Awards - Writer of the Year
THE 2009 WRITER OF THE YEAR: MARIO ACEVEDO
After collecting a pile of rejection letters and abandoning his childhood dream of owning a machine gun in favor of fangy vampire detective stories, Mario Acevedo has found real success. He is the author of the Felix Gomez vampire-detective series published by HarperCollins, which includes The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, X-rated Blood Suckers, The Undead Kama Sutra, and his most recent, Jailbait Zombie.
Mario attributes his writing success to the support and advice provided by RMFW. A long-time member, he has served in various positions within RMFW, including President, and is always ready to make margaritas at the Colorado Gold Conference. Mario is currently working on translating his books into jive and Esperanto.
Congratulations, Mario!
2010 WRITER OF THE YEAR NOMINEES
KAY BERGSTROM - Kay Bergstrom, writing as Cassie Miles, has sold over 60 novels of romance and suspense involving jewel heists, avenging angels, Elvis sightings, serial killers and a cross-dressing cake baker named Bernice. Most of her books are with Harlequin Intrigue, but she’s also published with Harlequin Temptation and American, Berkley , Avon , Crown, Zebra, Kismet, Audio Entertainment and Shades of Love video.Her teaching experience in creative writing ranges from college level classes to fifth grade show-and-tell.Awards include twice being honored as Rocky Mountain Fiction Writer’s Writer of the Year.Kay has two daughters. One is studying to be a paleoanthropologist and working summers in Tanzania. The other is an editor at Harper-Collins. Kay’s grandson, Finn, is two years old and brilliant. Earlier this year, her book, INDESTRUCTIBLE, was a four and a half star Top Pick for Romantic Times. Up-coming Harlequin Intrigues are: LOCK, STOCK AND SECRET BABY (Aug 2010) and HOOK, LINE AND SHOTGUN BRIDE (Sep 2010).
PAMELA NOWAK - Pamela Nowak has been a member of RMFW since 1994. She has a B.A. in history and has taught high school, college, and prison classes; worked as a historic preservation consultant; served as preservation specialist for the Fort Yuma National Historic Landmark; and ran a homeless shelter for 13 years. Her first historic romance, Chances, was released in 2008 and her second novel, Choices, was published in 2009. The books garnered favorable/starred reviews from Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Romantic Times, Romance Reviews Today, and The Historical Novels Review. Chances was a Denver best-seller and was named one of the "Top Ten Romance Novels of 2008" by Booklist. It also received the 2009 HOLT Medallion for Best First Book and was a 2009 WILLA Finalist in Historic Fiction. Pam has served regularly as a judge for the Colorado Gold contest, taught conference workshops, and chaired the editor/agent workshops for conference. She writes a bi-monthly article, "The Writing Life", for the RMFW Writer and is in her second year as Conference Chair. Her third novel, Changes, will be released in 2011. A fourth book, set in 1905 Denver, is in progress.
LAURA REEVE - Laura began writing SF and Fantasy in the fifth grade, but it took her thirty years to learn to finish her novels. Along the way, she spent nine years as a US Air Force officer and her civilian jobs ranged from Research Chemist to Software Development Lead. In 2007, her dream of becoming a "paperback writer" came true, with a 3-book contract from Roc for the Major Ariane Kedros Novels. Peacekeeper debuted in 2008, Vigilante arrived in 2009, and Pathfinder will be published in July 2010. Laura lives in Monument, Colorado, where she writes fantastical worlds, produces the RMFW Published Author Liaison mailer, and struggles with high-altitude xeriscape gardening (unfortunately, the climate is winning).
WRITER OF THE YEAR PAST HONOREES
2008 - Jeanne C Stein
2007 - C.J. Box
2006 - Carol Berg
2005 - Cindi Myers
2004 - Robin D Owens
2003 - Kay Bergstrom
2002 - Christine Goff
2001 - Francine Mathews
2000 - Sharon Mignerey
1999 - Maggie Osborne
1998 - Leslie O'Kane and Patricia Werner
1997 - Anne Holmberg
1996 - Rick Hanson
1995 - Christine T Jorgensen
1994 - Leona (Lee) Karr
1992 - Cheryl McGonigle
1991 - Diane Mott Davidson
1990 - Barbara J. Blackman
1989 - Jasmine Cresswell
1987 - Jasmine Cresswell
1986 - Kay Bergstrom
1985 - Maggie Osborne
