Top Ten Tuesday: Authors That Deserve More Recognition

I've decided to jump on board with Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week the topic is a rewind - a past topic of our choice. Since I've only just jumped on board, there are TONS for me to choose from but I've settled on Authors That Deserve More Recognition.

And though there are WAY more than ten, the first ten I've come up with are:

1. Christopher Ransom - Ransom's debut horror release did come out here in the States but his subsequent titles have been UK only thus far (excepting the Cemetery Dance rerelease of The Haunting of James Hastings aka Killing Ghost). He's a local author for me and our local indie sometimes stocks the UK titles but everyone else is left ordering them from the UK. 

2. Sarah Pinborough - another UK author who is probably bigger here than I realize. While her initial US publisher (Leisure a Dorchester imprint) may be no more, she does have a brand new title available here (A Matter of Blood) through Penguin's Ace imprint and a ton of releases in the UK.

3. Mo Hayder - another author who's probably much more popular than I realize (in certain circles) and another Brit as well. She writes really, really dark stuff! Watch for Poppet due out April 30.

4. Alexandra Sokoloff - she has a unique style and her books are most definitely un-putdownable. Her latest releases are part of Harlequin's Nocturne series and she has some new self pubbed stuff out as well. Her debut, The Harrowing, was the one that hooked me and will remain my all time favorite.

5. Michael Marshall Smith - yep, another Brit. Lots of the authors I read note him as one of their influences and everything I've read by him has been fantastic (I still have a few backlist titles in my TBR as well). 

6. Mike Shevdon - okey doke, this is the final Brit on the list, I swear. Shevdon is the author of the Courts of the Feyre series published by Angry Robot. It is one of my favorite urban fantasy series (a must read for fans of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere) and it uses odd bits of UK history and folklore within each story. Book four, The Eighth Court is due out May 28.

7. Mark Henry/Danny Marks - As Mark Henry, this author writes some of the raunchiest, most hilarious zombie fiction I have ever read. As Danny Marks, he's just made his teen debut with the dark and twisted Velveteen. I love his snarky attitude and witty prose but he also writes darn good stories!

8. Natasha Mostert - it's been a while since Mostert's last release and I don't know when her newest is due out, but each new book, while completely different from her last, is guaranteed to be an odd treat. Her site lists Dark Prayer due out this year. (And I didn't lie - she does live in London but hails from South Africa.) 

9. Laura Benedict - you could probably best describe Laura Benedict's style as Southern Gothic. Her tales are weird and dark and oh, so good! All of her titles are available through Gallowstree Press, run by Laura and her husband.

10. Stephen M. Irwin - this Aussie has just two titles out so far and they're both brilliant and creepy! The Dead Path made my faves of 2010 list and The Broken Ones made my faves of 2012 list. 

Honorable mentions and why they didn't make the top ten: 

Catherine McKenzie - I adore her work. Her first three releases all hit shelves here in the States in 2012 and I suspect she's doing just fine (and will be even bigger as more titles are released).

John Harwood and Camille DeAngelis - are both wonderful. Harwood is an Aussie who writes creepy gothic tales and DeAngelis has a fabulous voice. Both are on the honorable mentions, though, because readers have short memories and both authors have very long breaks between releases. Which of course doesn't make them any less worthy of the HUGE readership I believe they deserve. (Harwood has a new book, The Asylum, due out May 21.)

James Renner - it's perhaps a bit early to include Renner on the list. His Man From Primrose Lane was an excellent book and was his debut fiction release. It's rumored to be in production as an upcoming film to star Bradley Cooper, which I'd hope would gain both the author and the book more attention. 

James A. Moore - deserves to be on this list with his rather large and wonderful backlist. So why is he simply an honorable mention? Because Angry Robot has apparently just signed him for a new epic fantasy series. It's a break from the horror backlist of his past but I've no doubt it'll be equally fabulous!

Gordon Dahlquist - my last but certainly not least honorable mention has two (three in the UK apparently) backlist adult releases (that are amazing!) and one fairly brand spanking new teen release (equally amazing!) that I hope will gain him the attention he deserves. Only time will tell.