WINNER OF MINOTAUR BOOKS/MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA FIRST CRIME NOVEL COMPETITION

MINOTAUR BOOKS/MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA FIRST CRIME NOVEL COMPETITION WINNER

Minotaur Books and the Mystery Writers of America announced today the winner of their First Crime Novel Competition for 2020. Kelley Ragland, Vice President, Associate Publisher for Minotaur Books, made the announcement following the MWA’s naming of their Edgar® Award winners.

The competition winner is Rebecca Roque, a nurse working in Arizona. Her winning novel, tentatively titled Till Human Voices Wake Us, will be published in 2021. The books opens when Alice, the best friend of 17-year-old Silencia “Cia” Lucero, is found dead from a supposed suicide. But Cia knows three things must be true: Alice is dead, Alice could not have killed herself, and Alice, a budding journalist, must have found something. Cia is determined to solve the mystery Alice left behind, no matter who gets in her way. Silence might be her name, but it’s never been her style.

Ragland said of the winning entry, “We’re thrilled to have selected Rebecca Roque and her novel Till Human Voices Wake Us as this year’s competition winner. With a remarkable voice and a diverse cast, the book is an engaging mystery about the life of a town as well as the life of one teenage girl. And when we found out that Rebecca is also a nurse currently working on the frontlines of the COVID crisis, we were even more honored to be able to work with this amazing writer on her debut novel.”

Roque sold her first book at age five to her mother for some red Skittles and hasn’t stopped writing since. Her resume includes an intensive care unit at a busy metropolitan hospital, a juvenile detention center, a comic book shop, and several craft beer bars. She is constantly inspired by the lived stories of people from all walks of life, and believes in the power of tattoos and stories to bring down walls between people. Rebecca was raised in the Midwest, but has made her grown-up home in Phoenix, Arizona.

The First Crime Novel Competition provides a previously unpublished writer an opportunity to launch his or her career with the Minotaur Books imprint. The winner will receive a one-book, $10,000 contract.

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About Mystery Writers of America: Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is the premier organization for mystery writers, professionals allied to the crime writing field, aspiring crime writers, and those who are devoted to the genre. MWA is dedicated to promoting higher regard for crime writing and recognition and respect for those who write within the genre.

About Minotaur Books: Minotaur Books is an imprint of St. Martin’s Press that launched in 1999, publishing 130 hardcover crime fiction titles annually. Minotaur Books grew out of a fifty-year tradition of publishing quality crime fiction at St. Martin’s Press, and has published several award-winning and best-selling titles. http://us.macmillan.com/Minotaur.aspx

New Home for the Tony Hillerman Award

Minotaur Books / A Thomas Dunne Book and Wordharvest announced that they have joined forces with Western Writers of America, who will host the Tony Hillerman Prize going forward.

With this change come a new submission deadline, an option for electronic manuscript submission, and a new venue for the announcement of the winner at the annual Western Writers of America convention. FYI: The competition for 2016 has been suspended. The deadline for the 2017 competition will be January 2, 2017. View guidelines and online submission form online at http://us.macmillan.com/minotaurbooks/tonyhillermanprize.

Tony Hillerman’s Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee mysteries, set on the Navajo reservation, were the first “regional” mysteries to become national bestsellers. His work has been praised by reviewers and the Navajo Nation for its ability to combine Navajo traditions and beliefs with a well-told mystery story. Hillerman’s writing reflects his appreciation for the natural wonders and stark beauty of the American Southwest and its people, particularly the Navajo. His books have been translated into many languages and frequently make the New York Times bestseller list. At age 83, Hillerman passed away on October 26, 2008.

In 2013, Leaphorn and Chee returned in Spider Woman’s Daughter by Anne Hillerman, Tony Hillerman’s daughter. Her second novel, Rock With Wings, appeared in 2015. In 2004, she launched the first Tony Hillerman Writers Conference: Focus on Mystery through Wordharvest, the business which she co-founded with Jean Schaumberg. With Peter Joseph of Thomas Dunne Books/ Minotaur Books, Wordharvest founded the Tony Hillerman Prize in 2006.

The Tony Hillerman Prize is awarded annually to the best debut crime fiction set in the Southwest. Previous winners include John Fortunato’s Dark Reservations, CB McKenzie’s Bad Country, Andrew Hunt’s City of Saints, Tricia Fields’ The Territory, Roy Chaney’s The Ragged End of Nowhere, and Christine Barber’s The Replacement Child.  For more information about past prizewinners, please visit http://www.hillermanprize.com/. The 2015 winner, Kevin Wolf’s The Homeplace, will be published in September 6, 2016.

Incorporated in 1953 to promote and honor the literature of the American West, Western Writers of America also awards Spur Awards annually for the best published works in the genre and the Owen Wister Award to an author for lifetime contributions. WWA also inducts writers into the Western Writers Hall of Fame, housed at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming.

Like the Western landscape itself, WWA and the books, songs and stories produced by its members have evolved immensely. No longer representing just traditional Western fiction authors, WWA boasts historians, nonfiction authors, young adult, romance writers, songwriters, poets and screenwriters for film and television. All have one thing in common – their work in every medium is set in the ever-changing American West. Today, WWA has more than 600 members who have garnered awards and made The New York Times best-sellers list. Members include C.J. Box, Anne Hillerman, Craig Johnson, Mark Hall-Patton, Thomas Cobb, Chris Enss, Kat Martin, Kirk Ellis, Lucia St. Clair Robson, Paul Andrew Hutton and David Morrell.