Sidney Thompson (Ph.D.), Fort Worth, is the author of a three-part book series about Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, an African American lawman and former enslaved man with deep North Texas ties who arrested more criminals in his 32-year career than anyone else. The series is based on Thompson’s doctoral dissertation. The first book, Follow the Angels, Follow the Doves, was selected as a 2020 Arkansas Gem by the Arkansas Center for the Book and was a 2021 finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award for Fiction, the Next Generation Indie Book Award for Historical Fiction (Pre 1900’s), the Spur Award for Historical Novel and the Peacemaker Book Award for Best First Western Novel. The second title, Hell on the Border, was released in 2021, and is a finalist for the National Indie Excellence Award for Western Fiction. The third installment is scheduled for release in 2022. His dissertation won second place for the Robert F. and Bette Sherman/Barsanti Inspiration Award at UNT. “My education at UNT was instrumental to this project, from lit courses and creative writing workshops to mentoring professors (Miro Penkov was my director),” Thompson says. He currently works at Texas Christian University where he teaches writing and African American literature.