Michael Koryta (pronounced ) (born September 20, 1982) is an American

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

of contemporary crime and

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

. His novels have appeared on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list, and have won or been nominated for prizes and awards such as the ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize, the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards hon ...

, the

Shamus Award The Shamus Award is awarded by the Private Eye Writers of America (PWA) for the best detective fiction ( P. I. = Private investigator) genre novels and short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a sing ...

, the Barry Award, the

Quill Award The Quill Award was an American literary award that ran for three years, from 2005 to 2007. It was a "consumer-driven award created to inspire reading while promoting literacy". The Quills Foundation, the organization behind the award, was supp ...

, and the

International Thriller Writers Awards The International Thriller Writers Awards are awarded by International Thriller Writers International Thriller Writers (ITW), was founded October 9, 2004, at Bouchercon XXXV, the "World Mystery and Suspense Conference", in Toronto, Ontario, Can ...

. In addition to winning the ''Los Angeles Times'' Book Prize, his novel ''Envy the Night'' was selected as a '' Reader's Digest Condensed Book''. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages. A former

private investigator A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a wikt:private eye, private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. ...

and

newspaper reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, Koryta graduated from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

in 2006 with a bachelor of arts in criminal justice. In 2008, Koryta was honored with the Outstanding Young Alumni Award by Indiana University.

Career

Michael Koryta began writing at a very early age. As an eight-year-old boy, he wrote to his favorite writers, and by the age of sixteen he had decided he wanted to become a crime novelist. His novel ''Tonight I Said Goodbye'' won the St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America Best First Novel prize. Many of Koryta's novels have been

optioned In the film industry, an option agreement is a contract that "rents" the rights to a source material to a potential film producer. It grants the film producer the exclusive option to purchase rights to the source material if they live up to the te ...

for potential film or television production. The first to make it to the screen is Taylor Sheridan's adaptation of ''

Those Who Wish Me Dead ''Those Who Wish Me Dead'' is a 2021 American action thriller film directed by Taylor Sheridan with a screenplay by Michael Koryta, Charles Leavitt, and Sheridan, based on Those Who Wish Me Dead (novel), Koryta's novel of the same name. The film ...

''.

Personal life

He currently lives in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

, and

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in Monroe County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. The population was 79,168 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Indiana, seventh-most populous city in Indiana and ...

. Koryta was born and raised in Bloomington, IN. He graduated from Bloomington High School North.

Bibliography

The Lincoln Perry series

*''Tonight I Said Goodbye'' (2004) *''Sorrow's Anthem'' (2006) *''A Welcome Grave'' (2007) *''The Silent Hour'' (2009)

The Markus Novak series

*''Last Words'' (2015) *''Rise the Dark'' (2016)

Other novels

*''Envy the Night'' (2008) *''So Cold the River'' (2010) *''The Cypress House'' (2011) *''The Ridge'' (2011) *''The Prophet'' (2012) *''

'' (2014) *''How It Happened'' (2018) *''If She Wakes'' (2019) *''The Chill'' (2020) (writing as Scott Carson) *''Never Far Away'' (2021) *''Where They Wait'' (2021) (writing as Scott Carson) *''An Honest Man (2023)'' *''Lost Man's Lane'' (2024) (writing as Scott Carson)

References

External links

Fox Acquires ''Those Who Wish Me Dead'' Film RightsMichael Koryta's Official Web Site
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Koryta, Michael 1982 births Living people 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American male writers American crime writers Indiana University Bloomington alumni American male novelists Novelists from Indiana Novelists from Florida Barry Award winners Writers of books about writing fiction Writers from Bloomington, Indiana Writers from St. Petersburg, Florida