Walter Sorrells

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Walter Sorrells
Born1962 (age 61–62)
Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Pen nameLynn Ambercrombie, Ruth Birmingham
Alma materHaverford College
Notable awardsEdgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original
SpousePatti Sorrells
Childrena
Website
www.waltersorrells.com

Walter Sorrells is an American author of mystery and suspense novels for adults and teens, who also writes under the pseudonyms Lynn Abercrombie and Ruth Birmingham. He also hand-forges swords and knives in the Japanese style.

Sorrells has written many novels, including Fake I.D., named one of the ten Best Mysteries by Booklist magazine in 2005 and several novels based-on the television series Flight 29 Down.

His novel Fulton County Blues, as Ruth Birmingham, won the 2000 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original.[1]

Personal life[edit]

Sorrells was born in 1962 in Nashville, Tennessee.[2] He graduated from Haverford College in 1985,[3][4] where he majored in history.[2]

He is married to Patti Sorrells, and the couple have a son, Jake.[5] They live in Atlanta.[5]

Sorrells holds a third-degree black belt in Japanese Shito-ryu karate and has studied Brazilian jiujitsu, aikido, and Tai Chi.[3] He has also studied Okinawan kobudō, the weapon systems of Okinawan martial arts, as well as the Japanese sword arts of Iaido and Shinkendo.[3]

Additionally, Sorrells is a competitive pistol shooter.[4]

Career[edit]

Sorrells began writing novels in his mid-twenties[4] and published his first novel, Power of Attorney, in 1994.

Aside from writing, Sorrells handcrafts elaborate knives and swords.[4] He began "making blades as research for a character: “The novel died, but the pursuit lived,” he stated.[4]

Awards and honors[edit]

Year Title Award Result Ref.
1995 Power of Attorney Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original Finalist [6]
1999 Atlanta Graves Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original Finalist [7]
2000 Fulton County Blues Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original Winner [1][4]
2000 Fulton County Blues Shamus Award for Best Original PI Paperback Nominee

Publications[edit]

Cold Case Thriller series (as Lynn Abercrombie)[edit]

  • The Body Box (2005)
  • Blind Fear (2006)

Flight 29 Down series (as Walter Sorrells)[edit]

Main article: Flight 29 Down

Pendragon: Before the War series (as Walter Sorrells)[edit]

  • The Travelers: Book Two (2009)
  • The Travelers: Book Three, with D. J. MacHale (2009)

Hunted series (as Walter Sorrells)[edit]

  • Fake ID (2005)
  • Club Dread (2006)
  • Whiteout (2009)

Standalone novels (as Walter Sorrells)[edit]

  • Power of Attorney (1994)
  • Cry for Justice (1996)
  • Will to Murder (1996)
  • The Silent Room (2006)
  • First Shot (2007)
  • Erratum (2008)

Sunny Childs Mystery series (as Ruth Birmingham[edit]

  • Atlanta Graves (1998)
  • Fulton County Blues (1999)
  • Sweet Georgia (2000)
  • Blue Plate Special (2001)
  • Cold Trail (2002)
  • Feet of Clay (2006)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "2000 Edgar Award Winners Announced". Writers Write. 2000-05-05. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  2. ^ a b "Walter Sorrells". CRIME & MYSTERY FICTION | MISDAADROMANS. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  3. ^ a b c "Forging Swords and Stories: Walter Sorrells '85". Haverford College. 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Glaser, Brian (September 2016). "Forging Swords and Stories: Walter Sorrells '85". Haverford: The Magazine of Haverford College. p. 31. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  5. ^ a b "Bio". Edgar Award-winner Walter Sorrel. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  6. ^ "1995 Edgar Allan Poe Award - Paperback Original Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-07-03. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
  7. ^ "1999 Edgar Allan Poe Award - Paperback Original Winner and Nominees". Awards Archive. 2020-07-03. Retrieved 2022-09-17.
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