Michael J. Vaughn

Michael J. Vaughn is the author of thirty one novels, including his latest, Semiprecious. He is also a fine arts painter and drummer-vocalist for a San Jose rock band, Emojis on Ecstasy. Vaughn previously worked for Writer's Digest as a contributing writer and competitions judge, won a fellowship from Arts Council Silicon Valley, and was the publicity director for Villa Montalvo Center for the Arts. He has had residencies at Wyoming's Ucross Foundation, The Hambidge Center in Georgia and Southern California's Dorland Mountain Colony.

Vaughn works as an opera and theater critic for the Palo Alto Weekly. His poems have appeared in more than 100 literary journals worldwide. He graduated from San Jose State with a journalism degree and a classical voice minor. His work as an arts journalist has included interviews with Ray Bradbury, Barry Manilow, Molly Ringwald and Stephen Schwartz. He appeared as an extra in the 1990 Clint Eastwood film The Rookie. He was born in Brunswick, Maine, and spent much of his childhood shuttling around the country, courtesy of his father Harold's career as a pilot with the US Navy.