Photo by Casey Schlickeisen

Photo by Casey Schlickeisen

Photo by Casey Schlickeisen

Photo by Casey Schlickeisen

Richard Z. Santos' debut novel, Trust Me, was a finalist for the Writer's League of Texas Book Awards and was named one of the best debuts of the year by Crime Reads. He's the editor of the collection "A Night of Screams: Latino Horror Stories." He is the Executive Director of Austin Bat Cave, an organization that provides creative writing workshops to students in under-resourced areas. He is a former Board Member of The National Book Critics Circle and has judged contests for The Kirkus Prize, The NEA, and many more. Recent work can be found in Austin Noir (Akashic Books), Lone Stars Rising (Harper Collins), Texas Monthly, CrimeReads, and more. In a previous career, he taught high school English and Social Studies, and in a career before that he worked for some of the nation's top consulting firms, political campaigns, and labor unions. 
Richard has an MFA from Texas State University and has taught at Texas State, Georgetown University, and The University of the District of Columbia.

He is currently seeking representation for his second novel: Every Family Is A Conspiracy Theory and a nonfiction book about Texas.