Award-Winning and Amazon Bestselling Author Sandra Merville Hart is past Executive Editor for DevoKids.com where she also contributed historical articles. She serves on the Planning Committee for Faith & Fellowship Book Festival. As Treasurer of ACFW Ohio, she has helped plan writing retreats and other events. Sandra is also a speaker, blogger, and workshop teacher.
Sandra is a founding member of The Erasers, a group that encourages and uplifts writers and readers. ERASERS is an acronym for “Edit, Rewrite, And Save. Edit. Repeat. Save.”
Sandra is thrilled that her “Spies of the Civil War” series was released by Wild Heart Books in 2022. Book 1 of the series, Avenue of Betrayal, is set in Washington DC in 1861. Boulevard of Confusion and Byway to Danger (Books 2 & 3) are set in Richmond, Virginia, in 1862. Byway to Danger won the Gold Illumination Award 2023. Actual historical spies will influence the lives of fictional characters. Books 4-6 in this series are set in Vicksburg, a Southern city the Union considered a prize it needed to capture. Streams of Mercy, Book 4, will publish on March 26, 2024.
Wild Heart Books began releasing Sandra’s “Second Chances” series in 2022. A Not So Convenient Marriage, Book 1, is a Selah Award Finalist and is set in Hamilton, Ohio, in 1877. A Not So Persistent Suitor, Book 2, is set in Cincinnati in 1883-84, when significant historical events take place. A Not So Peaceful Journey, Book 3, finds our characters on a train journey from Ohio to San Francisco in 1884.
Sandra’s A Spring at the Greenbrier, Book 7 in a novella series entitled “Romance at the Gilded Ages Resorts and published by Wild Heart Books, will release April 30, 2024. What a joy it was to write a nostalgic story set in such a beautiful resort!
“Taming the West—one heart at a time …” Trail’s End, in “Smitten Novella Collection: The Cowboys” is set in the wild cattle town of Abilene, Kansas, in 1870. Smitten Historical Romance released it in 2019.
“Her military haven isn’t a shelter anymore …” Her third Civil War romance, A Musket in My Hands, published by Smitten Historical Romance, is a 2019 Selah Awards Finalist and 2019 Serious Writers Book of the Year Semi-finalist.
“A Promise to her sister becomes impossible to keep …” Set during the turbulent Battle of Gettysburg, A Rebel in My House won the 2018 Illumination Silver Award and earned second place in the 2018 Faith, Hope, and Love Readers’ Choice Award.
“Should she turn her back on the wounded Yankee?” A Stranger on My Land, IRCA Finalist 2015, is the first book in a Civil War Romance series published by LPC.
She was a column writer for “History in the Making” at the popular and growing site, http://www.AlmostanAuthor.com, a site on The 100 Best Websites for Writers 2018.
Sandra has taught at writers’ conferences, writers’ groups, and women’s retreats, participated in Author Panels, and led sessions at women’s retreats. As Treasurer of ACFW Ohio, she has helped plan writing retreats and other events. Contact Sandra to teach at writing conferences.
Sandra has written for several publications and about 50 blogs including: The Secret Place, Harpstring, Splickety Magazine, Pockets Magazine, Common Ground, Afictionado, DevoKids.com, and ChristianDevotions.us. A finalist in the 2011 Hamilton Writers Guild Fiction Contest, she is past leader of a Word Weavers online critique group. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers 
, ACFW Ohio, ACFW Ohio Valley, and Queen City Writers Club.
Sandra loves to find unusual facts in her historical research to use in her stories. She travels to her book’s location whenever possible. Visiting local museums, shops, and restaurants greatly enhance to her understanding, enriching her stories. She drags her husband along on her adventures. Thankfully, he also enjoys these fact-finding missions!
Sandra’s Books Published by Wild Heart Books:
Her Second Chances series began publishing in November of 2022!
A Not So Convenient Marriage, Book 1 in the “Second Chances” series, is a Selah Finalist! It is available at Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and Book 2 Read.
A Not So Persistent Suitor, Book 2 in the “Second Chances” series, is set in Cincinnati in 1883-1884, where significant historical events take place. Readers will notice familiar sights in this historic city. It’s available at Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and Books 2 Read.
A Not So Peaceful Journey, Book 3 in the “Second Chances” series, follows characters we love on an eventful train journey from Hamilton, Ohio, to Oakland, California in 1884. It’s available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, and Books 2 Read.
Her Spies of the Civil War series is growing!!!
Avenue of Betrayal, Book 1 of “Spies of the Civil War” series, is set in Washington DC in 1861, where a surprising amount of spying took place. It’s available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books
Byway to Danger, Book 3 of “Spies of the Civil War” series, won the Gold Illumination Award! It’s set in the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, in the second half of 1862 and is available on Amazon.
Streams of Courage, Book 4 of “Spies of the Civil War” series, releases March 26, 2024! It’s set in historic Vicksburg, Mississippi and is available for preorder on Amazon.
A Spring at The Greenbrier, Book 7 in Romance at the Gilded Age Resorts Series, releases April 30th! It’s available for preorder at Amazon.
Sandra’s Books Published by Smitten Historical Romance, an imprint of Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas:
Trail’s End in “The Cowboys”, 2019
A Musket in My Hands, 2018
A Stranger on My Land, 2014
Sandra’s Novella/Story in Anthologies Published by Mt. Zion Ridge Press, LLC:
Not This Year in “Christmas Fiction Off the Beaten Path,” 2019
Surprised by Love in “From the Lake to the River,” 2018 (This book is now out of print. I have a limited number of copies left. Contact me for purchase.)
Books Sandra has contributed to:
Christmas Stories, Grace Publishing, 2020
Stupid Moments, Grace Publishing, 2016
Spoken Moments, Grace Publishing, 2015
Jesus Encounters, a Jim Bell/Bethany House book, 2015
Faith & Finances: In God We Trust, Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, 2010
Editor Tasks:
Past Executive Editor at DevoKids
Past Assistant Editor at The Barn Door Book Loft
In addition to her blog, Historical Nibbles, you can find Sandra at:
BookBub
Contributing column writer for Almost an Author – History in the Making
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Sandra’s Goodreads page
Sandra Merville Hart 
Hi Sandra, I just finished A Stranger on my Land, enjoyed it very much and posted a review on Christian Books for Tweens and Teens
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Glenn, Thanks for the review for my clean Civil War romance! Authors always appreciate reviews. My next novel, A Rebel in My House, releases in July. This new novel takes place during the Battle of Gettysburg. I hope you will enjoy that one as well.
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I have little interest in Historical Fiction, but I admire your devotion to accuracy in portraying the events and personalities in context with the Times. But I have come to praise your biscuit recipe. I can imagine my great great grandfather enjoying several of these each morning with a cup of boiled coffee, awaiting the day’s march or action. He enlisted on the 15th of July 1862, and gave his life for his cause on the 3rd of July, 1863, Culp’s Hill, Gettysburg, Penn. His name was Abram Manning, Pvt. Co. D 3rd Infantry Regiment, North Carolina. In all the years that I have studied the War between the States and remembered my G G Grandfather, I had never considered that morning or what his last meal might have been. Your prose and photographs brought to life the scene, and I could see him, and many gallant others, huddled about a fire pit, exhausted after 2 days of battle, reaching down and grabbing a hot biscuit, washing it down with strong coffee, offering a blessing between bites. I just had never thought of him in this way, hungry, near spent after a restless night, gathered with his cohorts, thanking God for a hot biscuit, praying to survive the day. He didn’t, and left behind five young children and a wife who would prove to be as brave as he. Thank you.
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Dear bmginc, Your comments mean so much to me that I wish I could address you by name. I’m moved that something I wrote stirred your imagination not only for the camaraderie of the meals soldiers shared, but also for their fervent prayers for survival, the turmoil they felt before battle. My great, great grandfather survived the war but I’ve only recently discovered his regiment–Pvt. Co. D 2 Tennessee Cavalry. I know little of his journey but I want to learn.
Using as many sources written near the time of the Civil War as I can find, I research my stories until I feel that I’m there … to transport my readers back in time in an authentic way. One of my novels, A Rebel in My House, is set during the turbulent Battle of Gettysburg. I’ve walked the battlefields and the streets of town to get the story into my soul. Tragically, many North Carolina troops lost their lives at Gettysburg and I’m sorry that your great great grandfather was one of them.
Thanks for sharing his story. Few reader comments have meant more to me. I’m humbled that something I wrote gave you a glimpse into what your great great grandfather endured. Thank you for taking the time to let me know. What a gift you gave me today! Bless you.
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