Cheryl A. Head
Cheryl A. Head is an African-American author known for her crime fiction, particularly Charlie Mack Motown Mysteries series. In 2019, Head was inducted into the Saints & Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival Hall of Fame and also serves as a national board member for Bouchercon.[1]
Early life
She was born and lived in Detroit before relocating to Washington in 1991 to work in public broadcasting.[2]
Career
Head's debut novel, Long Way Home: A World War II Novel, explores the themes of race, and sexual identity, and was a finalist in the African American Literature and Historical Fiction categories of the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards.[3]
Her Charlie Mack Motown Mystery Novel series has also received critical acclaim. Bury Me When I'm Dead, the first book in the series, was a finalist in the 29th Lambda Literary Awards,[4] and Wake Me When It's Over was included on the 2017 African-American Book List of the Detroit Public Library.[5] Catch Me When I'm Falling was a finalist in the mystery category of the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.[6]
The most recent book in the Charlie Mack series, Warn Me When It's Time, won a Silver Medal from the Independent Publisher Book Awards.[7], and was an Anthony Award nominee. It narrates the story of a lesbian private investigator in Detroit, investigates the bombing of a mosque.[8]
For her Charlie Mack series, Head has been nominated twice for Lammy Awards.[3] She has also won The Alice B Readers Award in 2022.[5]
Her new novel, "Time's Undoing," narrates the story of a young reporter investigating her great-grandfather's death in 1929 with his own narration of his life leading up to his death.[9] The book is based on the life and death of Head's own grandfather, who moved from St. Petersburg to Birmingham in 1929 and was shot to death by a police officer.[10]
Bibliography
- Head, Cheryl A. (2014). Long way home : a World War II novel. North Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace. p. 302. ISBN 9781500523947.
- Head, Cheryl A. (2016). Bury me when I'm dead (1st ed.). Ann Arbor, MI: Bywater Books MI. p. 220. ISBN 9781612940670.
- Head, Cheryl A. (2018). Wake Me When It's Over. Bywater Books. ISBN 9781612941165.
- Head, Cheryl A. (2019). Catch me when I'm falling (Bywater books first ed.). Ann Arbor, Michigan: Bywater Books MI. p. 260. ISBN 9781612941455.
- Head, Cheryl A. (2019). Judge me when I'm wrong (Bywater books first ed.). Ann Arbor: Bywater Books MI. ISBN 9781612941578.
- Head, Cheryl A. (2020). Find me when I'm lost (Bywater Books first ed.). Ann Arbor, MI: Bywater Books MI. p. 250. ISBN 9781612941752.
- Head, Cheryl A. (2021). Warn me when it's time (Bywater Books first ed.). Ann Arbor: Bywater Books MI. p. 285. ISBN 9781612942070.
- Head, Cheryl A. (2023). Time's undoing : a novel. [New York, New York]: Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 9780593471821.
References
- Copenhaver, John (10 August 2021). ""Let it bother me? Not so's you'd notice." Three Queer Women of Color Writers Talk Crime Fiction". Lambda Literary.
- DiGuglielmo, Joey (25 July 2018). "QUEERY: Cheryl Head". Washington Blade.
- "The Past, Present and Future of Queer Voices in Crime Fiction: A Roundtable Discussion". CrimeReads. 24 February 2021.
- Rue, Charlene. "Diversity Is No Mystery | Collection Development: Diverse Mysteries, November 1, 2016". Library Journal.
- "Past Alice B Medal Winners - The Alice B Awards". The Alice B Readers Award.
- Warner, Brooke; Faulkner, Grant (6 March 2023). "Cheryl A. Head: How We Can Reclaim Our Stories Through Fiction". Literary Hub.
- "2022 Medalists- Regional and Ebook Categories". ippyawards.com. Independent Publisher Book Awards.
- Weinman, Sarah (25 June 2021). "Dark Side of the Soul". The New York Times.
- Bancroft, Colette. "Black history lives in the present in Cheryl Head's 'Time's Undoing'". Tampa Bay Times. Times Publishing Company.
- Codgill, Oline H. "Reviews: A 1929 racial murder looms in 'Time's Undoing'; 'The Drift' plows post-apocalyptic terrain". Sun Sentinel. Tribune Media.