David Atkinson has been awarded the Judge’s Special Award in the Caleb and Linda Pirtle Favorite Escape Contest. The photograph reveals a woodland pathway near his home. The escape is in his mind. In reality, one is no different from the other.

David Atkinson lives in Great Britain and writes fast-paced thrillers around the exploits of Patrick Steele.

He builds unforgettable characters.

He develops great action.

He creates the kind of twists and turns in a plot that keep the reader racing along at breakneck speed.

Can you figure out the ending?

I’m betting against it.

David Atkinson also has a gentler, kinder side.

Along with Jory Sherman, Jo VonBargen, and Oscar Sparrow, he is one of the finest poets I’ve ever read.

His words, his phrases have a touch of magic.

They reach deep.

They stir the soul.

And he has turned the haiku into an art form.

David points out, “My escape destination is something that I created mentally as a result of a personal development course, and it is something that I use regularly when I need to make myself relax.

“The closest place I have found in real life to match my mind’s pathway of escape is a walk along a river about a quarter of a mile from home.

“The combination of sunshine dappled on the path by the branches and leaves, birds singing and the sound of wind in the trees I find restful.

“So when I’m sitting in the dentist’s chair and waiting for a filling, I turn my mind to this peaceful place and switch off from my real surroundings with at least part of my mind.”

He closes his eyes and goes to another place.

The path, the woodlands, the river offer a peaceful place to be.