Michael O'Neal

Michael O'Neal grew up in a small farming community in Central California. After working several blue-collar jobs as a short order cook, furniture mover and glass packer, he went back to college earning his BA in History and his Teaching Certificate from CSU, Fresno. He then got his MA in Education from the University of Washington. As a teacher, he chaperoned hundreds of students to scores of countries during his thirty-three years as an educator. Three of those years were spent teaching overseas, the catalyst for his books, "Being in Beijing: Buses, Bikes & Beer", "Stuck in the Sharjah Sandbox: A year in the UAE", and "Charmed in Chengdu".

"Of All the Animals" is his first book of fiction. His teaching experiences and his work for the Fairfax Mental Hospital School provided a trove of quirky and criminal personalities to combine and draw from, a whodunnit of the first order.

Look for his newer releases; "Blow Your Nose in Dirty Clothes. A Mans' to Practices in Frugality" and "The Last Goal: And Conversations with Death", the story of a man who questions his faith and belief in a hereafter.

"Tales of Trail Tripping" is an engaging collection of his backpacking days and the challenges he faced stumbling along mountain trails with CMT, a muscular disorder affecting his legs and balance.

Just released is "Lest Ye a Monster Become", a sequel to "Of All the Animals". Sammy England returns as an even more righteous butt-kicker, and the teeth fly.

O'Neal lives north of Seattle in DreamCatcher, his self-built log home with Lovely Lisha and super mutt, Taffy.