Press Kit

Bios of varying length:

25 Words: 

Michael R. Johnston is a high school English teacher and writer living in Sacramento, California with his wife, daughter, and more cats than strictly necessary.

50 Words:

Michael R. Johnston is the author of The Widening Gyre, The Blood-Dimmed Tide, and What Rough Beast. His work has been praised by Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, Locus, and Analog. He lives in Sacramento, California, where he teaches high school, works with young aspiring genre writers, and daydreams of flying starfighters.  

250 Words:

Born in the Bay Area and raised in Napa, California, Michael R. Johnston discovered Science Fiction and Fantasy at a young age and never looked back. As a young teen, he wrote fanfic and original fiction for friends. 

After graduating from high school, he took “a year” off college. In the following decade, he worked as a sandwich maker, a process server, a data entry clerk, and an IT Manager. Then he decided to go back to school, earning his degree in English. In 2006, he became a high school English teacher. In 2012, he finally broke through his fear and took up writing again. 

In 2019, his debut novel The Widening Gyre was heralded by Publishers Weekly as a “promising debut.” The second part of the trilogy, The Blood-Dimmed Tide, was released in 2020; Analog called the two books “fine thrillers with many resonances for today’s world.” What Rough Beast, the trilogy’s finale, was released in June 2022. He’s got plenty more where those came from. 

He currently lives in Sacramento, California, with his wife, daughter, and three cats. When he’s not writing or teaching, he spends time with his family, plays video games, and daydreams of other times and places