Portraits/Headshots

Biographies

Short: Barbara Nickless is the #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the award-winning Special Agent Sydney Parnell crime novels and now a new series, the Dr. Evan Wilding books. Learn more about Barbara on her website www.barbaranickless.com.

Medium: Barbara Nickless is the #1 Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the “blisteringly original” Sydney Parnell crime novels featuring a railway cop and her K9 partner. About the series, Jeffery Deaver promises “you’ll fall in love with one of the best characters in thriller fiction.” The series has been optioned for television and has won two Colorado Book Awards and twice won the prestigious Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence. The first book in the series was a Suspense Magazine “Best of 2016” selection. Her publisher is launching a new series, the Dr. Evan Wilding books, about a forensic semiotician who analyzes the signs and symbols left at crime scenes. Barbara’s essays and short stories have appeared in Writer’s Digest, Criminal Element, Penguin Random House, and other markets. She also teaches creative writing to veterans at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. Barbara is often in the Rocky Mountains where she loves to hike, cave, and drink single malt Scotch—although usually not at the same time. Connect with her at www.barbaranickless.com.

Long: Barbara was made in Japan, born in Guam, and made her way through various ports of call to Colorado. There, her mother—an English literature teacher—passed along her own love of reading by starting Barbara on comic books. Which might explain why Barbara grew up to adore H. Rider Haggard, E.E. “Doc” Smith, and Shakespeare in equal measure. When she was three, Barbara told her mother that all she wanted was to be a writer. But that wasn’t strictly true. She also wanted to be a sword fighter, an astronaut, to conduct an orchestra, go in search of lost cities and work on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. If only she’d known early on that she could do all those things—at least in her imagination—by being a writer. She got there. It just took awhile. But that is the best way to live life—great journeys are as much about the detours as the destination. In addition to her career as a technical writer and instructional designer, Barbara tried her hand as a raptor rehabilitator, a piano performer, and a sword fighter. She served as the Director of Education for the country’s largest public astronomical observatory and taught Beethoven to kids. It was all great fun. But then a wildfire burned down her family’s home. It was that moment. The one that made her look around and think, Weren’t there other things I planned to do? Hadn’t I dreamed of writing novels—lots of novels—and traveling the world? For Barbara, losing everything also meant she had everything to gain. Her revitalized resolve to be a writer resulted in the Special Agent Sydney Parnell crime series, starting with the award-winning Blood on the Tracks and Dead Stop and the Wall Street Journal bestseller Ambush. Fall of 2021 brings a new series about forensic semiotician Evan Wilding, who interprets the signs and symbols left by killers. And Barbara says traveling is now in the stars! After trips to Morocco and South Africa, she plans to springboard off the miles she’s logged hiking the Colorado Rockies and scale Mt. Kilimanjaro before the snow melts. Israeli, the Palestinian Territories, and Egypt are already booked. You can connect with her at www.barbaranickless.com.