2005
Winners

2005 MWA Novel Contest

This page is for archival purposes only and is not longer maintained

Maryland Writers' Association, Inc.
PO Box 142, Annapolis MD 21404

MWA 2005 Novel Contest
Judges and Biographies

(alphabetical by last name)

Michael T. Barbour

Michael's Ph.D. is in Aquatic Ecology, from University of Maryland. He is Vice President and Director of the Center for Ecological Sciences for Tetra Tech, Inc., an environmental consulting firm. He travels throughout the US and parts of Europe, Asia, and New Zealand working with environmental scientists.

Michael has nearly 40 scientific publications and two published novels. He has been featured on TV and Radio in Sacramento, CA, Albuquerque and Los Alamos, NM, Sarasota, FL, Anchorage and Kenai, AK, and throughout Maryland. His web site is http://www.michaeltbarbour.com .

• Novels:
  • The Kenai Catastrophe i (Oct 2002), Rebel Publishing, ISBN Number 0-9705593-2-1
  • Blue Water, Blue Island (Jul 2004), Rebel Publishing, ISBN Number 0-9705593-6-4
• Awards:
  • 2003 Maryland Writers Association
    Blue Water, Blue Island awarded best novel for Action/Adventure

K. S. Brooks

Ms. Brooks has been a writer and award-winning photographer for over twenty years. Her feature articles, poetry, and photography have appeared in magazines, newspapers, books and other publications both in the U.S. and abroad.

Her most recent novel, Lust for Danger, was awarded Honorable Mention in the 2005 Jada Press Book of the Year Awards. Ms. Brooks is currently working on her sequel to Lust for Danger, as well as a number of other writing and photography projects.

More information is available at http://www.ksbrooks.com

Jenny Brown

Vic Brown

Arline Chase

• Author
• Educator
• Publisher

She has taught writing at conferences and in colleges, and worked nine years for
the Writer's Digest Correspondence School,
Writers Online Workshops,
and was a "critter" for the Second Draft Criticism service
before starting out on her own as a Writing Critter.

Arline is a member of the
International Women's Writing Guild,
the Author's Guild,
Sisters in Crime,
Mystery Writers of America,
Romance Writers of America,
Maryland Writers Association,
Electronically Published Internet Connection,
Writers Bloc,
The Eastern Shore Writers Association,
and the Publisher's Marketing Association.

Arline has written seven published novels and novellas and four non-fiction books, two under a pseudonym. The titles include KILLRAVEN, GHOST DANCER, and SPIRIT OF FIRE. Arline can be contacted through her web site: http://www.ebooksonthe.net/authorsonthenet/chase/

Shymala Dason

Ms. Dason grew up in Malaysia. She is an alumna of Bennington College and came to writing via a detour that includes an MA in Applied Mathematics and a decade of working on various atmospheric science projects at NASA.

She has published short fiction in the Massachusetts Review and the Marion Zimmer Bradley produced Fantasy Magazine, has a piece appearing in a forthcoming Asian American Writers Workshop anthology, "Topography of War", and is currently working on a novel.

She lives in San Francisco, California with her husband, and may be found on the Internet at shymala.com

Gale Deitch

Gale has written short stories, non-fiction, poetry and a novel. Her publishing credits have included The Washington Post, corporate and non-profit writing. She has a BS in Education from the University of Maryland, has taught public school and is currently working for a non-profit organization in Development and Public Relations.

Ray Dix

Ray is the author of Death Row Defender a mystery and suspense novel coming from Hard Shell Word Factory, September 2005
... but what if he IS innocent?

His CV incluides a Bachelor of Ats in Liberal Studies (History / Business Admin), from Salisbury University (1977) and a Jurist Doctorate from the University of Maryland (1987).

His first novel, Death Row Defender won second place in the Mystery / Suspense / Thriller division of the Maryland Writer's Association 2003 Novel Contest. Though Ray now lives in Florida, he remains a member of the Maryland Writer's Association, and is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, and the Florida Writer's Association.

As an attorney for the State of Florida, Ray Dix lived the high-stakes work of providing the last line of defense for men and women sentenced to die. Before he got serious about the law and writing, he served a stint in Army intelligence and the Coast Guard Reserves, and he designed and built boats.

Ray grew up on Maryland's Eastern Shore. He lives in Florida, continues his work in the criminal justice system, and is writing his next novel.

Janet Freedman

Ms. Freedman is a native Baltimorean, a writer and a painter. She attended city schools, and obtained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a Master of Liberal Arts degree from the Johns Hopkins University.

Her first book, Kent Island: The Land That Once Was Eden was published by the Maryland Historical Society in 2002.

She is vice-president of Phi Delta Gamma graduate honor society and chairs the Master of Liberal Arts Alumni Advisory Board at Johns Hopkins.

Her current project is a screenplay set in 1960's Baltimore.

In addition to writing and landscape painting, she maintains a keen interest in Maryland history, genealogy and historic preservation and with her husband is building a website, Baltimore First which celebrates Baltimore Firsts and other historical events and contains a link to information on the Kent Island book.

Jane Frutchey

I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to judge some of the entries in this year's Novel Contest. It's exhilarating to get a first glimpse of other fellow writers' hard work. Reviewing the creative efforts of others has given me renewed energy to complete some of my own projects which I've temporarily moved to the back burner. It's also uplifting to realize that as a writer, I'm not alone traveling this uncertain pathway that I've chosen.

Sally Kemp

Alma Lopez

Ms. Lopez has managed the production of publications for consulting firms, professional assocations, service firms, and the government for more than 30 years. Management activities included supervising writers (technical and non-technical), editors, and graphic artists, and typesetting, et cetera, serving diverse audiences. She currently manages a publication production team for a beavior research corporation near Washington DC.

Her education includes a certificate in Technical Writing from Montgomery Community College and graduate-level editorial studies at George Washington University, and the U.S.D.A. Graduate School.

Her poem, "Fertility," was recently published in the literary journal The Muse. She writes short stories, and is in the process of writing a novel.

Loree Lough

Learn more about Loree at http://www.loreelough.com/about.html

Lucy Moran

Jill Morrow

Ms. Morrow holds a Bachelor's Degree in History with a minor in Creative Writing from Towson University, along with a Jurist Doctorate Degree from the University of Baltimore School of Law. She has enjoyed a broad spectrum of careers and opportunities, from practicing law to singing with local bands.

She was the first place winner of the 1991 Baltimore Sun Magazine short story contest. Her first novel, Angel Cafe, was published by Paraview Pocket (Simon & Schuster) in 2003, followed by The Open Channel in April 2005 from the same publisher.

She lives in a suburb of Baltimore with her husband and two children.

Sherry Morrow

Melody Ravert

Ms. Ravert, author of Shadow of Death and Avenging Sword, is a writer of Christian fiction. Her first e-book, Obsessive Behavior is published internationally through Kingfisherbooks. THE CHOCOLATE BANDIT, a short story that won second place in 'The Underground Cafe Lifetime Promotion' contest was also published in Cupid's Arrow, the February 2004 issue of Uplifting Romance. It is now available as a FREE ebook at http://www.kingfisherbooks.com/freereading.htm

Her newest publication, Rainbow Classics: Volume One is published through Lotus Books and is written under her pen name, Ashley Katz.

Ms. Ravert is a reviewer for Inspired By Faith Book Reviews and has written several articles for several publications such as Advanced Christian Writer, Lotus Magazine, Mommy Tales, and Inspiration Station. Other stories are included in the anthologies, My God. She is a member of the Maryland Writers Association.

Ms. Ravert lives in Baltimore, Maryland with her husband and daughter. Visit her websites at: www.mysticrose.us www.authorsden.com/melodyravert

Beth Rubin

Learn more about Beth at http://www.bethrubinauthor.com/bio.html

Carole Fungaroli Sargent

Carole founded a literary consulting group to give experts the publishing help she always wanted. She earned a Ph.D. at U.Va., and taught literature and writing at UNC, Duke, and Georgetown. Her books The Slam and Scream (1996) and Traditional Degrees for Nontraditional Students (2000) were published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and she has published short fiction.

Her articles have appeared in
The Washington Post,
Newsweek, and
The News and Observer, among others. She has been featured in
The New York Times,
Time,
The Wall Street Journal, and on
60 Minutes,
CNN,
The Early Show, and
NPR Morning Edition. Visit her at her website, http://www.carolesargent.com.

Carole wrote about her experience as a judge, which was subsequently published in the (insert reference).

Marcia Talley

Ms. Talley is the Agatha and Anthony award-winning author of
SING IT TO HER BONES,
UNBREATHED MEMORIES,
OCCASION OF REVENGE,
IN DEATH'S SHADOW and the forthcoming
THIS ENEMY TOWN. (All are from Harper Collins / Morrow.)

She is author/editor of two star-studded collaborative serial novels, NAKED CAME THE PHOENIX and I'D KILL FOR THAT set in a fashionable health spa and an exclusive gated community, respectively. Her short stories appear in more than a dozen collections in including "With Love, Marjorie Ann" and "Safety First", both Agatha award nominees, and the multi-award-winning "Too Many Cooks", a humorous retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth from the viewpoint of the three witches from Much Ado About Murder, edited by Anne Perry. Marcia is president of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime, and serves as Secretary for the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. She is also a member of the Maryland Writers Association.

Bridget Bell Weber

Learn more about Bridget at http://www.bridgetbellwebber.com/

Gregg Wilhelm

Gregg has been in the book business for more than 12 years as an editor, publisher, marketer, and production manager for various presses. He has worked for Johns Hopkins University Press, Tidewater Publishers, and Woodholme House Publishers, which he founded in 1996.

In 2001 he started a consulting business, Bookwise Associates, then in 2004 a nonprofit literary arts organization, CityLit Project. CityLit Project nurtures the culture of literature through a comprehensive approach that improves writers, supports publishers, showcases authors, encourages readers, publishes books, and entertains and educates the public, thus fostering a community that values literature from the first stroke of the pen to the last chapter the story.

Gregg hopes to publish books under the organization's imprint, Pagoda Press, starting in Fall 2005.

Gregg A. Wilhelm
CityLit Project / Pagoda Press
Nurturing the Culture of Literature
120 S. Curley Street
Baltimore, MD 21224
410-327-0404
www.CityLitProject.org

Margot W. Wilson

Ms. Wilson is a retired M.S.W., program director, and newspaper publisher, The Publick Enterprise in Annapolis. She also wrote a column for The Publik Enterprise, called, "Me and Thee and Them and Us." The publik Enterprise was published for over a decade in the last days before computer based production.

She served as Treasurer of MWA for several years, has been a judge of the Novel Contest for three years and is a mainstay of the Novel Experience Critique Group.

She is currently beginning her second novel and seeking a publisher for the first.

Cindy Young-Turner

Ms. Young-Turner has a B.A. in English, and works as an editor near Washington, DC. When not working as an editor, she is working on her novel. Her short story "They That Go Down to the Sea" won third place in the MWA 2005 Short Works contest.