Carson City author wins inaugural literary award

Dragon Crown Books has announced that Carson City author Michael K. Falciani is the winner of the inaugural ACES High Award for outstanding contribution to The ACES Anthology 2023.

Dragon Crown Books publisher and author Stephen H. Provost presented the award to Falciani on June 13 in front of the Capitol.

Falciani is the pen name of local elementary school teacher Kinkade DeJoseph. Already an award-winning author, his novel “The Raven and the Crow: The Gray Throne” was named Best Fantasy Novel at the 2023 Imaginarium Convention in Louisville, Ky. A second novel, “The Dwarves of Rahm: Omens of War,” was named Best Steampunk Novel at the same event.

Falciani’s contribution to the ACES Anthology was a fantasy short story titled “Shadow’s Edge.” He was one of 25 authors who contributed short stories or poetry to the anthology, which was open to authors from across Northern Nevada and published by Carson City-based Dragon Crown Books. Only short stories contained in the volume were eligible for the award.

“ ‘Shadow’s Edge’ was selected by a panel of five judges, and the voting was extremely close,” according to a news release about the award. “In fact, each of the five judges selected a different first-place story. Entries were judged on a points system, with three points being awarded for first place, two for second, and one for third. Entries included stories from a variety of genres, including fantasy, horror, science fiction, romance, mystery, and literary works.”

Other stories receiving first-place votes were “Slipping Through the Devil’s Gate” by L.F. Falconer, “The Escape” by Kelli Heitstumen-Tomko, “Of Camels and Faeries” by Angela Laverghetta, and “Ice Cream on Tuesday” by Laura Magee. Falciani received six points, L.F. Falconer received five, and Ken Sutherland (whose story “Swoop” received one second- and two third-place votes) received four.

Provost, publisher of the collection, and Sharon Marie Provost, chief operating officer of Dragon Crown Books, were ineligible for the award and together accounted for one of the five judging submissions. Stephen H. Provost is the author of more than 50 books and an editor with more than 30 years of experience at daily newspapers. Sharon Marie Provost is the author of “Shadow’s Gate” and co-author of “Christmas Nightmare’s Eve” and “All Hallows’ Nightmare’s Eve.”

The other four judges were Reno novelist and Emmy Award-winning retired anchorman Bill Brown; language expert and author C.S. Perryess from the central California coast; veteran horror author Stephen Mark Rainey of Virginia, former publisher of Deathrealm Magazine and the author of numerous books; and Northern Nevada author Jacci Turner, who runs the Northern Nevada Writers group.

Dragon Crown Books plans to publish a second ACES Anthology in 2024, with submissions due by Sept. 30. The anthology is open to Northern Nevada authors only, writing in any genre. For details or to submit a story, email Sharon Marie Provost at sharon.dragoncrown@gmail.com.

For more books by these and other Northern Nevada authors, visit acesofnorthernnevada.com and follow ACES on Facebook. ACES of Northern Nevada (the Authors’ Collective e-Shop) is an online hub set up like a virtual bookstore and designed to introduce local authors to readers from across the region and beyond.