Author's Note: What you are about to delve into is, as advertised, my Biography--that bit of braggadocio which I keep on hand (or on disk) to send off to newspaper reviewers and reporters, TV interviewers, workshop organizers, and other nosy parkers, usually with the injunction to selectively utilize portions of the document as they see fit, an exhortation I added after suffering through a speaking-engagement introduction in which the emcee read the whole @!$% thing!
William James Reynolds was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and was raised there and in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He graduated from Creighton University in Omaha in 1979 with a degree in Political Science.In 1979 Reynolds joined TWA Ambassador, the international magazine for Trans World Airlines, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He remained with the magazine for more than five years, ultimately becoming its Managing Editor. During this time, he received three consecutive American Bar Association Gavel Award Certificates of Merit for editorial excellence.
Reynolds married Peggy Blankenfeld, an artist and art teacher, in 1981. They are the parents of a daughter, Meredith, born in 1990, and a son, Will, born in 1994.
In 1984 Reynolds's first novel, THE NEBRASKA QUOTIENT, was published by St. Martin's Press. It was nominated for a Shamus Award by the Private Eye Writers of America. That year the Reynoldses returned to Sioux Falls, where they reside today and where for two years Reynolds was the vice president and creative director of an advertising agency before turning to writing full-time.
Reynolds's second novel, MOVING TARGETS (St. Martin's, 1986), was optioned for a motion picture by a Beverly Hills production company. His subsequent novels, MONEY TROUBLE (1988), THINGS INVISIBLE (1989), and THE NAKED EYE (1990), were published by G.P. Putnam's Sons; DRIVE-BY (1995) was published by Ex Machina. His novels have been published in British, West German, Australian, and French editions, as well as in U.S. paperback editions by Ballantine Books. THE NAKED EYE was a Featured Selection of Book-of-the-Month Club's Mysterious Book Club.
In addition to novels, Reynolds has written several short-stories for Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and original-mystery anthologies, as well as scores of nonfiction articles for a variety of magazines, including Better Homes and Gardens, Travel & Leisure, Corporate Report, and Writer's Digest. He also is the author of three nonfictions books: SOUTH DAKOTA: THE FACE OF THE FUTURE (Cherbo Publishing Group: 1999); CENTERED ON CARING (Ex Machina: 1997); and SIOUX FALLS: THE CITY AND THE PEOPLE (American and World Geographic: 1994).
A frequent contributor to writing workshops and seminars, Reynolds also has been a part-time instructor at Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls, teaching in both the Graphic Communications and Business departments. Since 2001, Reynolds has been Communications Secretary and Publications Editor for the South Dakota Synod, ELCA.
In 1985 Reynolds received the Aviation/Space Writers Association Journalism award for a series of articles about the space shuttle. He was named 1987 Author of the Year by the South Dakota Council of Teachers of English. In 1988 the City of Omaha presented him the Key to the City. Reynolds was co-host of the First Annual Mystery and Suspense Convention (1990), at which he was commissioned an Admiral of the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska. Reynolds frequently serves as a keynote speaker at civic and professional gatherings, is a member of the Authors Guild and a member and past regional director of the Mystery Writers of America, and is profiled in Contemporary Authors, Who's Who In Writers, Editors & Poets, Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers, The International Authors & Writers Who's Who and Who's Who in the Midwest.
Who's Who in Entertainment, 1997
Who's Who in the Midwest, 1994
Key to the City of Omaha, 1988
Author of the Year, South Dakota Council of Teachers of English, 1987
Addy Awards, South Dakota Advertising Federation: Nearly two dozen awards, 1986, 87, 88, and 89
Journalism Award, Aviation/Space Writers Association, 1985
Shamus Award Nomination, Best First Novel, Private Eye Writers of America, 1984
American Bar Association Gavel Award Certificates of Merit, 1981, 1982, and 1983