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. A forgivable transgression considering he was just eight years old at the time. 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 twelve 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.

Michael is one of the few authors who have successfully published through all three routes: small press, self, and big six. He has been named to io9's Most Successful Self-Published Sci-Fi and Fantasy Authors list as well as making #6 on EMG's 25 Self Published Authors to Watch. As of January 2013, he has sold more than 250,000 books, been translated to 14 languages, and has had books appear on more than 65 "best of" or "most anticipated" lists including:

* 2013 Audie Award Finalist for Fatasy
* Fantasy Faction's Top 10 Anticipated Reads of 2013
* goodreads Choice Award Nominees for Fantasy in 2010 and 2012
* Audible's 2012 5-star The Best of Everything List
* 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 his current work in progress is The First Empire Trilogy(traditional fantasy).

THE RIYRIA REVELATIONS (Omnibus Editions)
* Theft of Swords: contains The Crown Tower & Avempartha
* Rise of Empire: contains Nyphron Rising & The Emerald Storm
* Heir of Novron: contains Wintertide & Percepliquis

THE RIYRIA CHRONICLES
* The Crown Tower: coming Aug 6, 2013
* The Rose and the Thorn coming Sep 17, 2013

STANDALONE NOVELS
* Hollow World: coming Jauary 20, 2014
* Antithesis: release date to be determined
* A Burden to the Earth: release date to be determined

ORIGINAL BOOKS OF THE RIYRIA REVELATIONS (out of print)
* The Crown Conspiracy
* Avempartha
* Nyphron Rising
* The Emerald Storm
* Wintertide
* Percepliquis

SHORT STORIES
* The Viscount and the Witch (Riyria Chronicles)
* Greener Grass (time-travel science fiction)

ANTHOLOGIES
* Triumph Over Tragedy (Traditions)
* The End - Visions of Apocalypse (Burning Alexandria)
* The Fantasy Faction Anthology (Autumn Mists) Mar 2013
* Unfettered (The Jester) May 2013

AWARDS & ACCOLADES
The Crown Tower (coming Aug 2013)
* 2013 Fantasy Faction's Top 10 Most Anticipated Books
* 2013 Ranting Dragon's 50 Fantasy and Sci-Fi Novels to Look Forward
* 2013 BestFantasyBooks.com's Most Anticipated Fantasy Reads
* 2013 Angels of Retribution's Most Anticipated Releases
* 2013 A Fantasy Reader's Eager Meter Nominee
* 2013 Draumr Kopa Fantasy Book Blog Waiting on Wednesday

The Riyria Revelations
* 2013 Rule The Waves Top 10 Tuesdays
* 2012 Confessions of an Avid Reader Top 12 (#2)
* 2009 Dark Wolf Fantasy Reviews Top 10 Books

Heir of Novon / Wintertide & Percepliquis
* 2012 goodreads Choice Award Nominee (Percepliquis)
* 2012 Audible's August Customer Favorites (Heir of Novron)
* 2012 Bookworm Blues Top 10 (#4) (Percepliquis)
* 2012 Founding Field's Best Books (Percepliquis)
* 2012 Angels of Retribution's Best of the Best Part 1 (Heir of Novron)
* 2012 Patrick's Book Awards (#10) (Heir of Novron)
* 2012 Bane of King's Best Novels of First Half of 2012 (Percepliquis)
* 2012 GoddessCarlie Top 5: #2 (Heir of Novron)
* 2012 MathiasCavanaugh Top 10 Books (#4) (Heir of Novron)
* 2012 Angels of Retribution's Reading Award for February ( Percepliquis)
* 2012 Fantasy Book Critic's Top 5 Anticipated Releases for Q1 (Heir of Novron)
* 2012 Civilian Reader's 6 Most Anticipated Reads for January (Heir of Novron)
* 2012 Staffer's Review's Books I Most Want to Read in Early 2012 (Heir of Novron)
* 2010 Fantasy Book Critic #1 Indie Fantasy (Wintertide)
* 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Top 25 Novels (Wintertide)
* 2010 Fantasy Book Critic: Cindy's Anticipated Reads List (Wintertide)
* 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Top Independent Novels (Wintertide)
* 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Top 5 Novels of Second Half of 2010 (Wintertide)

Rise of Empire / Nyphron Rising & The Emerald Storm
* 2012 Mathias Cavanaugh Top 10 Books (#3) (Rise of Empire)
* 2012 Timothy C. Ward Top 10 Reads (#8) (Rise of Empire)
* 2012 Patrick's Book Awards (#9) (Rise of Empire)
* 2011 Civilian Reader's 6 Most Anticipated Reads for Dec (Rise of Empire)
* 2010 goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Fantasy (The Emerald Storm)
* 2010 Fantasy Book Critic #1 Indie Fantasy (The Emerald Storm)
* 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Top 25 Novels for (The Emerald Storm)
* 2010 Fantasy Book Critic: Cindy's Anticipated Reads List (The Emerald Storm)
* 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Top Independent Novels (The Emerald Storm)
* 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Top 12 Novels as of First Quarter (The Emerald Storm)
* 2010 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Finalist (Nyphron Rising)

Theft of Swords / The Crown Conspiracy Avempartha
* 2012 Audible's 5-star The Best of Everything (Theft of Swords)
* 2012 Audible's Best of 2012 Editor's Picks (Theft of Swords)
* 2012 Audible's 5-star Sci-fi & Fantasy (Theft of Swords)
* 2012 WordTipping Top 3 Favorite Reads (Theft of Swords)
* 2012 Angels of Retribution's Best of the Best Part 2 (Theft of Swords - audio)
* 2012 MathiasCavanaugh Top 10 Books (#7) (Theft of Swords)
* 2012 BattleHymns Books of the Year: Honorable Mention (Theft of Swords)
* 2012 AudioBookaneers Favorite Listens, Runner up (Theft of Swords)
* 2012 Patrick's Book Awards (#10) (Theft of Swords)
* 2011 Library Journal's Best Books for Fantasy/Sci-Fi (Theft of Swords)
* 2011 Civilian Reader's 5 Most Anticipated Reads for Nov (Theft of Swords)
* 2011 Black Gate Noteworthy Fantasy Debuts (Theft of Swords)
* 2011 Library Journal's Fantasy/Sci-Fi Debut For September (Theft of Swords)
* 2011 Dribble of Ink's Favorite Novels (Theft of Swords)
* 2011 Drying Ink's Best Epic Fantasy (Theft of Swords)
* 2011 Graeme's Fantasy Book Review Favourite (Theft of Swords)
* 2011 Only the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy's Top 10 (#2) (Theft of Swords)
* 2011 Best Fantasy Releases by Barnes and Noble Blog (Theft of Swords)
* 2011 Lost Entwive's Top Ten Underrated Books (The Crown Conspiracy)
* 2010 Iceberg Ink Award Best Read (Avempartha)
* 2010 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Finalist (Avempartha)
* 2010 Only the Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Top 10 Read (The Crown Conspiracy)
* 2010 Bookworm Blues Overall Best Reads of 2010 (Avempartha)
* 2009 Winner of Book Spot Central's Fantasy Tournament of Books (Avempartha)
* 2009 Speculative Fiction Junkie's Top 5 Close Contender(The Crown Conspiracy)
* 2009 National Indie Book Award Finalist (The Crown Conspiracy)
* 2008 ReaderViews Annual Literary Award Finalist (The Crown Conspiracy)
* 2007 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Finalist (The Crown Conspiracy)

CONTACT INFORMATION
Website/blog: www.riyria.com
Twitter: @author_sullivan
Facebook: www.facebook.com/riyria & www.facebook.com/michael.james.sullivan