Wassaic resident wins national contest

- Terrance McCauley may be the next great crime writer.

McCauley beat out other entrants in "The Search for the Next Crime Writer" national contest, sponsored by TruTV (the former Court TV) and Borders book stores, and has been selected as the grand prize winner. His prize is a publishing deal with Borders bookstore and a $5,000 advance against royalties for his manuscript "Prohibition."

"I found out last night when they aired the results on TV and it makes me feel wonderful," McCauley said. "Things are moving ahead on how we are going to publish the book and I'm pretty excited."

The novel is set in Prohibition-era New York City and is about ex-boxer Terry Quinn, who is the bodyguard to underworld leader Archie Doyle.

Doyle has been in control of the most powerful mob on the East Coast for more than a decade, but he begins to lose control as America enters the Great Depression. Doyle devises a plan to make his mob more powerful, but the plan comes to a halt when someone tries to kill one of his top men. He sends Quinn to find out who did it.

McCauley, who grew up in the Bronx, moved to Wassaic four years ago with his wife, Rita.

"A lot of people in the community supported me and I would like to thank them for their kind wishes," he said. "I am hoping the book will be published sometime this year."

McCauley, who works for Metro-North railroad as a government community representative, said he does not plan to give up his day job.

"I love my job, and it definitely encourages me to write more and more," he said. "All of this means is that there is more work. Work doesn't end, it's just the beginning."

Authors were chosen by popular vote in the first two rounds of the competition. The first two chapters of their books were posted online and readers gave a "10" to any entries they felt were worthy of being published.

Twenty-five semifinalists were chosen from the 269 novels submitted in the first round of judging.

The panel of judges for the final round was made up of three authors who have been featured on the TruTV series "Murder By The Books."

The first two chapters from "Prohibition" are online at trutv.gather.com.