Naomi Brett Rourke is the pen name for the author, teacher, and theatre director living in near the beach with her husband Tim. She has three children, three step-children, seven grandchildren, three cats, a dog, and a tortoise. When not writing, she can be found with a book in her hand, very often reading two or three at a time, with murder mysteries and horror being her favorites. With degrees in both English and Theatre Arts, Naomi has directed over 25 full stage productions including works by Arthur Miller, Neil Simon, Thornton Wilder, and William Shakespeare, and musicals such as FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, ZOMBIE PROM, and THE BOYFRIEND.
Naomi took her pseudonym from the women in her life who made her who she is today, with gratitude and love: Naomi is the name her birth mother was going to call her if she didn’t have to give her up for adoption; Brett is the maiden name of her Liverpudlian adoptive grandmother who read to her constantly from the time she was born; and Rourke is the maiden name of her adoptive mother who transferred her love of books to her daughter.
As an author, Naomi has stories published in magazines such as London’s MORPHEUS TALES, THE MATURE YEARS, the Young Adult journal REFRACTIONS, the online magazines www.TriggerWarningShortStories.com and Cultured Vultures, and more. She has stories in multiple anthologies, including the highly anticipated Native American anthology LIFE ON THE REZ, Michigan’s BREWED AWAKENINGS 2, ENTER THE APOCALYPSE, and DISTRESSING DAMSELS, to name a few.
On July 4, 2017, Naomi’s story, “Coyote” came out in the Weird West anthology STRAIGHT OUTTA TOMBSTONE, alongside the likes of Kevin J. Anderson, Maurice Broaddus, Jim Butcher, Larry Correia, Alan Dean Foster, Sarah A. Hoyt, Sam Knight, Jodi Lynn Nye, Bryan Thomas Schmidt, Michael A. Stackpole, David Lee Summers, Robert E. Vardeman, Peter J Wacks, and edited by David Boop for Baen Books. Shortly afterword, the anthology became a best seller, and in September 2018, it will be in bookstores as a mass-market paperback — pocketsize, all y’all.
Naomi’s short film, EVIL TWIN, was on CRYPTTV. She is looking for an agent to rep her first book, a detective story reminiscent of the likes of Janet Evanovich or Sue Grafton is currently working on book two of her detective trilogy, writing more short stories, and has a finished full-length screenplay. She likes to multitask.
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Visit her on her facebook page at www.facebook.com/naomibrettrourke