Citing his Arkansas heritage, Christy Award winning author Ace Collins defines himself as a storyteller. In that capacity, Ace has authored more than seventy books for 25 different publishers that have sold more than 2.5 million copies. His catalog includes novels, biographies, children’s works as well as books on history, culture and faith. He has also been the featured speaker at the National Archives Distinguished Lecture Series, hosted a network television special and does college basketball play-by-play.
In 2015, Ace released a new novel, Hollywood Lost, a mystery from Abingdon Fiction set against the backdrop of the motion picture business in 1936. Coming in October is The Fruitcake Murders, a comedy/whodunit set in Chicago in the days just after World War II. Elk Lake continues to release new episodes of In The President’s Service, a groundbreaking series that first hit the market in 2014.
One of Ace’s most talked about books was released in late 2015. The Color of Justice earned the Christy Award winner for Best Suspense Book. This novel is a courtroom drama examining racial prejudice in 1964. Also in 2014, Abingdon released Ace’s Man’s Best Hero at the Book Explo of America. This nonfiction book earned the IndieFab Book of the Year Winner and Christian Retailing’s Gift Book of the Year, as well as generating interest well beyond the dog community.
Ace’s first devotional book, Music For Your Heart, was released in late 2013 and earned numerous five star reviews. A fall novel from the same year, The Cutting Edge, mixed suspense, romance and intrigue in a tale of survival and victory. In the summer of 2013, Ace’s novel, Darkness Before Dawn, was chosen by several different book clubs and publications as one of the top reads of 2013. This novel also made the most inspiring book list on iTunes in July and Hope For Women’s “Top Five Summer Reads.”
Ace’s publishing history includes the novels Farraday Road, Swope’s Ridge and Jefferson Burke and the Secret of the Lost Scroll for Zondervan, The Yellow Packard from Barbour, Reich of Passage for Bay Forest, and The Christmas Star for Abingdon. His fiction writing has covered everything from value-driven plots, to adventures, mysteries, historical stories, sentimental tales and comedy.
In nonfiction, Ace has scored bestsellers with The Cathedrals, Lassie A Dog’s Life, Turn Your Radio On, The Stories Behind The Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, Father Does Know Best, and The Stories Behind The Great Traditions of Christmas. His books have been made into two network television specials and a CBS movie. The Stories Behind The Best-Loved Songs of Christmas hit #3 on the Amazon bestselling list for all books and #1 in several other categories and still continues to sell well more than a decade after its release. Ace’s books have been translated into Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, German and Indonesia (Mayla).
Beyond books, Ace has penned more than 2000 magazine features, appeared on every network morning television show, as well as CNN, MSNBC, CNBC and Fox. He also does scores of radio interviews each year. His speaking engagements have taken him from churches and corporations to the America’s Dog Museum in St. Louis and the National Archives in Washington DC. Beyond normal writing circles, Ace has penned several production shows. He also speaks regularly to college classes on the art of writing.
Ace’s hobbies include sports, restoring classic cars and Wurlitzer jukeboxes, and running. He is the play-by-play voice for Ouachita Tiger basketball. Ace is married to the Chair of the Department of Education at Ouachita Baptist University, Dr. Kathy Collins. The couple lives in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and has two sons.
