Tod Goldberg’s latest crime novel, “Only Way Out,” has been nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Fiction. “I am surprised, honored, and humbled,” said Goldberg, founder and director of the Low-Residency MFA program at UC Riverside’s Palm Desert Center. “This is my second time being a finalist, but the first time in over 20 years!”

Tod Goldberg and Ivy Pochoda are among 20 featured writers

"Sing Her Down" is Pochoda's sixth novel.

The fictional stories are influenced by the desert southwest.

Jones was named the winner of the Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction, announced during a virtual ceremony kicking off the 26th Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on April 16.

His novel “The Only Good Indians” is nominated for The Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction.

Tod Goldberg’s “The Outside In” was the first essay awarded a grant as part of a California Desert Arts Council initiative