![]() | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
Elizabeth Sims | |
---|---|
![]() Sims in 2025 | |
Born | Wyandotte, Michigan, U.S. | September 30, 1957
Occupation | Writer and editor |
Education | Michigan State University Wayne State University |
Genre | Nonfiction, fiction |
Subject | Mystery, crime |
Notable awards | Florida Book Award Golden Crown Literary Society Award Lambda Literary Award Tompkins Award for Graduate Fiction |
Spouse | Marcia Burrows |
Website | |
www | |
![]() |
Elizabeth Sims (born September 30, 1957) is an American writer, journalist, and contributing editor at Writer's Digest magazine. She is a former correspondent for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and author of two series of crime novels, including her Rita Farmer Mystery Series, originally published by St. Martin's Press Minotaur and Lillian Byrd Crime Series, originally published by Alyson Books.
Elizabeth Sims was born on September 30, 1957, in Wyandotte, Michigan. She was raised in Detroit and attended Michigan State University and Wayne State University, graduating with degrees in English and composition theory. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, Novelists, Inc., and American Mensa. [1] [2]
In 1992, Sims began a two-year term on the editorial board of Moving Out literary journal, during which she submitted the short story "Beautiful" in 1987, and "Cleva" in 1989. In 2006, she began writing features for Writer's Digest magazine. [1] She became a contributing editor in 2009, specializing in the art and craft of fiction. [3] She worked as a freelance correspondent for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in 2011. [4] Sims taught creative writing at Sarasota’s Ringling College of Art and Design in 2017 and 2018. [5]
In May 2008, she launched the Rita Farmer Mystery Series with The Actress. The main character, Rita Farmer, is a single mother and struggling Hollywood actress who is recruited to coach the defendant in a murder trial.
The Extra, second in the Rita Farmer Mystery Series was published by St. Martin's Press Minotaur in June 2009.
Sims moves the action from Los Angeles to Washington's Olympic Peninsula in On Location, published by Minotaur in August 2010. [3]
The Lillian Byrd Crime Series is a six-novel series, originally published by Alyson Books (New York), beginning with Holy Hell in 2002. The series focuses on lesbian culture, mystery, and love. The second book in the series, Damn Straight, won a 2003 Lambda Literary Award. [2] Lucky Stiff and Easy Street followed in 2004 and 2005. The main character, Lillian Byrd, is a reporter turned sleuth whose quest for true love takes her into dangerous places. The series, set mostly in the Detroit, Michigan area, is noted for its off-kilter characters and wry humor.[ citation needed ] The fifth novel in the series, Left Field, was published in 2014 by Spruce Park Press. It received a Golden Crown Literary Society award in 2015. The sixth in the series, Tight Race, was published in 2022 by Spruce Park Press.
In 2017, Sims published Crimes in a Second Language, a departure from her series work. The novel, set in contemporary Los Angeles, features a white retired schoolteacher who befriends a young Mexican-American housecleaner. In 2018 Crimes in a Second Language was awarded the silver medal in the Florida Book Award general fiction category.
In addition to her writing, Sims lectures and presents workshops at writers' conferences and retreats around North America. [3]