Lynn Vincent

Lynn Vincent (born 1962) is a bestselling conservative American writer, journalist, and author or co-author of 10 books. Vincent's work focuses on memoirs, politics and current events. She co-wrote Sarah Palin's 2009 memoir, Going Rogue: An American Life. She is a member of the Republican Party.

Vincent's best-known solo work is Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together. The tale of a friendship between a wealthy Texan and a black homeless man has been on the New York Times Best Seller list since October 2008.

In 2010, Vincent wrote, with Todd Burpo, Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, the story of the four-year old son of a Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery visits heaven. Vincent, a U.S. Navy veteran, spent 11 years as an investigative reporter and feature writer for WORLD magazine, a conservative Christian newsweekly with a paid subscribership of more than 120,000. She has lectured on writing at the World Journalism Institute, and at The King's College in New York City.

Background
Vincent was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. She has two teenage sons, and lives in San Diego, California.

Magazine writing
During her 11 years as a senior writer and features editor for World magazine, Vincent covered politics, culture, and hot-button social issues. She wrote over 1,000 articles (see WORLD Magazine archives), including a report on how fetal tissue is acquired for medical research, and exposing sexual abuse of women in Protestant churches.

One of the subjects of the clergy abuse article, Donna Scott, is a regular writer at Huffingtonpost.com. In 2009, Scott, while not a political conservative, defended Vincent’s journalistic standards in the face of attacks by anti-Palin commentators.

Heaven Is for Real
In 2010 Vincent collaborated with small-town Nebraska pastor Todd Burpo whose then-four-year-old son Colton suffered from an undiagnosed ruptured appendix. The book, Heaven Is for Real, details Burpo's claims that during the months after emergency surgery, Colton began describing events and people it was impossible for him to have seen or met, such as his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born.  Within three weeks of its November 2010 release, the book debuted at #3 on the New York Times bestseller list. By January 2011, there were 200,000 copies in print, and the book hit #1 on the New York Times list.

Going Rogue
Vincent was hired by former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to be the collaborator on Palin's memoir, Going Rogue. Upon release, the book immediately hit no. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Palin's memoir is one of only four political memoirs to sell more than 1 million copies, with current sales over 3 million.

Same Kind of Different as Me
In addition to the Palin memoir, Vincent has had success with Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together (Thomas Nelson, 2008). This true story, of the friendship between a wealthy Texan, Ron Hall, and a homeless African-American man, Denver Moore, was close to Vincent’s heart. Her family was homeless when she was a teenager, and she has volunteered frequently in homeless programs.

The book has sold more than a million copies. Through Hall and Moore’s speaking engagements, the book has helped raise more than $30 million for homeless shelters nationwide.

Actor Samuel L. Jackson recently signed to star in the film adaptation of Same Kind of Different as Me.

Other works
In 2009 Vincent co-authored with Hall and Moore a follow-up book entitled ''What Difference Do It Make? Stories of Hope and Healing'' (Thomas Nelson).

Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime and Corruption in the Democratic Party, written with conservative journalist Robert Stacy McCain (Thomas Nelson, 2006). Donkey Cons examines the differences between the way that the major political parties handle corruption in their own ranks.

Other collaborative memoirs Vincent has published include:

Never Surrender: A Soldier's Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom, by Jerry Boykin and Vincent (Faith Words, 2008). William G. Boykin is an original member of the U.S. Army's Delta Force who led operations during the invasions of Grenada and Panama, including the rescue of American Kurt Muse, a political prisoner of General Manuel Noriega. Boykin was present at Noriega's surrender, and also headed the Colombian-led capture of narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar. Boykin commanded TASK FORCE RANGER in Mogadishu, Somalia, the battle which became known as Black Hawk Down. In 2003 Boykin clashed with some in the U.S. media when speeches delivered at Christian events were interpreted by some to be policy statements.

The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption (Howard, 2009) by Kamal Saleem and Vincent.

The Prodigal Comes Home: My Story of Failure and God's Story of Redemption by Michael English and Vincent (Thomas Nelson, 2008). English, an award-winning gospel and contemporary Christian music singer, fell from grace and hit bottom as a prescription drug addict after committing adultery, only being restored to health by turning to God.

On April 12, 2011, Vincent released a book with Abby Sunderland titled Unsinkable: A Young Woman's Courageous Battle on the High Seas.

Publications

 * Burpo, Todd. Vincent, Lynn. (2010) Heaven Is For Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 978-0849946158
 * Palin, Sarah. Going Rogue: An American Life. (2009). HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-193989-1
 * Hall, Ron. Moore, Denver. Vincent, Lynn. (2009) What Difference Do It Make? Stories of Hope and Healing. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 978-0-8499-2019-6
 * Saleem, Kamal. Vincent, Lynn (2009) The Blood of Lambs: A Former Terrorist's Memoir of Death and Redemption. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-7780-5
 * English, Michael. Vincent, Lynn (2008) The Prodigal Comes Home: My Story of Failure and God's Story of Redemption. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 978-1-59555-129-0
 * Boykin, William G. Vincent, Lynn (2008) Never Surrender: A Soldier's Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom. Faith Words. ISBN 978-0-446-58215-5
 * Hall, Ron. Moore, Denver. Vincent, Lynn. (2006) Same Kind of Different as Me. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 978-0-8499-0041-9
 * Vincent, Lynn. Robert Stacy McCain (2006) Donkey Cons: Sex, Crime, and Corruption in the Democratic Party. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 978-1-59555-024-8
 * Vincent, Lynn (2001) The Military Advantage. LearningExpress. ISBN 978-1-57685-363-4
 * Vincent, Lynn (2001) ASVAB Success. LearningExpress. ISBN 978-1-57685-386-3