DYING CRY by Margaret Mizushima Takes Gold

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 15, 2026

Contact:  Maryglenn M. Warnock  maryglenn@maryglenn.com

LOCAL WRITER WINS GOLD MEDAL IN PRESTIGIOUS BOOK AWARD

Margaret Mizushima wins the IBPA Award for her novel Dying Cry

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Local writer Margaret Mizushima has been awarded the Gold Medal in the IBPA Awards for Dying Cry.  Mizushima won top honors in the Fiction: Mystery category of the IBPA Awards.

Mizushima was presented with the award during a live awards ceremony on the evening of May 15, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency Portland at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon.

The IBPA Book Award program is the oldest, most established, and most recognized national honor in independent publishing. The IBPA Book Awards (formerly the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards) are regarded as one of the highest national honors for independent publishers since 1985. Now in its 38th year, the IBPA awards are administered by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) with help from over 170 book publishing professionals, including librarians, bookstore owners, reviewers, designers, publicity managers, and editors.

Mizushima, the author of the award-winning Timber Creek K-9 Series, claimed top honors for the tenth thrilling release in the series, Dying Cry. 

 About Dying Cry: While Deputy Mattie Walker and her family are snowshoeing in a remote area, a shattering cry pierces the air, dying slowly as it echoes off canyon walls. When further investigation reveals a suspicious death, the Timber Creek County Sheriff’s team springs into action, uncovering a trail of greed that leads to a killer who threatens Mattie’s cherished new family and tests her with the most difficult task she’s faced in her duty as a K-9 handler.

Published by New York-based Crooked Lane Books, Dying Cry is available in hardcover (ISBN: 979-8892421959, 288 pages, $29.99) and eBook ($14.99) editions. The paperback edition (ISBN: 979-8892427784, $19.99) will release on August 4, 2026.

In September 2026, Mizushima will celebrate the release of Fighting Edge, the eleventh installment of the Timber Creek K-9 Series.

 About Fighting Edge:  A routine welfare check becomes a nightmare when Deputy Mattie Walker finds a young mother dead and a hysterical toddler, possibly the only witness to a brutal crime. Soon, Mattie discovers another criminal act in Timber Creek, revealing a dangerous mix of drugs and suspected human trafficking. Meanwhile, veterinarian Cole Walker notices shady activity during routine calls at dog kennels, leading them to suspect a chilling truth: organized crime has infiltrated their rural mountain community.

Crooked Lane will release Fighting Edge in hardcover (ISBN: 979-8892426701, 336 pages, $29.99) and eBook (ISBN: 979-8892426718, $14.99) editions on September 8, 2026

Margaret Mizushima writes the award-winning and internationally published Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. She served as a past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America and was elected a Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. She is the recipient of a Colorado Authors League Award, a Next Generation Book Award, a Benjamin Franklin Book Award, and two Willa Literary Awards by Women Writing the West. Her books have been finalists for the SPUR Award from Western Writers of America, the Silver Falchion Award from Killer Nashville, and the Colorado Book Award. She and her husband recently moved from Colorado to a home in the Pacific Northwest. Find her on Facebook/AuthorMargaretMizushima, X @margmizu, Instagram @margmizu, Bluesky @margmizu.bsky.social, and her website www.margaretmizushima.com.

Members of the news media wishing to request additional information are kindly asked to contact Maryglenn M. Warnock by email: maryglenn@maryglenn.com

Members of the publishing community, including foreign rights agents, may contact Literary Agent Terrie Wolf by email: rights@akaliterary.com

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Joan Donaldson holds her copy of On An Inland Sea: Writing the Great Lakes at Pier Cove Park on the Lake Michigan shore.

ON AN INLAND SEA: A New Great Lakes Anthology from Belt Publishing – Featuring Joan Donaldson

Joan Donaldson’s essay “SAND” appears in On An Inland Sea: Writing the Great Lakes, the new anthology edited by Michael Welch and published by Belt Publishing on March 10, 2026. The collection gathers more than thirty writers who have spent their lives in conversation with the lakes, and Joan’s contribution sits among work by Kenzie Allen, Gabriel Bump, Kathleen Rooney, and others who know that water this large is a country of its own.

Joan writes from Pleasant Hill Farm in Fennville, Michigan, the organic blueberry farm she has worked with her husband John for more than four decades. The lake is part of her daily geography, and her essay carries the same quiet attention to land and labor that readers have come to expect from her Cumberland Mountain novels and her farming memoir Wedded to the Land.

On An Inland Sea: Writing the Great Lakes is available now from Belt Publishing and from booksellers everywhere.

J.D. Barker’s A Caller’s Game Heading to the Big Screen

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Big news for J.D. Barker fans! Screenwriter Jenna Mattison has been tapped to adapt Barker’s bestselling thriller A Caller’s Game as a feature film, as reported by Deadline.

Billed as Die Hard meets Talk Radio, the film centers on Jordan Briggs — a controversial satellite radio talk show host whose live broadcast is hijacked by a mysterious caller with a deadly game in mind. What begins as a ratings stunt quickly turns dangerous as secrets long buried come to the surface.

Barker will produce alongside Joel Gotler of Intellectual Property Group and Greg Pedicin of Untitled. Mattison and Barker previously collaborated on The Gimble Files, a TV series in development at UCP.

Congratulations, J.D.!

The Winter Verdict by Dan Buzzetta — Book Cover

The Winter Verdict by Dan Buzzetta: Now Available

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Dan Buzzetta’s thrilling legal series continues with The Winter Verdict, the second book in the Tom Berte series — available now from Severn River Publishing.

The Winter Verdict by Dan Buzzetta — Book Cover

Tom Berte’s bucolic new life is about to be shattered by a threat he can’t ignore. A former Department of Justice lawyer, Tom thought he’d left his past behind when he moved to Castle Ridge with his family. But when a brutal attack leaves him fighting for his life, Tom and his family find themselves at the epicenter of an unfolding conspiracy that stretches from a local ski resort to a desert compound on the other side of the world.

At the heart of the mystery is Phoenix Holdings Group, a shadowy international conglomerate with its sights set on Castle Ridge Ski Resort. When a catastrophic accident at the resort claims dozens of lives, Tom uncovers a chilling connection to his own assault and a ruthless plot that could endanger millions. With his wife and daughter’s lives hanging in the balance, Tom must navigate a treacherous path of legal intrigue, corporate espionage, and looming revenge.

Perfect for fans of John Grisham and Michael Connelly, The Winter Verdict delivers a breakneck pace, high stakes, and a protagonist you won’t soon forget.

Series: Tom Berte, Book 2
Publisher: Severn River Publishing
Publication Date: February 17, 2026
ISBN-13: 978-1648757570

Order The Winter Verdict on Amazon

Order The Winter Verdict on Barnes & Noble

Order The Winter Verdict from Severn River Publishing

Something I Keep Upstairs – Released!

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SomethingIKeepUpstairs

New Release Spotlight: Something I Keep Upstairs by J.D. Barker

Bestselling thriller maestro J.D. Barker is back with a standalone novel that’s already sending shivers through early readers. Something I Keep Upstairs (Hampton Creek Press, May 13, 2025) drops us on a windswept New Hampshire island, where two friends discover that the past never stays locked away—especially when it’s waiting in the attic.

Blending the fearless nostalgia of It with the creeping dread of Mexican Gothic, Barker delivers 448 pages of pulse-pounding suspense: ancient secrets, razor-sharp twists, and a choice that could cost everything. Within the first week, the book hit Amazon’s #1 Ghost-Thriller slot and cracked Audible’s Top 25 Hot New Releases (Horror)—proof that readers were ready to open that attic door.

Rights momentum is strong: US/UK print and audio are sold, along with Belgium, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sri Lanka. Translation, film/TV, and ancillary rights remain available.

Whether you’re a long-time Barker fan or new to his brand of mind-bending terror, this is one summer trip you won’t forget.

Ready to brave the upstairs? Grab your copy today—or, if you’re a foreign publisher seeking a can’t-miss thriller, drop us a line for rights details.

— Terrie Wolf
Literary Agent & Rights Manager, AKA Literary Management