JZ Murdock is an award-winning author, filmmaker, and screenwriter based in Bremerton, Washington. His most recent achievement was for his epic horror/sci fi book, Death of Heaven, winning the 2024 NYC Big Book Award for Horror, adding to his growing reputation in the genre. Press Release: https://apnews.com/press-release/ein-... Readers’ Favorite review https://readersfavorite.com/book-revi... Reader Views review https://readerviewsarchives.wordpress... Death of Heaven (title on cover being, Death of Heaven...for reason), is an epic blend of horror and science fiction, drawing comparisons to the works of Lovecraft and Clive Barker. His first book, Anthology of Evil, features a collection of his earlier short horror and sci-fi stories, while Anthology of Evil Volume II introduces newer works, including stories featured in other anthologies and hard science fiction magazines. In 2019, Murdock began producing his own films after growing tired of waiting for screenplays to be picked up. His 2020 short horror film ("Gumdrop", a short horror), has won multiple festival awards, including "Best Horror Short" and "Best Noir Film." He followed up with "Pvt. Ravel's Bolero", a 2021 anti-war filmic poem and documentary inspired by WWI trench warfare and Maurice Ravel's Bolero, which has garnered 63 international awards. His screenplay "The Teenage Bodyguard", is a True Crime Drama, based on real-life experience while protecting a murder witness from the Tacoma mafia in 1974, and has gained industry attention with 13 awards. Coverage from The Black List and BlueCat Screenplay Contest described it as a story that "should be pursued into production." Entertainment attorney Michael Donaldson praised it as a compelling story perfectly suited for today's market. Murdock holds a B.A. in Psychology concentrating in phenomenology, with a minor in Creative Writing for screenwriting and team scriptwriting, from Western Washington University. He worked as a Senior Technical Writer and IT administrator before retiring in 2016 to focus on writing full-time and filmmaking. He is also actively involved in the local independent film scene and his local indie film community where he cofounded the Gorst Underground Film Festival and short-lived (due to the pandemic) Slash Night Monthly indie festival with local fans and filmmakers. His blog, Murdockinations.com, has been running since 2010 and features over 1,600 posts. His one-act play, "Denude" has won 5 awards. Other notable screenplays include: Gray and Lover The Hearth Tales Incident (multiple awards) Ahriman, his 1st screenplay is a sci-fi epic about a desert prince/prophet caught between two worlds Sarah, a Twilight Zoneish psychological horror about Alzheimer's Colorado Lobsters, is a dark drama about generational workplace revenge Popsicle Death, a dark cautionary tale about paying your popsicle vendor Poor Lord Ritchie’s Answer, a surreal misadventure with wizards Dark of Knight and Sealed in Lies, screen adaptations for authors of paranormal and espionage romance novels. For fiction, non-fiction, and audiobooks, visit his Amazon Author Page.