ABOUT

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Hello. I'm Mike, an author of novels and stories for readers of Middle Grade, Young Adult and Adult Fiction, a songwriter, and a composer for musical theatre whose work is set to be used in movies.

Middle Grade Magic

In a dark and stormy decade, I was once a teacher... Actually I loved it. The youth of inner-city Liverpool and Manchester were inspirational. So much so that my work with them became nationally recognized and I became one of the youngest schools' inspectors in the country. I even had a book published on what makes a good school. It still sells evidently and has featured on many University and College reading lists. My novels have strong female and male characters and equally strong awesome animal characters. They have themes around co-existence and conservation with lots of adventure and a hint of romance thrown in. The stories are designed to make people, young people especially, think about the world we live in and our responsibilities and future on this planet.

Adult Alchemy

I have also been an adult for most of my life – according to the numbers anyway. After my work in Education, during some of which time I was affectionately known as 'The Inspector from Hell', I worked for a Government Agency banging heads together and negotiating contracts.  Although, somewhere along the path,  I did find myself hunting for human bones in the basement of a deserted building in a Victorian cemetery, got caught up in an exorcism, and found myself involved with protecting plague pits from grave robbers. Unsurprisingly, after all this, I developed my skills and knowledge in psychic phenomena and awareness. So don't be surprised if you find my writing for adults themed around the paranormal and marginal human behaviour. Colin Wilson and Dennis Wheatley knew how to do this. They would have been my ultimate dinner guests. No ghost-busters stuff or magical powers in my writing though. Just stories of everyday people, like us, getting caught up in situations that will scare the bejaysus out of you.

Stage...

Before I was an adult I was a young musician. Much to my piano teacher's distress I joined a rock band at 15, made terrible records but eventually learned the art of songwriting and composition. Many years later, I was delighted to be asked to develop one of my novels as a Stage Musical in the UK and a number of songs received radio plays. Covid put an end to that before we lost too much money, then a year-long legal battle with IP bandits caused further delays, during which we lost more money but made some lawyers very happy. As theatre makes a tentative comeback, I am working with creatives in the UK and the US to bring my musicals to the stage. I have been fortunate enough to work with, and learn from, top names in musical theatre in bringing these projects to life.

...and Screen

1. One of my novels is now optioned as an Animated Musical Feature Film by a London Production Company. The Movie industry has its fair share of turbulence which we are navigating through, slowly but steadily. One unexpected outcome is my first screenplay, written as a concept for one of the producers, but which is scoring well on Industry Coverage.  

2. I am delighted to be working with Janie Parker in writing a brand new children's Animated TV Series. The Bible and Pilot have been ab absolute pleasure to write and soft testing in the industry shows it could have strong appeal.  We shall find out at MIPCOM '24 in Cannes later this year.

Archangel Music Creatives

This is the name I have used professionally for many years and continue to do so despite attempts to steal it from me. Yes, those IP goons struck again. But the Light Side prevailed. Why Archangel? Archangel is the name of my sailing boat. Sailing has been a passion of mine for many years. I have owned Archangel for 14 years and a lot of my writing is done on her.  She is a beautiful and magical boat.

Connecting Creativity 

Connect with me through social media, sign up for my blog to get the latest updates, or drop me a message to share your thoughts and ideas. You never know, you might recognise yourself in a book or on the stage or screen one day. Thank you for joining me on this artistic journey. Together, let's explore the mysteries of human and animal nature, imagination and creativity. And let's do some good in the world while we are at it.