Michael Craft Johnson (born 1950), who publishes under the pen name Michael Craft, is an American author of more than 20 novels, many of which are in the mystery genre, with gay protagonists. The first installment of his Dante & Jazz mystery series, ''Desert Getaway,'' was a 2023 MWA Edgars nominee for th
Lilian Jackson Braun Award
The second installment, ''Desert Deadline'', was a Gold Winner of the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for LGBTQ, as was his 2019 mystery, ''ChoirMaster''. Four of the books in his Mark Manning mystery series were finalists for the

Lambda Literary Award for Gay Mystery The Lambda Literary Award for Mystery is an annual literary award, presented by the Lambda Literary Foundation, to a mystery novel by or about people in the LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, qu ...

Personal life

In 1950, Craft was born in

Elgin, Illinois Elgin ( ) is a city in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Kane County, Illinois, Kane counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is located northwest of Chicago along the Fox River (Illinois River tributary), Fox River. As of the 2020 United Stat ...

, where he remained until he ventured to the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

. In the 1980s, he moved to

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Wisconsin, fourth-most populous city in Wisconsin, with a population of 99,986 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. S ...

, where he met his life partner and future husband, Leon, in 1982. In 2005, Craft moved to California, near Palm Springs. When California legalized same-sex marriage in 2013, Craft and Leon were wed. The couple now lives in

Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The city is a low-density desert community with resorts, golf courses, and country clubs within the Colorado Desert section of the Sonoran Desert. Nestled along the foothil ...

Education

As a child, Craft attended Catholic grade school for eight years, then high school at Elgin Academy, where he graduated in 1968 as class

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the class rank, highest-performing student of a graduation, graduating class of an academic institution in the United States. The valedictorian is generally determined by an academic institution's grade poin ...

. Craft studied graphic design at the

, graduating with highest honors in 1972. He remained in Urbana to pursue a graduate degree at the Institute for Communications Research but left the program to accept a job in Chicago in 1976. Later, in 2007, Craft received a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

degree in

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

from Antioch University, Los Angeles.

Career

Craft began his career at the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' as a graphic designer and art director for the newspaper’s various features sections, a position he held for 10 years. While at the ''Tribune'', he moved to

, traveling to and from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

by train, and during those commutes he wrote the first draft of his debut novel. Craft left the ''Tribune'' in 1987 to work for his partner's family-owned business, which manufactured musical wind instruments. During that time, he was able to focus in earnest on his writing. In 1991, Craft's debut novel, ''Rehearsing'', was accepted by Los Hombres Press, a small publisher of gay-interest books, based in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. The book was released in February 1993. In the early 2000s, Craft began playwriting and screenwriting. His stage play ''Photo Flash'' was produced in 2003 in Wisconsin, then in 2008 in California. In 2011, he was involved in the production o
''Pink Squirrels''
a feature-length independent film.

Awards

Publications

Stand-alone novels

* ''Rehearsing'' (1993) * ''The MacGuffin'' (2011) * ''Inside Dumont: A Novel in Stories'' (2016)

Claire Gray mystery series

* ''Desert Autumn'' (2001) * ''Desert Winter'' (2003) * ''Desert Spring'' (2004) * ''Desert Summer'' (2005)

Mark Manning mystery series

* ''Flight Dreams'' (1997) * ''Eye Contact'' (1998) * ''Body Language'' (1999) * ''Name Games'' (2000) * ''Boy Toy'' (2001) * ''Hot Spot'' (2002) * ''Bitch Slap'' (2004)

Mister Puss mystery series

* ''FlabberGassed'' (2018) * ''ChoirMaster'' (2019) * ''HomeComing'' (2020)

Dante & Jazz mystery series

* ''Desert Getaway'' (2022) * ''Desert Deadline'' (2023) * ''Desert Reunion'' (2024)

Anthology contributions

* ''Outer Voices, Inner Lives'', edited by Mark McNease (2014) * ''Palm Springs Noir'', edited by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett (2021)

Plays

* ''Photo Flash'' (2003, 2008)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craft, Michael Living people 1950 births LGBTQ crime writers University of Illinois College of Fine and Applied Arts alumni Writers from Illinois Antioch University alumni Mystery writers