The Maintenance Man: It's Midnight, Do You Know Where Your Woman Is?

When Malcolm, a male prostitute, begins to wrestle with his conscience and becomes weary of his chosen profession, he turns to his friend Simon for support, however, Simon is dealing with his own marital infidelities.

Success did not come easy for this Chicago native, who was born in 1963. In 1994 he was driving trains for the Chicago Transit Authority and struggling to keep a small business from going under. In 1995 he released his first book, Never Satisfied: How and Why Men Cheat, a controversial book of short stories about unfaithful men and the women who support their irresponsible behavior. The large New York publishing companies rejected his work, saying it wasnt marketable - which basically meant, it wasnt good enough. Not willing to concede defeat, Michael decided to self-publish. He borrowed money from friends and family, charged his credit cards to the limit, and sold his automobile.

Within eight months, he sold more than 50,000 books and was on Essence and Emerge magazines best sellers lists. He toured with black expos, sorority conventions, and book fairs. He even signed books at the local night clubs, and hair salons. I was determined to make it! he says. I would sell books at a funeral if they let me. Eventually, his popularity grew and so did the demand for his next book. This time, instead of writing another book on relationships, Michael took a gamble on a novel. There was a void in African-American novels written by men, he explained. I wanted to destroy the myth that men dont read.

In July of 1997 he released his second book, Men Cry in the Dark. Once again, the book was a big success, selling 30,000 hard cover editions during the first six months. This time the national media paid attention. Michael has been a guest on several local and national radio programs, including the syndicated Tom Joyner Morning Show. His electrifying personality has earned repeated appearances on talk shows such as Ricki Lake, Sally Jesse, Maury Povich, and Queen Latifah, and The View. He has also been a guest host for Tavis Smiley on BET Tonight.

Michael is happily single and is currently living in Atlanta Georgia. where he is working on another controversial book.