JOHN HOWARD REID: 

Bible Translations, Historical Novels, Short Stories, Poetry, 

Movie Guides, Writing Advice, Mystery and Detective Thrillers

Each year, John Howard Reid and Tom Howard Books sponsor three writing Contests. These Contests are open to all writers worldwide.

In order of annual closing dates, these contests are:

1. The $5,550 John Howard Reid & Tom Howard Short Story, Essay and Prose Contest, deadline March 31, 2010. Entries for Contest 18 will be accepted from July 15, 2009. Please use this link for further information: http://shortstorycontest.0catch.com

 
2. The $5,350 Margaret Reid Poetry Prize for Traditional Verse, closing June 30, 2009. Entries are now being accepted. The link: http://margaretreid.exactpages.com


3. The $5,350 Tom Howard Poetry Contest for Verse in All Styles & Genres, closing September 30, 2009. Entries are now being accepted. Please click this link for further information: http://tomhowardpoetry.bravepages.com

 

 Here's absolute-must reading for all who wish to succeed in literary contests and writing competitions! A new edition of John Howard Reid's famous handbook "WRITE WAYS TO WIN WRITING CONTESTS: How to Join the Winners' Circle for Short Story Awards, Poetry Prizes, etc." is available direct from Lulu at http://www.lulu.com/filmindex 

Price is $12.50. The book trade edition is also now available. Buy from Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other bookstores. Usually the same price, but the book is currently "on special" at Amazon for only $11.25. Yet another reason to buy this essential handbook now! What's $12.50 (or $11.25!) compared to increasing your chances of carrying off a $2,000 in cash First Prize? (Of course you can still buy the old edition if you prefer it, by using the link below):

 

 

"Sailing in the Mist of Time" is the latest anthology of award-winning poetry, edited by John Howard Reid. This lavishly produced, 196-page, large-format book features no less than 102 award-winning poems from both the Tom Howard and Margaret Reid Contests, plus 3 original poems from each of the judges. Currently, this beautiful book is on special everywhere for only $9.95. (The normal retail price is $16.50).

Reid's own personal anthology of poems is titled "Anyone for Love":

 

 

Further Notes on the Author

 

A keen Bible scholar, John Howard Reid, has translated portions of both the Old and New Testaments in Bible Wisdom for Modern Times: Selections from the Orthodox Old Testament and More Bible Wisdom for Modern Times: Selections from the Early New Testament. He has recently published Essential Bible Wisdom: GOOD NEWS by John, the Beloved Disciple, and John, the Elder. For further information, please click http://reidbooks.exactpages.com

 

Reid's novel, In All His Glory, based on the Greek editions of the Biblical books, "Kings" and "Chronicles" (not the abbreviated Hebrew versions), has a central character in King Jeroboam of Israel. The novel recounts his adventurous dealings with Pharaoh Shishak while in exile in Ancient Egypt, after his narrow escape from King Solomon. This book was published in 2006. A follow-up novel of mystery and suspense, "Prophet, Priest and King", dealing with the last days of King Solomon, was published in November 2008.

 

Reid's other books include four collections of short stories, Mexican Autumn (2006), in which all the stories are not only cleverly inter-related, but are all accurately set in a real Mexican village in Lower California called Bahia de los angeles; Micaela Morris in Jo's Heaven (2007), which includes five award-winning stories, including two First Prizes; A Packet of Dreams, and A Mountain of Many Treasures, both of which were published in late 2008. 

Using the knowledge gained both as a First Prize winner in several literary contests and as the Chief Judge of three of America's richest writing competitions, Reid authored a popular handbook, Write Ways To Win Writing Contests in 2004.The book was revised and republished in an Expanded Edition in 2009.

Reid is also an expert on classic films and vintage movies from both Hollywood and British studios. He has published a large number of books on this topic, including Silent Films & Early Talkies on DVD: A Classic Movie Fan's Guide (2008). Reid's current movie project is "Film Noir, Detective and Mystery Movies on DVD: A guide to the Best in Suspense". See http://filmindex.0catch.com

 

Was King Solomon Really Wise?

In his latest historical, suspense thriller, author John Howard Reid challenges the common belief that King Solomon was a prince of wisdom. The Bible chroniclers, in fact, try to play it both ways. According to the Bible, Solomon was wise when, as a rash youth, he usurped the kingdom of Israel from his brother and then almost immediately introduced a reign of terror against both his political opponents and those who simply irritated his allies, the priests. When, later in life, Solomon repented of the persecutions of religious rivals that he had led and instigated in his youth, this, according to the Bible, was most unwise!

Solomon was obviously a complex character, and he is presented as such in "Prophet, Priest and King", a worthy successor to Reid's earlier historical novel, "In All His Glory" which, set in Ancient Egypt, detailed the conflict between Solomon's rival, Jeroboam, and Pharaoh Shishak. In this latest book, set in Ancient Israel around the same time as the events in "In All His Glory", the plot is set in motion by an unknown assassin who is targeting the priests of Baal. In an already explosive political situation, Solomon himself is obliged to run the killer to earth. Will wisdom desert him in his efforts to bring peace to Israel?

A gripping novel of murder and suspense, "Merryll Manning: Trapped on Mystery Island" is the first in a series of highly acclaimed mystery suspense novels that began life overseas back in 1985.

Merryll "Merry" Manning is a police sergeant, which is certainly not an unusual occupation for the hero of a series of detective thrillers. Admittedly, he comes across as somewhat eccentric, but this again could be rated as a fairly conventional trait among the clue-hunting heroes of crime fiction. Furthermore, Manning works in Miami, Florida, a tried-and-true venue in numerous films and novels.

What does set Manning slightly apart from the pack, however, is Susan Alexis Devoro Ford, his young, super-attractive, pocket-sized girlfriend. Despite her diminutive size, Miss Ford proves quite a handful for a hero who is, as he ruefully admits, more than twice her age. Again, this figures as standard Hollywood material, particularly for fans of aging heroes like John Wayne, Clark Gable and Gary Cooper. Unlike these macho super-stars, however, the far more cerebral Manning is really trapped by Miss Ford. She holds the whip hand.

In any case, Miss Ford proves a most unusual assistant in his perilous investigations, although it's not until the fourth novel in the series, "Merryll Manning: A Brush with Death" that she reveals her true character. In the meantime, the second Manning novel, the acclaimed "Merryll Manning: The Health Farm Murders" is now available for the first time in paperback. This is the book that started the famous literary controversy between Selwa Anthony (who said in her Book Review that John Howard Reid was as effective a writer as Agatha Christie) and American critic, Richard Deutch, who answered in The Sunday Telegraph newspaper: "Some critics have compared Reid's novels to those of Agatha Christie. I find the comparison a little unfair -- to Mr Reid. If Reid's work needs comparing, I would liken it to Graham Greene's."