HALLMARK CHANNEL TURNS TO #1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR KAREN KINGSBURY FOR INSPIRATION
THE BRIDGE – SET TO BECOME A TV MOVIE

Nashville & New York – October 5, 2015 — Soon to be a Hallmark Channel movie event, #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury’s The Bridge, delivers a heartwarming story of two couples who found love and meaning in a bookstore, and who experience the sort of miracle that can only happen at Christmastime. The first of the two TV movies is slated to premiere in December. 

The Hallmark Channel original world premiere stars Katie Findlay (“How to Get Away with Murder”), Wyatt Nash (“Petals on the Wind”), Ted McGinley (“Hope and Faith”) and Faith Ford (“Murphy Brown”).  With a screenplay written by Jamie Pachino, The Bridge is being executive produced by Dan Angel, David Rosemont, Kim Arnott, and Trish Dolman.

Kingbsury couldn’t be more happy about the partnership with the network. About the film, she said, “It’s always been my dream to have one of my books turned into a Hallmark movie, My readers are all over social media talking about it. This TV movie will be an epic event, one I’m honored to be a part of.” 

The Bridge is an unforgettable Christmas love story set against the demise of the American bookstore. Molly Allen leaves Seattle and her father, a business mogul, for a life at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. Once there she meets Ryan Kelly, a singer-songwriter who has always known he’d finish college, become a teacher and marry the girl next door. That is, until he meets Molly. At a local favorite bookstore – The Bridge – Ryan and Molly find something neither has ever known before. Charlie and Donna Barton run The Bridge, and treat customers like family. But now it’s Christmastime and Molly is suddenly determined to leave school and return to Seattle for good. Will the help of Charlie and Donna, and a once-in-a-lifetime Christmas miracle, be enough to keep love alive? 

The Bridge debuted at #5 on the New York Times Bestseller list and has sold over 300,000 copies. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Kingsbury is America’s favorite inspirational novelist. There are more than 25 million copies of her award-winning books in print, including several million copies sold in the past year. Karen’s most recent of her Life-Changing Fiction™ titles have hit No. 1 on national lists. Karen is also a public speaker, reaching more than 100,000 women annually through various national events. Karen lives and works in Nashville, Tenn., with her husband, Don, and their five sons, three of whom were adopted from Haiti. Also living nearby is their only daughter, Kelsey, an actress in inspirational films and married to Christian recording artist Kyle Kupecky. She is represented by Rick Christian, president of Alive Literary Agency in Colorado Springs. 

Howard Books is an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Based in Nashville, the imprint is home to numerous New York Times bestselling books. Simon & Schuster is a part of CBS Corp., a global leader in the field of general interest publishing, dedicated to providing the best in fiction and nonfiction for consumers of all ages, across all printed, electronic and audio formats.  Its divisions include Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, Simon & Schuster Audio, Simon & Schuster Digital and international companies in Australia, Canada, India, and the United Kingdom. For more information visit our website www.simonandschuster.com