Theodore Jerome Cohen
Theodore Jerome "Ted" Cohen is an award-winning author who has published more than ten novels—all but one of them mystery/thrillers—two books of short stories, twenty flash-fiction anthologies, and six anthologies of short stories and flash fiction. He also writes illustrated storybooks for children (K-3) in the series Stories for the Early Years as well as Young Adult (YA) novels under the pen name "Alyssa Devine." During the course of his 45-year career he worked as an engineer, scientist, CBS Radio Station News Service (RSNS) commentator, private investigator, US Army officer (CPT, Corps of Engineers), and Antarctic explorer. What he’s been able to do with his background is mix fiction with reality in ways that even his family and friends have been unable to unravel!
Dr. Cohen’s writings (he holds three degrees in the physical sciences from the University of Wisconsin – Madison) have received the highest reviews from Feathered Quill, Hollywood Book Reviews, Kirkus Discoveries, Pacific Book Review, Reader Views, and Readers’ Favorite, among others, with many of his books recognized for their excellence through medals awarded by several of these same organizations following their annual book competitions. In 2017, for example, Readers’ Favorite awarded Dr. Cohen’s first short story anthology, The Road Less Taken: A Collection of Unusual Short Stories (Book 1), a Silver Medal while the National Association of Book Entrepreneurs (NABE) awarded the same book its Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Best in Category: Short Stories. The NABE also awarded Dr. Cohen's collection, Creative Ink, Flashy Fiction: Flash Fiction Anthology (Book 3), its Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Best in Category: Anthology - Winter, 2018. A member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Dr. Cohen’s articles often can be found in that organization’s BULLETIN as well as in Story Monsters Ink magazine.
From December 1961 through early March 1962, Dr. Cohen participated in the 16th Chilean Expedition to the Antarctic. The US Board of Geographic Names in October, 1964, named the geographical feature Cohen Islands, located at 63° 18' S. latitude, 57° 53' W. longitude in the Cape Legoupil area, Antarctica, in his honor. And given he is an avid communicator (Dr. Cohen has been a licensed Radio Amateur since 1952, and holds an Amateur Extra Class license (call sign: N4XX)) and an accomplished violinist (he played with the Bryn Athyn (PA) Orchestra from 2007 through 2013), it is not unexpected that stories involving the Antarctic, radio, and music are found throughout his writings.
In addition to his adult and childrens books, Dr. Cohen writes Young Adult (YA) novels under the pen name Alyssa Devine. His YA novel The Hypnotist (Lexile® measure 930L) currently is in the Core Genre (Mystery) Reading Program at Neshaminy High School in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he is a guest lecturer on the subject of mystery writing.
Dr. Cohen lives in southeastern Pennsylvania, not far from where Washington crossed the Delaware River to surprise the Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey, on the night of December 25-26, 1776.