things together.
Liz would write faster, but her first priority is homeschooling her three girls. Having been homeschooled herself, she was certain she would never homeschool her children, but God had other plans! She has been homeschooling since the beginning on her oldest daughter’s kindergarten year (they didn’t do anything formal in preschool).
Those of you who know Liz personally are probably wondering where the name Bradford came from (for those whom she hasn’t met, yes, it is a pen name). Her real last name is rather difficult to spell, and she want my readers to be able to find her and easily share her name with their friends, so she chose to go the pen name route. She settled on Bradford without much hesitation because it is a family name. If you know your American history, the name William Bradford will mean something to you (for those of you who missed those classes, William Bradford came over on the Mayflower was a governor of Plymouth Colony). Liz is a direct descendant. Her family has also named their homeschool Bradford Academy after her Great-great-great….great-grandfather.
Liz didn’t always know she a writer, but she was. Before she even knew it, God was plotting out this path for her. From her earliest days, stories were a natural part of her imagination. In high school, she toyed around with writing, but it was nothing more than a secret hobby. But one day, when her middle daughter was a little over a year old, a story idea crept in her mind and wouldn’t leave her alone. So, she started writing. She would stay up late after everyone else was in bed and frantically write the words that brought her characters to life.
That first novel lives buried deep in her hard drive, and maybe one day it will see the light of day, but that would take a LOT of editing. About the time she couldn’t figure out where that first book would end, another idea persisted in her mind. That was Becca and Jared’s story, book one in The Detectives of Hazel Hill series. Before she knew it, what started as a single novel turned into a trilogy… but wait, there’s more. In that series, she now has six stories published (including the prequel novella) and many more percolating. She also has several more ideas for the characters of Hazel Hill, North Carolina starting with Abandoned the first book in her Hazel Hill Police & Fire series (currently available in the Summer Heat Collection – Volume One – Stay with Me). The Knoxville FBI series has one more story to go before it is complete. Her Tracking Danger series has two books out (Swept Away- Book Two is currently in the Small Danger Collection). Liz also has numerous other series forming in her mind!
Liz is a member of Faith, Hope, & Love Christian Writers, American Christian Fiction Writers, and ACFW Louisville Chapter. Her heart longs to live in North Carolina (where she was born) or Tennessee and that is why she set her stories there. But, for now, she and her husband live in Southern Indiana where she homeschools their three daughters.