After finding a manual typewriter in the basement of a friend’s house, Michael inserted a blank piece of paper and typed: It was a dark and stormy night and a shot rang out. He was just eight years old at the time, so we’ll forgive the use of that overused opening. But the desire to fill the blank page and see what doors the typewriter keys would unlock wouldn’t let him go. For ten years Michael developed his craft by studying authors such as Stephen King, Ernest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck...just to name a few. During that time he wrote thirteen novels, and after finding no traction in publishing, he quit and vowed never to write creatively again.

Michael discovered that never is a very long time, and he ended his hiatus from writing after a decade. The itch returned when he decided to create a series of books for his then thirteen-year-old daughter, who was struggling in school due to dyslexia. The result is his lucky thirteenth novel was the one finally made him an overnight success.

Michael is one of the few authors who has successfully published through all three routes: small press, self, and big five. Some key accomplishments include:

• Named to io9’s Most Successful Self-Published Sci-Fi and Fantasy Authors
• Fifteen foreign language translations
• More than a year on Amazon’s 100 Bestselling Fantasy Author’s list
• Appearing on almost 90 "best of" or "most anticipated" lists including:
• Fantasy Faction’s Top 25 Books of 2013
• 2013 Audie Award Finalist for Theft of Swords
• Goodreads Choice Award Nominees for Fantasy in 2010, 2012, and 2013
• Fantasy Book Review’s top 6 (non-hyped) Anticipated Reads of 2013
• Fantasy Faction’s Top 10 Anticipated Reads of 2013
• Audible’s 5-star The Best of Everything List in 2012 and 2013
• Library Journal’s 2011 Best Books for Fantasy/Sci-Fi
• Barnes & Noble Blog’s Best Fantasy Releases of 2011
• Fantasy Book Critic’s #1 Indie Fantasy for 2010

Today, Michael continues to fill blank pages and is working on completing his third series tentatively titled The First Empire (traditional fantasy). His first science fiction novel, Hollow World was released by Tachyon Publications in April 2014