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.
Walter Sorrells | |
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Born | 1962 (age 61–62) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
Pen name | Lynn Ambercrombie, Ruth Birmingham |
Alma mater | Haverford College |
Notable awards | Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Paperback Original |
Spouse | Patti Sorrells |
Children | a |
Website | |
www |
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]
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]
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]
Year | Title | Award | Result | Ref. |
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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 |