The Ones Who Write

We've been talking to our authors a lot lately. Perhaps not more than usual, as we usually talk to them a great deal, but lately we've been reminded of how important it is to share with you the sort of people they are. We'll be featuring a few of our author's biographies here over the course of the next few weeks, just one or two paragraph snippets to tell you a little about them.

The first is the ever-incredible Michael Blake. We have stayed with Michael on his Arizona ranch, met him for Italian food in Santa Monica after a Hollywood documentary interview, and chatted with him on the phone about everything from his novels to his zoo of peculiar animals. We were introduced to Michael in a circuitous way through Charlie Redner, every writer's favorite advocate and Southern California poet (take a look at his website and be sure to check out his regular literary journal, The Hummingbird Review).

Michael Blake began his writing career developing screenplays in Los Angeles. After discussing a new idea for a historical film with Kevin Costner, the budding actor encouraged Michael to write the story as a novel, concerned that as a script the story would never reach the screen. The novel, Dances With Wolves, immediately became a number one New York Times bestseller. Michael Blake went on to receive an Academy Award for his screenplay, and has been writing novels and film scripts ever since.

In 2001, the sequel to Dances With Wolves, a historical novel depicting the disappearance of the Native Americans from the free plains, was released under the title The Holy Road. Unfortunately, the novel debuted on September 11th, and was largely overlooked until ZOVA Books acquired the rights. The rerelease of The Holy Road, as well as a brand new WWI novel from Michael Blake, are scheduled for release this summer. Michael currently lives on a ranch outside Tucson, where he cares and advocates for wounded horses, especially the swiftly dwindling American Mustang. He's also still writing, which is certainly good news for all of us.