Each year the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers (RMFW) present a Writer of the Year (WOTY) award. Here are 2022’s three finalists.
Amy Rivers is an award-winning novelist and writer of short stories and personal essays, as well as the Director of Northern Colorado Writers. She was recently named 2021 Indie Author of the Year by the Indie Author Project. She holds degrees in psychology and political science, two topics she loves to write about.
Karla M. Jay is the award-winning author of When We Were Brave, It Happened in Silence, and The Puppet Maker’s Daughter. She has wanted to write books since she was seven. Originally from the east coast, she makes her home in Salt Lake City. Over the years she has written in several different genres, ranging from humor to noir.
Pamela Nowak joined RMFW in 1993. She’s been contest chair, president, chaired five conferences, was 2010 WOTY, honored with the Jasmine Award and named an Honored Guiding Member. Pam currently presents workshops, judges contest, and critiques.
The Buffalo supermarket killer live-streamed from a camera mounted on his helmet — an up close and gruesome first-person view as he fires into 10 people, some of them crawling on the supermarket floor. That’s what we excitedly hope to see on social media?
Here’s who kept the streaming going as people died and presented terror as “theater”:
Twitch
Streamable
Facebook let it ride for more than 10 hours
And just a note about #Zuckerberg – he’s quietly formed American Edge. American Edge has launched a campaign committed to fight antitrust legislation in Washington. They’re placing op-eds in regional papers throughout the country, commissioning studies, and collaborating with partners, including minority business associations, conservative think tanks, and former national security officials.
With this kind of big-money backing, we haven’t seen the last of streaming blood lust. They’re beating the drum as if regulation is a restraint of tech development – don’t be fooled. Follow the money.
Each year InD’tale Magazine honors the very best books in the Indie and Small publishing industry by awarding their RONE award. Not offered lightly, any contending book must go through one of the most rigorous processes in publishing, with the three distinct areas of focus that are required to make a book successful in the publishing world. Here are the magazine’s details about award eligibility:
The Review Round: All books in each given year (January 1st – December 31st) must have been read and reviewed by our professional staff of reviewers and be given a 4.5 – 5.0 star rating. All eligible books must be originally published and submitted within that qualifying year. Those books that meet those qualifications will become the nominees and progress to the second round of voting.
The Reader Voting Round: In the second round, all nominees must be voted on by the reading public. The books with the highest number of reader votes will progress on to become finalists. There is a one book limit in this round, however. If an author has more than one book that has received high ratings, that author will choose which book should continue. This rule gives authors the very best chance of success in this round.
The Judges Round: Each book in the finalists will then be read by a group of industry professionals consisting of editors, writers, professors etc. and be judged on a one to five scale from a specific list of requirements such as characterization, technical writing, overall arc, editing etc. Those scores will then be tallied by a professional accounting firm unrelated to InD’tale or its employees to determine the winner of the coveted RONE award, along with the honorable mentions.
Rules and genres are subject to change without notice depending on numbers in each genre.
All awards are announced at the annual RONE award gala where winners are presented with the Crystal RONE award.
Since 2008, the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards have recognized the best stories from the previous year told through various media utilizing the elements of mystery, thriller, and/or suspense. Judges are professional writers, book reviewers, librarians, academics, and—in specialized cases—specific industry peers.
Eligible works must have been first published in English between January 1, 2021 and January 1, 2022. They must be readily available to a North-American audience (print or digital format). Judging makes no distinction between self-published, indie-published, and traditionally published works.
2021 finalists will be announced July 30, 2021. Killer Nashville will contact all finalists using submitted information alerting them to the honor. Finalists will be honored and winners will be announced at the Killer Nashville Awards Dinner on August 20, 2022.
All entries will also be eligible for the 2022 Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Readers’ Choice Award. This is a separate award that is not judged, but rather voted upon by fans of the author’s work. A sharable link to the ballot will be available after the contest closes on June 15, 2022. The results of this contest in no way affect the results of the other Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards.
All registrants for the 2022 Killer Nashville International Writers’ Conference are entitled to one free Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award entry. In order to claim your free entry, you must register for the conference BEFORE submitting to the Silver Falchion Award. We cannot retroactively refund entry fees.
Authors: Deadline for entry for the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award is June 1, 2022
In their ten-week program, International Thriller Writers Organization sponsors online programs led by a master in the craft of thriller writing. Each instructor will teach some aspect of thriller creation during a two-hour Live Zoom session, will provide written materials for further reading along with study suggestions, and will offer an entire week of online Q&A with the registered students.
If you are unable to attend each week you will still be able to view the broadcasts and review questions that were asked. If you are unable to attend an entire week you will be able to review the Q&A from the other students and that week’s instructor.
2021’s instructors: Jeffrey Deaver, Lisa Gardner, Anthony Horowitz, Liv Constantine, Alexia Gordon, Adam Hamdy, Cate Holahan, Steven James, Tosca Lee, Jaime Levine, David Morrell, Samuel Octavius, Alex Segura and Jerri Williams.
Space is limited so contact Christopher Graham at ITWOnline@thrillerwriters.org to be added to the wait list. Date has not been finalized. Tuition is $495. Attendee requirements are Facebook and Zoom accounts.
Valerie Webster and Driven: A Rita Mars Thriller in the spotlight via Author of the Day interview.
Make your next book club event an author event with a writer who’s lived the cases, developed the crime fighting technologies. Contact Valerie Webster today.
