Rachel Ann Nunes

Rachel Ann Nunes (born May 7, 1966) is a United States best-selling and award-winning author born in Provo, Utah. She has authored dozens of novels, including the popular Autumn Rain series, the Ariana series, and the Huntington Family series. Nunes also published two picture books, Daughter of a King and The Secret of the King. She has also written under the name Teyla Branton. Early life: Rachel Ann Nunes was born in Provo on May 7, 1966 to Kenneth Ralph Tarr and Katherine Louise Schmidt. She is the second of eight children and the first of six daughters. Nunes was taught to read by her mother when she was four, beginning a lifetime fascination with the written word. She avidly devoured books and won many reading contests in school. Her father was a French professor at Brigham Young University during much of her young life, and he often corrected her grammar and that of her siblings. Education: Rachel Ann Nunes attended Kindergarten at Sunset Elementary in Provo, Utah, and for 1st to 4th grades she went to American Heritage, a private school, then located in Pleasant Grove, Utah. During her years at American Heritage, she lived with her family in Highland, Utah. After 4th grade, she returned to public school, but part of her fifth and sixth grade years, she spent in France with her family where her father was sent for six months in conjunction with Brigham Young University's Semester Abroad Program. There she read books about Marie Antoinette and roamed Paris with her older brother, having many experiences which would later appear in her early novels, most notably the Ariana series. After returning from France, the family moved to back to Provo. Nunes attended Dixon Junior High in Provo and graduated from Provo High School in May 1984. Personal: Nunes married Antonio Joao (TJ) Nunes in March 1989. They are the parents of seven children, three boys and four girls and make their home in Utah. According to her website, Nunes loves camping with her family, traveling and meeting new people, and, of course, writing. Awards: Nunes's novel Before I Say Goodbye won the 2011 Whitney Award for General Fiction. Her novels The Independence Club (2007), Fields of Home (2008) and Imprints, An Autumn Rain Novel (2010) were chosen as Whitney Award finalists. Her picture book Daughter of a King was voted best children’s book of the year in 2003 by the Association of Independent LDS Booksellers, and her picture book The Secret of the King was chosen in Utah by the Governor's Commission on Literacy to be awarded to all Utah grade schools as part of the Read With A Child For 20 Minutes Per Day program. Her favorite novels as a youth were science fiction and fantasy. She began writing her own short stories in the seventh grade and her first novel at seventeen. Plagiarism suit: In August 2014, Nunes filed a suit in a federal Utah court against school teacher Tiffanie Rushton for "plagiariz[ing]" her book. Nunes book, "Love to the Highest Bidder", was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office in 1998. Rushton's book is titled A Bid for Love and copies had been sold after it was published online in early 2014. The suit stated, "In converting Ms. Nunes's work into The Auction Deal, (Rushton) added several graphic sex scenes and other adult content to what was originally a Christian novel." Nunes contacted Rushton about the story. Rushton offered multiple conflicting explanations to Nunes and others including one claim that the book "was developed in a writing group and that she wouldn't pursue publication". Nunes is suing Rushton for plagiarism, defamation, and harassment- seeking at least $150,000 in damages.