Cynthia Leal Massey

Cynthia Leal Massey is an award-winning author of historical fiction and nonfiction, focusing on Texas and Mexico. She was born and raised in San Antonio, and has resided in Helotes, Texas, since 1994. A former corporate editor, college English instructor, freelance journalist, and magazine editor, she has published hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles and stories, and several books. She was the 2008 Winner of the Lone Star Award for Magazine Journalism given by the Houston Press Club for "Is UT Holding Our History Hostage?" published in Scene in SA magazine. Her first novel, Fire Lilies, a saga of the Mexican Revolution, was the winner of the Independent E-book Award for Best Romance, and its sequel, The Caballeros of Ruby, Texas, was a WILLA Literary Award Finalist for Best Original Softcover Fiction. She is also the author of regional histories on her hometown. Her book, "Death of a Texas Ranger, A True Story of Murder and Vengeance on the Texas Frontier," won the 2015 Will Rogers Silver Medallion Award for Best Western Nonfiction and a 2015 San Antonio Conservation Society Publication Award. Her book, "What Lies Beneath, Texas Pioneer Cemeteries and Graveyards" has won the 2023 San Antonio Conservation Society Publication Award. The SACS Award honors the best books of Texas history. Visit her website at www.cynthialealmassey.com for more information.