Brian “BJ” Condike 


BJ Condike resides in Big Pine Key, over a few bridges and up the road from Key West. A lifelong reader, BJ’s favorite genres are mystery and science fiction. Mysteries novels by Rex Stout, Eric Ambler, Dick Francis, Raymond Chandler, and Dashiell Hammett compete for his attention with Sci-fi novels from the likes of Ray Bradbury, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clark, and Frank Herbert.


BJ minored in English while pursuing a BS in chemistry at UMass Amherst, and later earned his MBA. In 2019 he completed The Writers Path Program at Southwestern Methodist University in Dallas, and in 2024 he graduated from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Citizen’s Police Academy.


BJ loves writing short stories and has won several regional contests in that category. He also placed in the top 1% in two national contests by Writers Digest, each with over 2,000 entries. His short stories have appeared in several anthologies, including Strange & Sweet (2019), Malice in Dallas – Metroplex Mysteries Volume 1 (2022), Tall Tales and Timeless Stories (2022), and More Words from the End of the Road (2022). In 2024 BJ was the recipient of an Anne McKee Artists Fund Grant and also won the 20th Annual Key West Writers Guild Award.


BJ is a member of several writers’ organizations including Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America. He is currently revising his first novel, Murder is Personal. Read more about BJ and read some of his stories at www.BJCondike.com.