Award Winners


The following Award Winning authors support the success of Rope and Wire.

Do your part by supporting them.


John D. NesbittJohn D. Nesbitt

John D. Nesbitt is the author of more than forty books, including traditional westerns, crossover western mysteries, contemporary western fiction, retro/noir fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. He has won many awards for his work, including 
three awards from the Wyoming State Historical Society (for fiction), two awards from Wyoming Writers for encouragement of other writers and service to the organization, two Wyoming Arts Council literary fellowships (one for fiction, one for non-fiction), five Will Rogers Medallion awards, one Western Fictioneers Peacemaker award, four 
Peacemaker Finalist awards, four Western Writers of America Spur awards, and two Spur Finalist awards. John is Professor of Spanish and English at Eastern Wyoming College. He lives in the plains country of Wyoming, where he stays in touch with the natural world and the settings for his work. Recent works include _Castle Butte_, and _Great Lonesome_, both with Five Star. Visit his website at 
>>    Find his books on Amazon HERE>>


F.J. TalleyF.J. Talley

F.J. Talley has independently published "Twin Worlds", followed by "Take Hart", both of which were published in 2017 and is currently seeking representation for this third novel, Diaspora, the first in the Mitchell Street series.

F. J.'s work has appeared in the anthology for Creatures, Crimes and Creativity on three occasions, and his short story "By the River" was selected for inclusion in the 30th Anniversary anthology of the Maryland writer's Association.
F.J. is also the winner of the 2019 Award for Fiction from the Gulf Coast Writer's Association.      


Michael McLeanMichael McLean

Michael McLean

Winner of the 2012 Tony Hillerman Mystery Short Story Contest, "Backroads" was published in New Mexico Magazine.

Michael's Bio. /


Chuck TyrellChuck Tyrell

Chuck Tyrell

has won prizes for both advertising and journalism, and received the first-place Agave Award in the Oaxaca International Literature Competition in 2010. His novel, The Snake Den, won the 2011 Global eBook Award in the western fiction category. 

Chuck's Full Bio. /


Dave P. FisherDave P. Fisher

Dave P. Fisher 

Winner of two Will Rogers Medallion Awards, one for Western Fiction with his collection of short stories Bronc Buster – Short Stories of the American West and again for Western Humor with The Auction Horse. In addition he has won 9 People’s Choice Awards for western short stories. 

Dave is one of Rope and Wire's original supporters and continues to be an active part of its success.    Dave's Full Bio. /  / Dave's LinkedIn Profile


Tom SheehanTom Sheehan

Tom Sheehan

Nominated for the illustrious Million Writers Award twice and the coveted Pushcart Prize an impressive twenty-eight times. In addition, he has received a Silver Rose Award from American Renaissance for the Twenty-First Century (ART) and the Georges Simenon Award for Excellence in Fiction.  data-custom-mark="true"Epic Cures data-custom-mark="true", his first short story collection, also published by Press 53, received a 2006 IPPY Award Honorable Mention. 

Tom is also one of Rope and Wire's original supporters and is much appreciated for what he's done for this site.   Tom's Full Bio. /


John DunckleeJohn Duncklee

John Duncklee

$5,000 Unrestricted fellowship for excellence in poetry:
Arizona Commission on the Arts.

Author of the Year: Friends of Branigan Memorial Library.
Las Cruces, NM

Member of the Authors Guild and Western Writers of America Spur Award for best western poem 2008 Western Writers of America.

John is another original supporter of the Rope and Wire website. His contributions have always been an inspiration.

John recently passed away. He will be missed. 

John's Full Bio. /


Bill HendersonBill Henderson

Bill Henderson / Will Starr

Voted Best HubPages fiction writer twice! 2011 & 2014

Second Place, HubPages Creative Writing, 2011

1st place winner, 2010 Rope and Wire western short story competition.

4th place (Honorable mention), 2011 Arizona Authors, Arizona Centennial, international short story competition.

Bill's continuing support of Rope and Wire has not gone without notice. 

Thanks Bill.  

Bill's Full Bio. /  / /



Allen RussellAllen Russell

I have several westerns on Amazon ebook and print. Three books in the Buffalo Grass Rider series, "The Lonesome Wind", "Blood on the Rosebud" and "Rough River Gold". Also "Crow Feather" and "The Reno Kid". Book one (2013) and book three (2015) of the Buffalo Grass Rider series were awarded a Will Rogers Medallion Award for western fiction. 

, / Full Bio.


Mark MellonMark Mellon

Mark is a talented author who writes in more than one genre. He was awarded the 2010 Silver Medal For Fantasy/Science Fiction by Independent Publisher, the voice of the independent publishing industry.

/ , Full Bio.


Big Jim WilliamsBig Jim Williams

Jim won the 2015 Western Fictioneers Peacemaker award for Best First Novel. His book, Cattle Drive, can be found on Amazon.

Big Jim Williams full Bio.


Steve KohlhagenSteve Kohlhagen

Steve won the 2014 Western Category, National Indie Excellence Award for his novel "Where They Bury You" and was a finalist in the 2015 Best Book Awards for his novel "Chief of Thieves". 

Steve's full Bio. /  / 


Sharon Frame-GaySharon Frame Gay

Sharon Frame Gay grew up a child of the highway, playing by the side of the road. Her work has appeared in many anthologies and magazines around the world, including Typehouse, Gravel, Fiction on the Web, Literally Stories, Lowestoft Chronicle, Thrice Fiction, Literary Orphans, Indiana Voice Journal, Crannog Magazine, and others. Her work has won prizes at Women on Writing, The Writing District and Owl Hollow Press. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee. You can find her on Amazon Author Central as well as Facebook as Sharon Frame Gay-Writer.