Alex Kava (born Sharon M. Kava on June 7, 1960, in Silver Creek, Nebraska) is an American author of psychological suspense novels.

Biography

Growing up in the country outside of Silver Creek, Nebraska, Sharon Kava fantasized about becoming a writer. Her parents, although they understood the value of education, had a tremendous work ethic. Reading was seen as frivolous unless required as schoolwork. As a teenager, Kava wrote short stories on the backs of calendars, sharing them only with her younger brother and hiding them in a shoe box under her bed. Kava earned an art scholarship to attend college. To pay living expenses, she worked in a nearby hospital's central supply department collecting and sterilizing all of the basins, instruments, and equipment from surgery, pathology, and the morgue. In 1982 she graduated

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

from

College of Saint Mary The College of Saint Mary is a private Catholic women's university in Omaha, Nebraska. Enrollment totaled 1,018 students in fall of 2014: 735 undergraduates, 243 graduate, and 40 non-degree seeking students. It offers more than 30 undergraduat ...

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in art and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. After graduating, Kava held a variety of jobs, mostly in advertising and marketing. Starting her own

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscipli ...

firm, Square One, she designed food packages and logos for national corporations, wrote brochures and newsletters, created a line of

greeting card A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthday ...

s, and directed TV and radio commercials. In 1992 she returned to her alma mater as its director of public relations. Kava quit her public relations position in the summer of 1996, wanting to dedicate more time to writing fiction and getting published. To pay the bills, she resurrected Square One, refinanced her home, maxed out her credit cards, and even took on a newspaper delivery route. Her first novel was published in 2000. At that time, she chose to use the first name "Alex" professionally to disguise her gender, though she now includes photos and other identifying information on book jackets and in publicity materials. Alex Kava is a member of

International Thriller Writers International Thriller Writers (ITW), was founded October 9, 2004, at Bouchercon XXXV, the "World Mystery and Suspense Conference", in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Six months later, some 150 authors with more than one billion books sold worldwide h ...

and the Nebraska Writers Guild. Her books have sold over 6 million copies worldwide. She is published in 34 countries and has made the bestsellers lists in the United States, Poland, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy.

Awards

*Mari Sandoz Award *2016 Florida Book Award *2016 Nebraska Book Award

Books

Alex Kava's novels include her series with FBI Profiler Maggie O'Dell, a second series with dog handler Ryder Creed (with O'Dell as an additional character), and other stand-alone novels, collaborations, and short stories. Kava is fascinated with true life crimes and includes details from various crime expert sources in her work. She was the Guest of Honor at the Mayhem in the Midlands 2008 Mystery Conference, held in Omaha, NE. Her book ONE FALSE MOVE was selected as the 2006 One Nebraska One Read feature. ;Maggie O'Dell #''Before Evil'' (2017) #''A Perfect Evil'' (2000) #''Split Second'' (2001) #''The Soul Catcher'' (2002) #''At the Stroke of Madness'' (2003) #''A Necessary Evil'' (2006) #''Exposed'' (October 2008) #''Black Friday'' (September 2009) #''Damaged'' (July 2010) #''Hot wire'' (July 2011) #''Fireproof'' (July 2012) #''Stranded'' (July 2013) #''Before Evil'' (September 2017) ;Ryder Creed #''Breaking Creed'' (January 2015) #''Silent Creed'' (July 2015) #''Reckless Creed'' (2016) #''Lost Creed (March 2018)'' #''Desperate Creed'' (2019) #''Hidden Creed'' (2020) #''Fallen Creed'' (2021) ;Standalone novels *''One False Move'' (2004) (One Book One Nebraska Reads Project for 2006) *''Whitewash'' (May 2007) ;Short stories *''A Breath of Hot Air'' (2011) *''Slices of Night: A Three-Part Novella'' (December 2011 with authors Erica Spindler &

J.T. Ellison J. T. Ellison is a ''The New York Times, New York Times'' bestselling American author. She writes Domestic Noir, domestic noir and psychological thrillers, the latter starring Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville Homicide Lt. Taylor Jackson and medi ...

) ;Short story collections *''Storm Season: One Sensational Storm, Three Terrifying Killers'' (December 2012 with authors Erica Spindler & J.T. Ellison) ;Other Stories *''Goodnight, Sweet Mother'' in ''Thriller'' (2006) (anthology with a short story by Alex Kava)

References

External links

Official website
with newsletter and contests.

at the Internet Book Lis

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kava, Alex 1960 births Living people College of Saint Mary alumni Writers from Nebraska American thriller writers People from Merrick County, Nebraska American women novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American women writers Women thriller writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers