Mark Coggins facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mark Coggins
|
|
|---|---|
Robert Crais and Mark Coggins
|
|
| Born | 1957 (age 67–68) New Mexico, United States |
| Occupation | Author, photographer |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Education | Stanford University (MS) |
| Genre | crime fiction |
| Notable works | The Immortal Game The Big Wake-Up |
| Notable awards | Independent Publisher Book Awards 2010 The Big Wake-Up |
Mark Coggins, born in 1957, is an American author. He is a member of the Choctaw Nation. He is well-known for writing a series of books. These books feature a detective character named August Riordan. Mark Coggins is also a talented photographer.
Contents
About Mark Coggins
Mark Coggins was born in New Mexico in 1957. He went to Stanford University. There, he studied International Relations. He also earned a master's degree in Computer Science. He was chosen to join the Phi Beta Kappa Society. This is a very respected academic honor society.
How He Started Writing
While at Stanford, Mark Coggins took writing classes. His teachers included famous authors like Tobias Wolff and Ron Hansen. In one of Hansen's classes, he wrote his first short story. This story featured his detective character, August Riordan. It was published in 1986 in a magazine called The New Black Mask. This magazine was a new version of the old Black Mask magazine. That original magazine helped start the careers of famous detective writers like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.
Mark Coggins and Technology
Mark Coggins has worked in Silicon Valley. This is a famous area in California known for technology companies. He worked for companies like Hewlett Packard and Netscape. Even though his detective character, August Riordan, doesn't really like technology, Coggins' books often explore themes about high-tech and the culture of Silicon Valley.
Mark Coggins' Books
Mark Coggins has written many exciting books. Most of them are crime stories. They often feature his detective, August Riordan.
Famous Novels
His first book was The Immortal Game. This story was about someone stealing special chess software. This software was like the one used by Deep Blue, a computer that played chess. The book was nominated for two awards: the Shamus Award and the Barry Award. These awards are given to great crime novels.
Another book, Runoff, was about a made-up election in San Francisco. In the story, people hacked into the city's electronic voting machines. This changed the election results.
The Big Wake-Up imagined a different history for Eva Perón. She was a very famous first lady from Argentina. This book won a Gold Medal in the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller category. This award came from the Independent Publisher Book Awards in 2010.
Other Works
Mark Coggins also wrote Prom Night and Other Man-made Disasters. This book was a bit different from his detective stories. It is a collection of funny essays. These essays describe moments from his own life. They include stories from his school days, his career, and his relationships. The book shares funny memories from his childhood in Phoenix, Arizona. One story, "Prom Night," tells how a shy Mark Coggins ended up taking the homecoming queen to his senior prom.
List of Works
Novels
- The Immortal Game (1999). ISBN: 978-0918395177
- Vulture Capital (2002). ISBN: 978-0918395214
- Candy From Strangers (2006). ISBN: 978-1932557169
- Runoff (2007). ISBN: 978-1932557534
- The Big Wake-Up (2009). ISBN: 978-1606480557
- No Hard Feelings (2015). ISBN: 978-1937495909
- The Dead Beat Scroll (2019). ISBN: 978-1643960319
- Geisha Confidential (2024). ISBN: 978-1643963570
Non-fiction
- Prom Night and Other Man-made Disasters (2012). ISBN: 978-0982948453
Photography Books
- Street Stories (2021). ISBN: 978-0918395375
