STEVE BURT appeared on readers' radar in 2003 when his unknown collection, Even Odder, became a surprise Nominee/finalist for the coveted Bram Stoker Award, horror's top prize, in the Young Readers category (in a field of five that included Neil Gaiman and J.K. Rowling, who eventually won for Harry Potter). The next year (2004) Steve had another finalist with Oddest Yet (in a field of four that included Clive Barker and Dean Koontz)--which resulted in an unprecedented tie between Steve and Clive, giving each of them a Stoker. Other collections in the Stories to Chill the Heart Series included Odd Lot (2001 Benjamin Franklin Award) and Wicked Odd (2005 Ippie Award finalist). All four are available in print, large print, ebook, and audio book.Steve's FreeKs series of thrillers featuring paranormal teens has won 24 international awards including Grand Prize at the 2015 Florida Book Festival, and the London, Paris, NY, New England, Hollywood, and San Francisco Book Festival Awards, the Moonbeam Children's Book Award, the Halloween Book Festival and 3 Beach Book Festival Awards, a Next Generation Indie, plus 4 Mom's Choice golds. FreeK Camp, FreeK Show, and FreeK Week are available in print, ebook, and audio book read by Melissa Epp.Thirteen of Steve's most popular radio-read-aloud stories from the Stories to Chill the Heart series make up Wicked Strange (print, ebook, and audio book read by Michael Piotrasch).A teaching text for 8-18 year-olds was created by excerpting from the Stories to Chill the Heart books: Horrors! Ghost Stories and Weird Tales to Help Kids Write, Learn, and Write Their Own Stuff. With input from middle-school teacher and editor Jolyn Joslin, the storybook/textbook includes discussion questions and writing prompts, with answers in the back. Available in print, ebook, and audio book read by Michael Piotrasch.Three of the Devaney and Hoag mystery novellas excerpted from the Stories to Chill the Heart series are now collected in Steve's 2015 release, Vermont Ghostbusters: 3 Devaney & Hoag Paranormal Mysteries.A retired pastor and seminary professor, the Rev. Dr. Burt formerly wrote church leadership and inspirational books and contributed to Family Circle magazine and the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. His bestseller, A Christmas Dozen: Christmas Stories to Warm the Heart won numerous awards and is available in print, ebook, and audio book read by the author. Unk's Fiddle: Stories to Warm the Heart is now out-of-print; its title story "Unk's Fiddle" won a Ray Bradbury Creative Writing Prize (one of three the author received).In 2009 Connecticut Magazine profiled Rev. Burt as "The Sinister Minister," acknowledging the importance of his contribution to teen and Y.A. dark fiction. He now lives and writes in Florida and offers school author visits nationwide via Skype. His two Facebook pages are FreeKs Series and Christmas Story Pastor, his Twitter handle is wrytuh, and his website (with blog page and calendar) is www.SteveBurtBooks.com. His blog is www.SteveBurtBooks.wordpress.com.