Craig Faris

Email: craigfaris@rjsonline.net

AOL: CraigFaris

Craig Faris is a thirteen-time award-winning author of short fiction and plays, including four Best of Issue awards in the 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003 editions of the South Carolina Writers Workshop anthology. Five of his short stories have won the South Carolina Carrie McCray Literary Award for Best Short Fiction. He has 28 years experience as a graphic designer and has won two national design awards for direct mail, numerous marketing awards, the printing industry's PICA award, and the Scholastic Arts Gold Key Award. He served on the board of directors of the South Carolina Writers Workshop from 2000 until 2005, and served as Vice-President of the southeast chapter of the Mystery Writers of America from 2000 until 2005. Craig completed his first novel in 1998, a 226,000-word unpublished manuscript, which taught him how to type and finish a major work. His second novel, a 129,000-word thriller, entitled, The Spectrum Conspiracy, is represented by Sullivan Max Literary Associates. He was recently commissioned to write a non-fiction book based on the story of Janice Clark Smith, a grandmother who murdered her seventy-year-old father after 50 years of physical and sexual abuse. Her story has appeared twice on Larry King Live and The Oprah Winfrey Show. The book’s working title is, A Special Place in Hell.

Craig lives in Rock Hill, SC with his wife, Deena, and their two children, Katie, 15, and Charlie, 12.
Published credits:

Echoes from the Ether, Best of Issue/Short Fiction, 1999 Horizons, Anthology Collection, (juried regional competition)
Dawn’s Last Gleaming, Best of Issue/Short Fiction, 2000 Horizons, Anthology Collection
Last Run to Broad River, Honorable Mention/Short Fiction, 2001 Horizons, Anthology Collection
Chaney’s Gold, Best of Issue/Short Fiction, 2002 Horizons, Anthology Collection
Through a Perilous Plight, Honorable Mention/Short Fiction, 2002 Horizons, Anthology Collection
Broken Anvil, Best of Issue/Plays, 2003 Catfish Stew, Anthology Collection (juried regional competition)
Cinders in the Attic, Honorable Mention/Short Fiction, 2003 Catfish Stew, Anthology Collection
Guatemala, Third Place/Short Fiction, 2004 Catfish Stew, Anthology Collection
A Catfish Stew, Third Place/Plays, 2004 Catfish Stew, Anthology Collection
Drowning the Agent, Article, April 2002, The Quill, Published by the South Carolina Writers Workshop
Reprinted June 2002, The Scarlett Letter, Mystery Writers of America
Reprinted Oct. 2003, The Midwest Chapter, Mystery Writers of America
The First Book, Article, June 2003, The Quill, Published by the South Carolina Writers Workshop
The Wrong Way to Get Published, Article, April 2003, The Scarlett Letter, Mystery Writers of America
Silent Assault, /Short Fiction, 2005 Catfish Stew, Anthology Collection
Big Daze, /Short Fiction, 2005 Catfish Stew, Anthology Collection
A Legacy in Secret/Short Fiction, 2006 Catfish Stew, Anthology Collection

Additional Literary Awards:

Silent Assault, /Short Fiction, 1999 Carrie McCray Literary Award for Best Short Fiction (State-wide juried competition)
Souls of the Abyss, /Short Fiction, 2000 Carrie McCray Literary Award for Best Short Fiction
A Pretty Good Year, /Short Fiction, 2000 Carrie McCray Literary Award for Best Nonfiction/Essay
Chaney’s Gold, /Short Fiction, 2001 Carrie McCray Literary Award for Best Short Fiction
House of Ruth, /Short Fiction, 2005 Carrie McCray Literary Award for Best Short Fiction

Interests: Writing, Graphic Design, Advertising & Marketing, Woodworking, Play with my kids.

Published writer: Yes

Freelance: No