Carson City author Michael K. Falciani wins inaugural ACES High Award for literature
Submitted by Carson Now Reader on Sat, 06/15/2024 - 5:27am
We have a winner! Dragon Crown Books is pleased to announce that Carson City author Michael K. Falciani is the winner of the inaugural ACES High Award for outstanding contribution to The ACES Anthology 2023.
Dragon Crown Books publisher and author Stephen H. Provost presented the award to Falciani on June 13 in front of the Nevada Capitol Building.
Michael K. Falciani is the pen name of local elementary school teacher Kinkade DeJoseph. Already an award-winning author, his novel The Raven and the Crow: The Gray Throne was named Best Fantasy Novel at the 2023 Imaginarium Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. A second novel, The Dwarves of Rahm: Omens of War, was named Best Steampunk Novel at the same event.
Falciani’s contribution to the ACES Anthology was a fantasy short story titled “Shadow’s Edge.” He was one of 25 authors who contributed short stories or poetry to the anthology, which was open to authors from across Northern Nevada and published by Carson City-based Dragon Crown Books. Only short stories contained in the volume were eligible for the award.
“Shadow’s Edge” was selected by a panel of five judges, and the voting was extremely close. In fact, each of the five judges selected a different first-place story. Entries were judged on a points system, with 3 points being awarded for first place, 2 for second, and 1 for third. Entries included stories from a variety of genres, including fantasy, horror, science fiction, romance, mystery, and literary works.
Other stories receiving first-place votes were “Slipping Through the Devil’s Gate” by L.F. Falconer, “The Escape” by Kelli Heitstumen-Tomko, “Of Camels and Faeries” by Angela Laverghetta, and “Ice Cream on Tuesday” by Laura Magee. Falciani received 6 points, L.F. Falconer received 5, and Ken Sutherland (whose story “Swoop” received one second- and two third-place votes) received 4. In all, 10 different authors received at least one vote.
Stephen H. Provost, publisher of the collection, and Sharon Marie Provost, chief operating officer of Dragon Crown Books, were ineligible for the award and together accounted for one of the five judging submissions. Stephen H. Provost is the author of more than 50 books and an editor with more than 30 years of experience at daily newspapers. Sharon Marie Provost is the author of Shadow’s Gate and co-author of Christmas Nightmare’s Eve and All Hallows’ Nightmare’s Eve.
The other four judges were:
• Reno novelist and Emmy Award-winning retired anchorman Bill Brown, whose books include The Alien, The Gate, Lightning, and Blood Mountain.
• Language expert and author C.S. Perryess from the Central California coast, whose Wordmonger blog may be found at perryess.com.
• Veteran horror author Stephen Mark Rainey of Virginia, former publisher of Deathrealm Magazine and the author of numerous books, including Blue Devil Island, Fugue Devil: Resurgence, and several entries in the Elizabeth Massey’s Ameri-Scares series.
• Northern Nevada author Jacci Turner, who runs the Northern Nevada Writers group and whose works include Tangled People and The Tree Singer. She is the author of 12 books for middle-grade/young adult readers and two for adults.
Dragon Crown Books plans to publish a second ACES Anthology in 2024, with submissions due by September 30. The anthology is open to Northern Nevada authors only, writing in any genre. For details or to submit a story, please email Sharon Marie Provost at sharon.dragoncrown@gmail.com. For more books by these and other Northern Nevada authors, visit acesofnorthernnevada.com and follow ACES on Facebook.
