Larry D. Sweazy

Larry D. Sweazy is a highly accomplished author, born in the Anderson, Indiana area in 1960. As a child, he was greatly influenced by western television shows such as "The Rifleman," "Bonanza," and "Wild, Wild West." His interests expanded to include detective shows like "Baretta" and "Batman," as well as science fiction series like "Star Trek." These early experiences shaped Sweazy's literary tastes and significantly influenced his future writing career.

Sweazy has written an impressive number of novels, totaling nineteen, and has created five different series. These include the Trusty Dawson series, the Marjorie Trumaine Mystery series, the Sonny Burton series, the Lucas Fume Western series, and the Josiah Wolfe, Texas Ranger series. His work also includes several standalone novels, such as "Where I Can See You" and "The Devil's Bones." His diverse range of series and standalone novels demonstrates his versatility as a writer, covering various genres from thriller to western to mystery.

Sweazy has received numerous awards for his work, including the WWA Spur award for Best Short Fiction in 2005 and for Best Paperback Original in 2013. He also won the 2011 and 2012 Will Rogers Medallion Award for Western Fiction for books in the Josiah Wolfe series. He was a finalist in the Best Books of Indiana literary competition in 2010 and 2011, and won in 2011 for "The Scorpion Trail." In 2013, he received the inaugural Elmer Kelton Fiction Book of the Year for "The Coyote Tracker," presented by the Academy of Western Artists. His recent awards include the Women Writing the West Willa Award in 2019 for "See Also Proof" and the 2020 WF Peacemaker Award for Best Western for "The Return of the Wolf."

In addition to his work as a novelist, Sweazy has published over one hundred nonfiction articles and short stories, which have appeared in various publications such as "Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine," "The Adventure of the Missing Detective: And 25 Of The Year's Finest Crime And Mystery Stories!," "Boys' Life," and "Hardboiled." He is also a freelance indexer and has written over 1000 indexes since 1998. Sweazy currently resides in Indiana with his wife, Rose, where he continues to write and work on his next novel.