Alma Katsu


Alma Katsu is an American writer of adult fiction. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages, and have been published in the United Kingdom, Brazil, Spain, and Italy.
Katsu has also had a 29-year career in the NSA and CIA working in a number of positions dealing with intelligence and foreign policy, with an emphasis on technology issues. She previously worked as a senior policy analyst for the RAND Corporation.

Biography

Katsu was born in Fairbanks, Alaska, the daughter of an American-born father and a Japanese-born mother. She spent the majority of her youth living near Concord, Massachusetts, to which she attributes her interest in the early American history featured in her novels. She attended Brandeis University, where she studied with novelist John Irving and children's book author Margaret Rey, and the Johns Hopkins University. She is also an alumna of the Squaw Valley writers workshops.
She was an analyst for the National Security Agency.

Career

Katsu's writing has received praise for its quality and ability to create authentic and realistic settings. She published her first novel, The Taker, in 2011 through Gallery Books. It received praise from outlets such as Booklist and The Washington Post and was recognized as one of the ten best debut novels of the year by the American Library Association.
Described as a literary take on the Faustian bargain, The Taker Trilogy tells the story of a young woman who has been given eternal life but comes to see this condition as a punishment for evil acts she perpetrated in life and is now condemned to revisit until the end of time.

Personal life

She lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband, musician Bruce Katsu.

Standalone novels

  • ''The Taker'' trilogy

  3. Novellas

''Lyndsey Duncan'' novels

Chapbooks

  • Short stories

  • "The Marriage Price", 2012
  • "Pipefitter's Union", in anthology Enhanced Gravity, Paycock Press
  • "Make your own way", in anthology ''The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand''

    Awards

The Taker was named one of the ten best debut novels of 2011 by Booklist magazine, the publication of the American Library Association. The second novel, The Reckoning, was nominated for several year-end awards including Goodreads Choice Award for Best Paranormal Fantasy and Romantic Times Book Reviews Reviewers Choice Award for Best Paranormal Romance.
The Deep was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Novel and a finalist for the Locus Award for Best Horror Novel.
YearTitleAwardCategoryPlaceRef.
2012The ReckoningGoodreads Choice AwardsParanormal Fantasy
2012The ReckoningRomantic Times Reviewers Choice AwardParanormal Romance
2018The HungerBram Stoker AwardNovel
2018The HungerGoodreads Choice AwardsHorror
2019The HungerLocus AwardHorror Novel
2020The DeepBram Stoker AwardNovel
2021The DeepLocus AwardHorror Novel
2021The DeepVirginia Literary AwardsFiction
2022The FervorBram Stoker AwardNovel
2022The FervorGoodreads Choice AwardsHorror
2022The WehrwolfBram Stoker AwardLong FictionWon
2022The WehrwolfShirley Jackson AwardNovella
2023The FervorInternational Thriller Writers AwardsHardcover NovelNomitated
2023The FervorLocus AwardHorror Novel