Michael's love of books began with Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle when he was seven-years-old. Later influenced by the works of John Steinbeck, Harper Lee, Stephen King, and Cormac McCarthy, Michael developed his style of storytelling. A self-proclaimed blue-collar writer, he draws on his experiences and observations to bring relevant and compelling topics to life. Michael lives in Northern California and when he's not writing, he can usually be found wandering around the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges. His body of work includes the 2014 novel After and Again, the 2015 novel American Flowers, and the shorts Joe Price and Anywhere But Here. Michael's newest novel, In the Shadow of the Hanging Tree, was released on April 26th 2017 by Sweet Candy Press.