Richard Paul Evans

Background

Richard Paul Evans was born on October 11, 1962, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Education

Evans graduated from Cottonwood High School in Murray City, Utah. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Utah in 1984.

Career

After his graduation from the University of Utah, Richard Evans became an advertising executive. His career as a novelist began with a novella he wrote for his children called The Christmas Box (1993). Unable to find a willing publisher, Evans self-published the book, which became a smash hit in his local community and was eventually bought by Simon & Schuster for a $4.2 million advance payment. The book went on to become a #1 New York Times Bestseller in both hardcover and paperback.

Evans wrote two more books in the Christmas Box series and has published almost 40 novels to date, in addition to several children's and non-fiction books. Among his novels are the best-selling Michael Vey novels for young adults. Evans won the American Mothers book award, two first-place Storytelling World awards, The Romantic Times Best Women's Novel of the Year Award, the German Leserpreis Gold Award for Romance, and three RCC Wilbur Awards. Four of Richard's books have been produced as television movies.

During the fall of 1998, Evans founded The Christmas Box International, an organization devoted to maintaining emergency shelters and providing services and resources for abused, neglected or homeless children, teens, and young adults. To date, more than 85,000 children have been served by the Christmas Box House facilities and programs.

Achievements

• 

  Each of Richard Paul Evans' more than twenty-five novels has been a New York Times bestseller. There are more than twenty million copies of his books in print worldwide, translated into more than twenty-four languages. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Mothers Book Award, the Romantic Times Best Women's Novel of the Year Award, the German Audience Gold Award for Romance, two Religion Communicators Council Wilbur Awards.
  
  Beyond his prolific and successful career as a novelist, Evans founded Christmas Box International, a charity organization that cares for neglected and abused children. For his humanitarian work, Richard has received the Washington Times Humanitarian of the Century Award and the Volunteers of America National Empathy Award.
  
  As an acclaimed speaker, Evans has shared the podium with such notable personalities as President George W. Bush, President George and Barbara Bush, former British Prime Minister John Majors, Ron Howard, Elizabeth Dole, Deepak Chopra, Steve Allen, and Bob Hope. Evans has been featured on the Today show and Entertainment Tonight, as well as in Time, Newsweek, People, The New York Times, Washington Post, Good Housekeeping, USA Today, TV Guide, Reader's Digest, and Family Circle.

Works

More photos

• audio book

  • Lost December

    (A heartwarming tale for the Christmas season, Lost Decemb...)

    2011

• book

  • Walking on Water

    (After the death of his beloved wife, after the loss of hi...)

    2014
  • The Sunflower

    (Christine is a shy, unadventurous woman whose fiancé brok...)

    2005
  • Noel Street

    (Elle Sheen - a single mother who is supporting herself an...)

    2019
  • The Noel Diary

    (When a lawyer calls, days before Christmas, to inform him...)

    2017
  • The Road to Grace

    (Reeling from the sudden loss of his wife, his home, and h...)

    2012
  • The Walk

    (What would you do if you lost everything - your job, your...)

    2009
  • Timepiece

    (Follows the love story of MaryAnne and David Parkin as th...)

    1996
  • A Step of Faith

    (After the death of his beloved wife, after the loss of hi...)

    2013
  • The Noel Stranger

    (Publicly humiliated after her husband, a local councilman...)

    2018
  • The Four Doors

    (Most of the people he meets are hungry for inspiration; t...)

    2014
  • Michael Vey 7

    (The battle on the island of Hades ended with a devastatin...)

    2018
  • The Mistletoe Secret

    (Thinking no one is reading, a blogger who calls herself L...)

    2016
  • The Mistletoe Inn

    (At thirty-two Kimberly Rossi, a finance officer at a Lexu...)

    2015
  • Finding Noel

    (The New York Times bestselling author of The Christmas Bo...)

    2006
  • A Winter Dream

    (Joseph Jacobson is the twelfth of thirteen siblings, all ...)

    2012
  • The Broken Road

    (Chicago celebrity Charles James can’t shake the nightmare...)

    2017
  • If Only

    (Eric is having a hard time adjusting to his family’s move...)

    2015
  • Grace

    (Eric is having a hard time adjusting to his family’s move...)

    2012
  • The Last Promise

    (Years ago, a sweet girl from Utah was swept off her feet ...)

    2002
  • A Perfect Day

    (Robert Harlan has three loves in life: his wife, his daug...)

    2003
  • The Locket

    (A story about the young love of Michael and Faye and the ...)

    1998
  • The Road Home

    (Chicago celebrity and pitchman Charles James is supposed ...)

    2019
  • The Forgotten Road

    (Everyone believes he was killed in a fiery plane crash. B...)

    2018
  • The Mistletoe Promise 2014
  • The Letter 1996
  • The First Gift of Christmas 1996
  • The Carousel 2001

Religion

Evans, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church. It is a nontrinitarian, Christian restorationist church that is considered by its members to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ.

Views

Quotations: “Look for beauty in everyone you meet, and you’ll find it. Everyone carries divinity within them. And everyone we meet has something to impart.”

“Joy isn’t the natural response to blessings - joy is what comes from acknowledging them.”

“Every day when someone goes out to read they have lots of options. If they choose you, it is a privilege ... You must be thankful that by reading what you write, they allow you to do something meaningful. And so, you write for them and let gratitude fuel you.”

“Gratitude is synonymous with love, which is the most powerful force!”

“There are moments, it would seem, that was created in a cosmic theater where we are given a strange and fantastic test. In these times, we do not show who we are to God, for surely He must already know, but rather to ourselves.”

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do. How much do you care about your dream? Fight for it!”

“Life has taught me that to fly, you must first accept the possibility of falling.”

“I have learned that real angels don’t have gossamer white robes and Cherubic skin, they have calloused hands and smell of the day’s sweat.”

“It’s been said that it’s easy to write a novel, you just slit your wrists and let it bleed onto the pages.”

“All that’s required for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.”

Personality

Like Michael Vey, Richard also has Tourette's Syndrome. Richard wrote Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 for his son, Michael.

Interests

• charity

Connections

Evans lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with his wife, Keri, and their five children.

Daughter:

Allyson Evans

Friend:

Jon Schmidt

Son:

Michael Evans

Wife:

Keri Evans

great grandfather:

Herman F.F. Thorup

colleague:

Laurie Liss

References

• Richard Paul Evans' Official Website