Michael S. Dobson (born September 9, 1952 in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
) is an American author in the fields of
business (particularly
office politics and
project management
Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. T ...
),
alternate history novels (relating to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
) and
role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
adventures (''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (T ...
'', ''
Indiana Jones'', and ''
Buck Rogers XXVC'').
Early life
Dobson's family moved from North Carolina to Germany when he was a child; his father had spent the latter part of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
in a
POW camp and had grown adjusted to German hospitality. The Dobson family returned to the United States five years later in 1960. Dobson later lived in
Decatur, Alabama
Decatur (dɪˈkeɪtə(r)) is the largest city and county seat of Morgan County (with a portion also in Limestone County) in the U.S. state of Alabama. Nicknamed "The River City", it is located in northern Alabama on the banks of Wheeler La ...
, but he felt that he did not fit in well in
the South. "I still can't play a Civil War game to this day."
Having trouble in school, and having had enough of the Deep South, he moved back to Charlotte for college. During college, he was employed as a faculty member teaching freshman composition and science fiction. Dobson graduated from the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a bachelors degree with an English/writing major.
Career
Dobson worked at three jobs after college: a typist, substitute teacher, and a planetarium operator on weekends. "I worked real hard to get a real job," explained Dobson, "and I was finally hired as a research assistant in the Aeronautics Department of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. It was a great first job!"
In 1976, Dobson began overseeing the business operations of the Albert Einstein Spacearium at the
Smithsonian, and then running a
résumé business in 1979. Dobson was hired as an editor at
TSR, Inc. in December 1983, and moved to
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Lake Geneva is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located in Walworth County and situated on Geneva Lake, it is home to an estimated 8,105 people as of 2019, up from 7,651 at the 2010 census. It is located about 40 miles southwest of Mil ...
with his fiancée Debbie Singer, whom he had met in the resume business; they married on the
Fourth of July
Independence Day ( colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United State ...
in 1984. "The first three projects I worked on at TSR never appeared in print," recalls Dobson. "I got a special satisfaction out of editing wargames. They were tough, but I loved the preciseness and detail."
The projects he edited included the
Dragonlance
''Dragonlance'' is a shared universe created by Laura and Tracy Hickman, and expanded by Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis under the direction of TSR, Inc. into a series of fantasy novels. The Hickmans conceived ''Dragonlance'' while driving i ...
series, as well as the ''
Battlesystem'' fantasy combat supplement, which won the H.G. Wells Award at the 1986
Origins Game Fair. In 1985, Dobson was asked to join the Marketing Department and ended up as Marketing Manager. In March 1986, Dobson became the Director of Games Development. As a game designer, his credits included the four-module AD&D-game
Bloodstone Pass series with
Douglas Niles, and X10, ''
Red Arrow, Black Shield'', both of which involved the ''Battlesystem'' rules; Dobson also co-designed the ''Partyzone'' ''Knave of Hearts'' game with Debbie.
Dobson switched fields yet again to become a seminar leader in 1990, with authorship of several management books, tapes and videos to his credit,
including several co-authored with his wife, Deborah Singer Dobson, who works in
human resources
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ...
.
The publication of ''
Fox on the Rhine'' in 2000 marked the beginnings of Dobson's forays into alternate history.
In his RPG and alternate history books, he has frequently collaborated with
Douglas Niles.
Bibliography
Business
* ''The Juggler's Guide to Managing Multiple Projects'' (1995)
* ''Coping with Supervisory Nightmares'' (1997) with Deborah Singer Dobson, Kelly Scanlon, and Rod Hankins
* ''Managing Up: 59 Ways to Build a Career-advancing Relationship with Your Boss'' (2000) with Deborah Singer Dobson
[Kleiman, Carol (March 12, 2000). "Manage your boss, boost your career", '']Chicago Tribune
The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
''.
* ''Project Management for the Technical Professional'' (2001)
* ''Enlightened Office Politics'' (2001) with Deborah Singer Dobson
* ''The Triple Constraints in Project Management'' (2004)
* ''Goal Setting: How to Create an Action Plan and Achieve Your Goals'' (2008) with Susan B. Wilson
Alternate history
* ''
Fox on the Rhine'' (2000) with Douglas Niles
* ''
Fox at the Front'' (2003) with Douglas Niles
[Zaleski, Jeff (October 27, 2003). "Fox at the Front", '']Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' 250 (43): 45.
*''
MacArthur's War: A Novel of the Invasion of Japan'' (2007) with Douglas Niles
References
External links
Dobson Booksofficial site.
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, Michael
1952 births
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American novelists
American business writers
American male novelists
American male non-fiction writers
Dungeons & Dragons game designers
Living people