Michael Daswick

Michael Daswick is a multi-award-winning novelist writing from the deserts and mountains of Arizona. His work is diverse, funny, tear-pulling, wildly creative and many times, inspirational. Michael is the winner of both of Columbia's venerable literary awards: The Bennett Cerf Memorial Prize for Fiction and The Cornell Woolrich Fellowship for Creative Writing. His Chip Rock stories feature the clever orphan Chip Rock, set in the (fictional) decrepit SoCal beach town of No Palms. A few of those stories may be found in his collection, Hallboys.

Michael enjoys hiking and taking horse-rides thorugh some of the most remote territory in the West and Mexico. He's a gourmet cook capable of world-class carnitas and beanie-weenie. He grew up in Pasadena, California working in a much-maligned meat market, and on the beaches from Avalon to Zuma. That seedy meat shop and those beaches provide the setting for his epic novels, Chip Rock and the Fat Old Fart, Chip Rock and the Catalina Kid, and the ZIN MIGNON series. Michael's keen interest in food started in that same meat shop.

Michael and his wife Kim have three children and three happy dogs. Everyone in the family offers a bounty of suggestions as to what direction his plot and characters should take next, and as any honest writer would tell you, this input is always invaluable. These novels would be much less than they are if not for this assistance.

Professionally, Michael has worked in the international golf industry and owned the leading dog shop in Scottsdale. He now writes full time.

Michael says, "My fondness for food comes through my family and, especially, our daughter with special needs. From her wheelchair, she's great at 'helping' me cook in the kitchen. Nobody is as excited about food as she is, and this passion is contagious. She loves the Food Network and it's her dream to become a chef." The Zin Mignon series is the written manifestation of her dream and the family's passion.