Debra Gaskill’s latest novel, “Kissing Fitz,” received the Silver Falchion Best Suspense Award at the Killer Nashville International Writer’s Conference, Saturday, Aug. 26.
Best-selling international author Anne Perry presented the award.
According to conference founder Clay Stafford, “We believe all engaging stories have three elements: mystery, thriller, and suspense. Since 2008, the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards have recognized the best stories from the previous year told through various media utilizing the elements of mystery, thriller, and/or suspense.”
The Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award began as a way to recognize Killer Nashville attendees and has since grown worldwide into an industry-coveted prize. Eligible works were required to first be published in English between Jan. 1, 2017 and Jan. 1, 2018 and must be readily available to a North-American audience (either in print or digital format).
Judges are professional writers, book reviewers, librarians, academics, and—in specialized cases—specific industry peers.
“Focus is on quality, not popularity,” Stafford said.
Gaskill, of Enon, is the author of 10 indie novels, published through her company D’Llama Publishing.
Her first books, the Jubilant Falls series, includes Barn Burner, The Major’s Wife, Lethal Little Lies Murder on the Lunatic Fringe, and Death of A High Maintenance Blonde. The Major’s Wife was a finalist in the Writer’s Digest Self Published Book Awards.
Her second series features PI NIccolo ‘Fitz’ Fitzhugh, and includes the titles Call Fitz, Holy Fitz, Love Fitz, and the award-winning Kissing Fitz. Call Fitz was named Best Thriller by Readers at the 2015 Queen of the West Book Bash in Cincinnati. In 2016, Love Fitz also received the same award. A fifth novel, Toxic Fitz, will be released in time for Christmas.
Gaskill is also the writer of another novel, My Mother’s Ashes, under the pen name Anne Hunter Nash, which was published in 2017.
All books are available online through Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other online platforms, as well as on her website, www.debragaskillnovels.com.
Debra Gaskill was an award-winning journalist for 20 years, writing for a number of Ohio newspapers covering the cops and courts beat, and the Associated Press. She retired as the managing editor of the Washington Court House Record-Herald. During her tenure, the newspaper received two Associated Press General Excellence awards.
Gaskill is a graduate of Springfield North and a 1996 graduate of Wittenberg University. She also holds a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Antioch University Midwest. She was the 2010 Enon Citizen of the Year.
For more information, Gaskill can be contacted at 937.864.2793 or via e-mail at [email protected]
For more information on the conference, email: [email protected]
Complete list of winners can be found at https://killernashville.com/2018-killer-nashvilleawards-winners/
