Mystery Writer Biographies

Carolyn Haines
Carolyn Haines grew up a tomboy in the small town of Lucedale, Mississippi. She began working for a newspaper at the age of 12 and went on to have a successful career in journalism for nearly a decade before turning to writing novels. She established herself in the field of romantic fiction before publishing her first book of literary fiction, a classic Southern coming-of-age narrative, Summer of the Redeemers. However, mystery was never far from her heart.
A lover of ghost stories and mysteries as a child, she had begun writing her own unique versions in high school. Success followed with the debut of her Delta-set Bones series, which has held a devoted audience captive for five years. Her most recent work, Hallowed Bones, is a Mystery Guild Featured Alternate. Best described by Carolyn Hart, "Wickedly funny. Devilishly clever. Scintillatingly southern. Carolyn Haines is an author to die for."
Carolyn now lives on a farm in southern Alabama with her husband, horses, dogs, and cats. She is an advocate for arts and humanities across the state and has been honored with an Alabama State Council on the Arts literary fellowship for her writing.

Ace Atkins
By the time Ace Atkins had turned 30, he had, played for the 1993 undefeated Auburn University football team, published two critically acclaimed novels and been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. His third novel, Dark End of the Street, and his most recent release, Dirty South, have continued his success in the publishing world.
The transition to becoming a full-time mystery novelist came naturally to Ace after working as a crime reporter in the newsroom of The Tampa Tribune for several years. It was there that he earned his Pulitzer Prize nomination as well as a Livingston Award nomination for his seven-part series “Tampa Confidential.” It was also there that he developed his classic noir style that has earned him accolades from fellow journalists and authors.
Atkins, now 34, lives on a century-old farm outside Oxford, Mississippi, with his five faithful mutts. In his spare time he teaches journalism at the University of Mississippi and explores Memphis, the Delta, the north Mississippi hills, and New Orleans.

Tim Dorsey
Tim Dorsey grew up an hour north of Miami in a small town called Riviera Beach. A graduate of Auburn University in the mid-eighties, Tim was editor of the student newspaper The Plainsman. He left Auburn and went on to write and edit for The Alabama Journal and The Tampa Tribune. He was a journalist for over fifteen years before leaving newspapers for full-time novel writing.
Currently, he is the author of a series of six novels which follows an overachieving antihero, Serge A. Storms, through over-the-top escapades and hilariously addicting plots. Tim combines crime, murder, and mayhem in his native Sunshine state and brings it to his audience with the fire of pure Miami heat. His upcoming book, Torpedo Juice, is the much awaited seventh book in the Storms series and due to be released in February 2005.
Tim currently lives in Tampa with his wife and two daughters and writes a monthly column for Tampa Bay Illustrated called At Bay. Tim has been described by the Belfast (N. Ireland) News Letter as “one sick bunny.”