Michael A. Ventrella

MIKE’S BOOKS

Michael A. Ventrella’s most recent novel is BIG STICK, a Teddy Roosevelt-steampunk adventure. This follows his previous novel BLOODSUCKERS: A VAMPIRE RUNS FOR PRESIDENT, and his young adult fantasy series TERIN OSTLER AND THE ARCH ENEMIES, TERIN OSTLER AND THE WAR OF THE WORDS, TERIN OSTLER AND THE AXES OF EVIL, and TERIN OSTLER AND THE ZOMBIE KING.

With New York Times Bestselling Author Jonathan Maberry, he edited the BAKER STREET IRREGULARS anthologies. With Randee Dawn, he edited the anthology ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, and by himself, he has edited RELEASE THE VIRGINS!, THREE TIME TRAVELERS WALK INTO…, THE EYE OF ARGON AND THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF GRIGNR THE BARBARIAN, five anthologies in the “Tales of Fortannis” series, and the Fortannis novel IT’S A WONDERFUL DEATH by Derek Beebe, which features characters from Michael’s fantasy novels.

His short stories have appeared in a number of other anthologies, including DREAMERS IN HELL, THE MINISTRY OF PECULIAR OCCURRENCES ARCHIVES, and THE FOUR ???? OF THE APOCALYPSE.

With cultural historian Mark Arnold, he’s written two nonfiction books about the music and career of the Monkees, published by BearManor Media. A book about the Beatles was also recently released from McFarland.

Another nonfiction book, HOW TO ARGUE THE CONSTITUTION WITH A CONSERVATIVE, was published by Gray Rabbit Publications, featuring illustrations from Pulitzer-Prize-winning artist Darrin Bell, and is also available in an audio book read by Michael.

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BIO

Michael A. Ventrella was born in Richmond, Virginia on August 3, 1958. His father was an artist who did commercial graphics and his mother did her best to control Michael, his two brothers, and a sister.

Michael was dramatic from an early age, acting in community theatre and writing his own plays with his siblings. He also wrote puppet shows and performed them for his school. His earliest desire was to be a cartoonist and his drawings adorned school newspapers and posters. Later, he discovered music and taught himself to play guitar and piano, writing simple songs with his friends.

In High School, he started his own “underground” newspaper which had more in common with Mad magazine than any real journalism. He also wrote a musical comedy called “But I’m Allergic to Horses” about a reluctant sheriff who cleans up a western town using only his wits. The play was a hit, receiving great reviews from the Richmond newspaper, and running for an extra week. Mike received the “Most Talented” award from his senior class.

He also played bass in a number of bands at the time, meeting his future wife Heidi Hooper (an artist) at one gig.

College beckoned and Mike majored in Political Science at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he graduated cum laude. He was elected to the student government with the highest vote count and chaired the important judicial committee. Mike also served as program director for the college radio station and wrote for the school newspaper. During this time, his band The Naughty Bits headlined the major clubs in the area with their “new wave” sound reminiscent of Elvis Costello and Graham Parker, and Mike started and edited a magazine about the local music scene called “The Beat.”

After college, Mike moved to Boston to attend New England law school. While there, he edited the school newspaper and became involved in Boston politics. Heidi and Mike married in 1982.

After graduation, Mike worked primarily as a public defender; however, he also was a lobbyist for the liberal group Americans for Democratic Action (and later served as the Massachusetts chapter President for a year), taught political science courses at Bunker Hill Community College, and was a campaign manager for a state representative. Mike also wrote songs and performed in two prominent bands, Agent 99 and Big House, which played the major clubs in the Boston area and received airplay on local college radio.

Mike also started a magazine about animated films called Animato in the mid 80s which grew to be quite prominent. He was quoted in many publications as an animation expert, including Entertainment Weekly and in the book THE DREAM TEAM: THE RISE AND FALL OF DREAMWORKS by Daniel M. Kimmel.

In 1989, Mike and Heidi helped form the United States’ largest live action role-playing organization, now known as The Alliance which has chapters all over the US and Canada.

In 1997, Mike and Heidi moved to the beautiful Poconos, where Mike now works as an attorney. Heidi is a Niche award-winning artist whose work can be seen in galleries around the country and in Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museums all over the world, as well as on ABC TV’s To Tell the Truth and Access Hollywood. They love the pitter patter of little feet (they have three cats:  Mrs. Premise, Doctor Who and River Song).

Mike regularly attended NY Times Bestselling Author Jonathan Maberry’s “Liars Club” coffehouse in Philadelphia, and learned a lot about writing from them. With Jonathan, he edited a series of Sherlock Holmes books, and then got Jonathan’s approval to start the Pocono Liars Club. Since forming in 2013, it has hosted annual writer’s conferences and workshops, and posts articles and interviews to help beginning writers. (Other information about Michael’s books is above so we won’t repeat that here!)

Mike is a regular fixture at science fiction conventions on the east coast, where he appears on panels to discuss fiction, animation, and gaming. However, to many people, he’s known primarily as the Guy Who Predicted The Hodor Plot Twist.