Clyde W Burleson

It's a great pleasure to add my personal site to MWA's listing of active members. I've been an active member of MWA for almost nine years, now, and look forward to many happy years to come. While I don't always agree with the organization's policies, there is no arguing that MWA is the the premier American meeting place for the country's finest mystery and thriller authors, and I'm damned proud to be included.

I'm a retired forensic psychologist. I worked in the North Carolina court system until 2002, when I reached a state I like to refer to as 'terminal burnout'. Set fire to a Frito, and you'll see how I looked. I retired from active practice to take a position at a local college, where I teach undergraduate psychology.

I have nine books currently in print. Three of them (JUICY WATUSI; WET DEBT; and CORDITE WINE) have been nominated for the Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award. I am also the only author ever to win two Short Mystery Fiction Society Derringer Awards in the same year (2008, for PAPER WALLS/GLASS HOUSES {The Back Alley Webzine, written as Eric Shane}, and THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO GORDON BLACK {The Thrilling Detective Website}). SIX MILE CREEK, the first title in my new series featuring small-town North Carolina police chief Judd Wheeler, is scheduled to be released in March 2010 from Five Star Mysteries.

I'm also the publisher and editor of The Back Alley Webzine, an online quarterly featuring hardboiled and noir stories for a new century. We've had the very great pleasure to include authors who have been nominated for - or have won - the Edgar, Shamus, Derringer, Anthony, and other awards. My goal is to help keep the hardboiled and noir genre alive and kicking as long as possible, until the market comes back around to it.

I'm a recent empty-nester, as both my kids are now in college. I live in a small no-cop town in North Carolina with my lovely (and patient) spouse Elaine, and our ever-changing family of cats.