Starr is a third-generation artist, an award-winning author, Jesus follower, incurable night owl, java junkie, rainbow chaser, Bible study leader, retreat speaker, and avid iPhone photographer who seeks to make the ordinary extraordinary.
She began her writing journey in 2011 and cut her teeth on learning the craft through writing devotions. She has contributed to two published anthologies: Hopelifter: Creative Ways to Spread Hope When Life Hurts, and Reasons to Smile, Celebrating People Living with Down Syndrome, and in December 2020, Mountain Brook Ink released her debut novel, For the Love of Emma. It’s sequel, Emma’s Quest, releases April 5, 2022. Starr is in the process of co-authoring a book with Stephanie Pavlantos — Room at the Table: Stories of Encouragement from Special Needs Families. Release date is TBA.
Starr is a member of a Word Weavers International online critique group and attends several Christian writers conferences a year, where her devotions and debut novel have garnered numerous awards. For seven years, she wrote a devotional page for Thrive magazine, a monthly magazine distributed throughout central North Carolina. She currently writes a monthly devotion for an area newspaper, The Randolph Hub.
She attended Atlanta School of Art and Guilford Technical Institute and holds a degree in commercial graphics. Before retiring in 2002, she owned and operated her own company through which she sold her art prints and stationery nationwide. She is active in her church, has served on several special-needs client rights committees, and has led a women’s Bible study in her community since 2003.
Starr lives with her husband, Michael, in Asheboro, North Carolina, and they have two adult daughters and a son-in-love.
AWARDS
2023
- BRMCWC Selah Awards 2023 – Anthology: Room at the Table – First
- BRMCWC Director’s Choice 2023 – Devotionals, Bible Study, Gifts Books: Room at the Table – First
- BRMCWC Director’s Choice Awards 2023 – Christian Fiction: Emma’s Quest – First
2022
- Faith and Fellowship Angel Book Awards — Historical Romance — For the Love of Emma — Third
- Illumination Book Awards 2022 – Romance Fiction: For the Love of Emma – First
- Next Generation Indie Book Awards 2022 – Best Cover Design Fiction: For the Love of Emma – Finalist
2021
- American Book Fest Best Book Awards 2021 – Best Cover Design Fiction: For the Love of Emma – Finalist / Historical Fiction: For the Love of Emma – Finalist
- Advanced Writers & Speakers Association 2021 – Historical Novel of the Year, For the Love of Emma – Third
- Serious Writer 2021 – Book of the Year: For the Love of Emma – Semi-Finalist
- Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Conference 2021- Selah Awards, First Novel: For the Love of Emma – Second / Historical Romance Fiction: For the Love of Emma – Third
2019
- Write to Publish Conference 2019 – Contemporary Fiction, Beyond the Rainbow – First / Children’s Picture Books, Non-rhyming, Gracie, The Bird with Two Left Wings – Second
- Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference 2019 – Children’s Literature, Gracie the Bird with Two Left Wings – Third
2018
- Write to Publish Conference 2018 – Contemporary Fiction, Beyond the Rainbow – Second
- Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference 2018 – Contemporary Women’s Fiction, Beyond the Rainbow – First
2017
- Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference 2017 – Devotions, Eighth Day of the Week – Second / Contemporary Women’s Fiction, Beyond the Rainbow – First
2016
- Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference 2016 –Devotions, A River Runs Through It – First
- Autumn in the Mountains Novelist Retreat 2016 – Contemporary Women’s Fiction, Best First Page, Beyond the Rainbow – Second / Best First Paragraph – First / Best Sentence – Second
- Florida Christian Writers Conference 2016 –Devotions, Sidestepping Death – First Contemporary Women’s Fiction, Beyond the Rainbow – Third
2015
- Asheville Christian Writers Conference 2015 – Devotions, A Not So False Alarm – Second
