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William Bernhardt is an American thriller/
mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...
/
suspense Suspense is a state of mental uncertainty, anxiety, being undecided, or being doubtful. In a dramatic work, suspense is the anticipation of the outcome of a plot or of the solution to an uncertainty, puzzle, or mystery, particularly as it aff ...
fiction author best known for his "Ben Kincaid" series of book


Awards

Bernhardt has sold more than 10 million books in the United States and around the world. He has been nominated for the Oklahoma Book Award 17 times in three categories (Fiction, Poetry, and Young Adult) and has won twice, in 1995 and 1999. In 1998 he received the Southern Writers Guild's Gold Medal Award. In 2000, he was honored with the H. Louise Cobb Distinguished Author Award, given "in recognition of an outstanding body of work that has profoundly influenced the way in which we understand ourselves and American society at large." That same year, he was presented with a Career Achievement Award at the 2000 Booklovers Convention in Houston. He has been inducted into the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame. In 2009, he received the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award from the
University of Scranton The University of Scranton is a private Jesuit university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1888 by William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. In 1938, the college was elevated to university status and took t ...
, making him the only author to receive both the Davis and the Cobb Distinguished Author awards. His poetry has received two Pushcart Prize nominations and an Oklahoma Book Award nomination. He has also received a Certificate of Recognition from the American Academy of American Poets.


Career

Bernhardt is best known for his series of novels featuring idealistic attorney Ben Kincaid. ''Library Journal'' called him the "master of the courtroom drama." In 2010 he said that he was going to put the series on hiatus to focus on other projects, but in early 2017, he announced that he was bringing the character back in a novel to be titled, ''Justice Returns.'' He has written several novels outside the series, including the nonfiction ''Nemesis: The Final Case of Eliot Ness.'' Bernhardt spent over two years researching that book, which provides a compelling solution to the unsolved mystery of the identity of The Mad Butcher of Cleveland, generally considered America's first true serial killer. His other series character, Susan Pulaski, appears in the novels ''Dark Eye'' and ''Strip Search.'' Bernhardt founded the Red Sneaker Writing Center, which hosts an annual writing workshop each year in Oklahoma and small-group seminars throughout the country. He provides a free Red Sneaker e-newsletter and a free Red Sneaker phone app which he updates regularly with a blog on writing and the publishing business. Successfully published graduates of Bernhardt's writing seminars include New York Times-bestselling author
Aprilynne Pike Aprilynne Pike is an internationally best-selling American author best known for her debut novel ''Wings'', which was released in English on May 5, 2009. Biography Aprilynne Pike was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, and grew up in Phoenix, Arizon ...
, UK national bestseller Sarah Rees Brennan, Oklahoma Book Award winner Sheldon Russell, Oklahoma Book Award nominee Audrey Streetman, Greg Field, Michael W. Hinkle, Callie Hutton, Lela Davidson, Rick Stiller, Angela Christina Archer, Tamara Grantham, Bill Fernandez, Kenneth Andrus, Paul Dalzell, John Biggs, Bill Wetterman, Sabrina A Fish, Lara Wells, Burke Holbrook, Rick Ludwig, and more than a dozen other published writers. He has also written the nonfiction Red Sneaker series on writing. In addition to his work as a writer and teacher, Bernhardt and his wife published books and a literary journal as the Balkan Press (formerly HAWK Publishing). He has published books by acclaimed authors such as Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist
N. Scott Momaday Navarre Scott Momaday (born February 27, 1934) is a Kiowa novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. His novel ''House Made of Dawn'' was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969, and is considered the first major work of the Native ...
, Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Janis Ian, and PBS newsman
Jim Lehrer James Charles Lehrer (; May 19, 1934 – January 23, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. Lehrer was the executive editor and a news anchor for the ''PBS NewsHour'' on PBS and was known for his role as a deb ...
. The primary focus of the company, however, has been to provide a publishing venue for the unpublished. Bernhardt published the first novel by P.C. Cast, now known for her highly successful ''House of Night'' series of young adult novels. Bernhardt is on the Board of Directors for the Writers Colony at Dairy Hollow in
Eureka Springs, Arkansas Eureka Springs is a city in Carroll County, Arkansas, United States, and one of two county seats for the county. It is located in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas, near the border with Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the city populati ...
. A former trial attorney at Hall Estill, Bernhardt has received several awards for his pro bono work and public service. In 1994, Barrister Magazine named him one of the top 25 young lawyers in America. He lives in
Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
with his wife, Lara Bernhardt, the novelist (The Wantland Files) and audiobook narrator, and their children. On October 10, 2013, Bernhardt became a Jeopardy! champion, fulfilling a lifelong dream of appearing on that quiz show.


Bibliography

"Ben Kincaid" Series # ''Primary Justice'' (1991) # ''Blind Justice'' (1992) # ''Deadly Justice'' (1993) # ''Perfect Justice'' (1994) # ''Cruel Justice'' (1996) # ''Naked Justice'' (1997) # ''Extreme Justice'' (1998) # ''Dark Justice'' (1999) # ''Silent Justice'' (2000) # ''Murder One'' (2001) # ''Criminal Intent'' (2002) # ''Death Row'' (2003) # ''Hate Crime'' (2004) # ''Capitol Murder'' (2006) # ''Capitol Threat'' (2007) # ''Capitol Conspiracy'' (2008) # ''Capitol Offense'' (2009) # ''Capitol Betrayal'' (2010) # Justice Returns (2017) Other Books * ''The Code of Buddyhood'' (1992) * ''Double Jeopardy'' (1995) * ''The Midnight Before Christmas'' (1998) * ''Final Round'' (2001) * ''Bad Faith'' (2002) * ''Dark Eye'' (2005) * ''Strip Search'' (2007) * ''Nemesis: The Final Case of Eliot Ness'' (2009) * Story Structure: The Key to Successful Fiction (2010) * Creating Character: Bringing Your Story to Life (2011) * Perfecting Plot: Charting the Hero's Journey (2012) * The White Bird (poetry) (2013) * Dynamic Dialogue: Letting Your Story Speak (2014) * Sizzling Style: Every Word Matters (2014) * The Black Sentry (young adult) (2014) * Equal Justice: The Courage of Ada Lois Sipuel (biography for young readers) (2014) * Shine (young adult) (2015) * The Game Master (2015) * The Ocean's Edge (poetry) (2016) * Challengers of the Dust (2016)


External links


Official Website

Fantastic Fiction biography


(Internet Archive version)

Dottie Witter,
Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...
Library ''Perspectives'' newsletter, Issue 28, Spring 2001
Modern Signed Books BlogTalkRadio Interview with Rodger Nichols February 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernhardt, William 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American mystery novelists Living people 1960 births Writers from Tulsa, Oklahoma 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Oklahoma Writers from Oklahoma Poets from Oklahoma