Author Bios

COAST TO COAST CONTRIBUTORS

Judy Copek is the author of The Shadow Warriors and her latest novel World of Mirrors was born when she and her husband visited the Baltic island of Rugen shortly after the reunification of East and West Germany. The Rich Are Different came from many summers of sailing New England waters with friends on a classic Concordia yacht. Judy is a member of Sisters in Crime, New England Pen, Mystery Writers of America and an officer with the New England Chapter of MWA. Her poems and short stories have appeared in national journals like Longfellow Journal, Freedom’s Just Another Word, CrimeandSuspense.com,   New England Writer’s Network, Quarry, Level Best Books and her memoir in Kansas City Voices.
Thomas Donahue is the author of the well-received suspense novel Fraternal Bonds featuring Boston-based private investigator Stephen Nicholson.  Mr. Donahue served as Correction Officer in Boston for more than twenty years where he rose to the rank of Lieutenant. In addition to guest lecturing at Boston College about crime and detective fiction, he authored the preface to the bestselling Mystery Writing in a Nutshell and has published in the award-winning Crimestalker Casebook. He is presently at work completing his second Stephen Nicholson novel.
Robert S. Levinson is the bestselling author of twelve mystery-thrillers: Phony Tinsel, A Rhumba in Waltz Time, The Traitor in Us All, In the Key of Death, Where the Lies Begin, Ask a Dead Man, The Andy Warhol Affair (Hot Paint), The James Dean Affair, The John Lennon Affair, The Elvis and Marilyn Affair, Finders, Keepers, Losers, Weepers and the current (2015) The Evil Deeds We Do. He is a regular contributor to Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, whose readers cited him in the annual EQMM Readers Awards poll three years running. His Hitchcock short story, The Quick Brown Fox, was a Derringer Award winner, his Queen story, The Girl in the Golden Gown, was short-listed for a Shamus Award of the Private Eye Writers of America. To date, Bob’s stories have appeared in “year’s best” mystery anthologies nine consecutive years. Bob resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Sandra and Rosie, their always-hungry mixed-breed rescue pooch, who believes she rescued them. More at www.robertslevinson.com.
William Link has created, written and adapted sixteen on-the-air television series. Called “Mr. Rolls and Mr. Royce of American television” by the New York Times, William Link and his collaborator, Richard Levinson, created, wrote, adapted and produced many successful mystery/crime television series, including: Columbo, Murder She Wrote, Ellery Queen, The Bold Ones, Mannix, McCloud, Scene of the Crime and Blacke’s Magic among others. Sadly, Richard Levinson died in 1987. Link went on to create and produce Over My Dead Body and The Cosby Mysteries. He is also known for his numerous mystery/crime movies-for-television The Savage Report directed by Steven Spielberg, Guilty Conscience starring Anthony Hopkins, The Judge and Jake Wyler starring Bette Davis, Murder by Natural Causes, Rehearsal for Murder, The Guardian, Vanishing Act and many others. His feature film credits include The Hunter (Steve McQueen’s last movie), the cult classic Rollercoaster, The Hindenburg and others. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his book for the Broadway musical Merlin. Link has written and published two novels, Fineman and The Playhouse, and two books on television, Stay Tuned and Off-Camera. Several dozen short stories have appeared in Playboy, Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazines, etc. His awards include four Edgars, two Emmys, two Golden Globes, the Peabody, the Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Lifetime Achievement in Television Writing, The Ellery Queen Award, The Raymond Chandler Marlowe and many others. Link and Levinson were inducted into The Television Hall of Fame. Link’s new Columbo short stories, The Columbo Collection, was published by Crippen Landru. His stories about a comedic, inept hit-man Salvatore (Sally) have been published in The Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Two more to come. And, a new Columbo short story, Death Leaves a Bookmark, is part of the recent Mysterious Bookshop’s Bibliomysteries.
Sheila Lowe, like her fictional character Claudia Rose in the award-winning Forensic Handwriting Mysteries series, is a real-life forensic handwriting expert who testifies in handwriting-related cases. She holds a Master of Science in psychology and also authored the internationally acclaimed The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis and Handwriting of the Famous & Infamous, as well as the Handwriting Analyzer software. Sheila lectures around the country and is often seen in the media. Her analyses of celebrity handwritings have appeared in Time, Teen People, Tiger Beat, Us, Mademoiselle, numerous Bar Association magazines (that’s legal, not drinking!) and many others.
Paul D. Marks pulled a gun on the LAPD...and lived to tell about it. Which makes him uniquely qualified to write mystery and noir stories. Paul’s novel White Heat won the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America. Publishers Weekly calls White Heat a “...taut crime yarn.” And Midwest Book Review says: “White Heat is a riveting read of mystery, much recommended.” Woody Haut, journalist and author of Neon Noir (Contemporary American Crime Fiction) and Pulp Culture (Hardboiled Fiction & the Cold War), says “[White Heat] really caught early 90s L.A., in all its sordid glory. And had me turning pages late into the night. I think WH is up there with the best of the L.A. novels, but has an air authenticity that many lack.” Paul’s story Howling at the Moon is short listed for both this year’s (2015) Anthony Award and Macavity Award for Best Short Story. It was published in the November 2014 issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and came in #7 in their Reader’s Poll Award. And he just sold his story Ghosts of Bunker Hill to Ellery Queen (publication date to be announced). His latest noir-thriller, Vortex, will be out in summer, 2015. Paul is the author of over thirty published short stories, including several award winners, which have appeared in a variety of book length anthologies and magazines. LA Late @ Night is a collection of five of those stories. He also has the distinction, dubious though it might be, of being the last person to have shot a film on the fabled MGM backlot before it bit the dust to make way for condos. According to Steven Bingen, one of the authors of the recent, well-received book MGM: Hollywood’s Greatest Backlot: “That 40 page chronological list I mentioned of films shot at the studio ends with his [Paul D. Marks’] name on it.” Website: www.PaulDMarks.com.
Andrew McAleer is the editor of Crimestalker Casebook and best-selling author of seven books including the 101 Habits of Highly Successful Novelists, A Miscellany of Murder and Fatal Deeds. Past president of the Boston Authors Club, Mr. McAleer teaches at Boston College and works as a prosecutor. He is a winner of the Sherlock Holmes Revere Bowl Award. A sergeant in the U.S. Army, he served in Afghanistan as a Combat Historian. He is also a commissioned Kentucky Colonel.
G.B. Pool (Gayle Bartos-Pool) is a former private detective and once a newspaper reporter for a small town weekly. She writes short stories as well as two detective series, one featuring Johnny Casino, an ex-mobster, and also Gin Caulfield, an over fifty gal who’s still packing heat. G.B. teaches writing classes: The Anatomy of a Short Story,  How To Write Convincing Dialogue and How To Write a Killer Opening Line. Website: www.gbpool.com.
Bill Pronzini—In a career spanning close to half a century Bill Pronzini has published 80 novels, 350 short stories and four nonfiction books, and has edited or coedited numerous anthologies. His “Nameless Detective” is America’s longest running PI series still being published—first short story 1967, first novel 1971; the most recent of the 44 “Nameless” titles to date is Vixen (2015). He is the recipient of the 2008 Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America, joining his wife, Marcia Muller, MWA’s 2005 Grand Master, as the only living married couple to be honored separately. He has received three Shamus Awards, two for best novel, and the Lifetime Achievement Award (presented in 1987) from the Private Eye Writers of America; and six nominations for MWA’s Edgar Allan Poe award. His suspense novel, Snowbound, was the recipient of the Grand Prix de la Litterature Policiere as the best crime novel published in France 1988. Two other suspense novels, A Wasteland of Strangers and The Crimes of Jordan Wise, were nominated for the Hammett Prize for best crime novels of 1997 and 2006 respectively by the International Crime Writers Association. He is also the recipient of the Paul A. Witty Award presented the International Reading Association for the best YA short fiction of 1999, Christmas Gifts; and, in collaboration with Marcia Muller, of a Western Writers of America Spur Award for best western short fiction of 2007, the novella Crucifixion River.
Stephen D. Rogers is a two-time Derringer winner and Shamus nominee and is the author of Shot to Death, Three-Minute Mysteries and more than eight hundred shorter works. His website, www.StephenDRogers.com, includes a list of new and upcoming titles as well as other timely information.
Jim Shannon has been published in magazines as varied as Mad and TV Guide and has had mystery stories published in the Level Best anthologies Seasmoke, Still Waters and Stone Cold. He has had a mystery in Crimestalker Casebook and several in Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen mystery magazines. He has won the New England Mystery Writers 2006 Al Blanchard Award for best mystery short story and is a co-author of A Miscellany of Murder, published by Adams Media. His mystery novel, Dying for Attention, published by Five-Star, was released in February, 2014.
William G. Tapply was born on July 16, 1940 in Waltham, Massachusetts. A graduate of Amherst, with a masters from Harvard, he was variously a high school history teacher, college writing instructor and contributing editor for Field and Stream and American Angler. In addition, Tapply authored numerous fiction and non-fiction books, publishing more than 40 books in 25 years. He is perhaps best known for his mystery series featuring Brady Coyne, a Boston attorney with a passion for fly fishing who becomes a crime solver for his wealthy clientele. In 2001, Tapply collaborated with friend and author Philip R. Craig, known for his mystery novels featuring J. W. Jackson, a retired cop living on Martha’s Vineyard. Tapply’s second mystery series launched in 2004 and featured Stoney Calhoun, a Maine fishing guide who has lost his memory. Like the characters in his books, Tapply lived in New England. He died in 2009 after a two-year battle with leukemia. Visit his website: www.williamgtapply.com.