Michael Thomas Ford (born October 1, 1968) is an American

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

of primarily gay-themed literature. He is best known for his "My Queer Life" series of comedic essay collections and for his award-winning novels ''Last Summer'', ''Looking for It'', ''Full Circle'', ''Changing Tides,'' and ''What We Remember''. Michael Thomas Ford is the author of more than fifty books for both young readers and adults. He is best known for his best-selling novels ''Last Summer'', ''Looking for It'', and ''Full Circle'' and for his five essay collections in the "Trials of My

Queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

Life" series. His work has been nominated for eleven

Lambda Literary Awards Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary Foundation, Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ+ literatur ...

, twice winning for Best Humor Book and twice for Best Romance Novel. He was also nominated for a

Horror Writers Association The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a worldwide non-profit organization of professional writers and publishing professionals dedicated to promoting the interests of horror and dark fantasy writers. Overview HWA was formed in 1985 with ...

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...

Award (for his novel ''The Dollhouse That Time Forgot'') and a Gaylactic Spectrum Award (for his short story "Night of the Were Puss").

Career

1990s

Ford began his writing career in 1992 with the publication of ''100 Questions & Answers about

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

: What You Need to Know Now'' (Macmillan), one of the first books about the AIDS crisis for

young adult In medicine and the social sciences, a young adult is generally a person in the years following adolescence, sometimes with some overlap. Definitions and opinions on what qualifies as a young adult vary, with works such as Erik Erikson's stages ...

s. Named an

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

Best Book for Young Adults, the book became a widely used resource in

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

education programs for young people and was translated into more than a dozen languages. The follow-up to that book, ''The Voices of AIDS'' (William Morrow, 1995), was a collection of interviews with people whose lives have been affected by the AIDS crisis. Ford's next book, 1996's ''The World Out There: Becoming Part of the

Lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

and

Gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

Community'' (The New Press), was a handbook for people coming out and wanting to know what it means to be part of the queer world. It earned him his first Lambda Literary Award nomination in the YA category. 1998 saw the release of two books, the first being ''Out Spoken'' (William Morrow), a collection of interviews with gay and lesbian people that was again aimed at young adults. Ford's second book to come out that year was ''Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me'' (Alyson Books), the first of what has come to be known as the "Trials of My Queer Life" series. The book received a Lambda Literary Award for Best Humor Book, winning out over titles by lesbian comic

Kate Clinton Kate Clinton (born November 9, 1947) is an American comedian specializing in political commentary from a gay/lesbian point of view. Early life and education Clinton was born in Buffalo, New York. She was raised in a large Catholic family in the s ...

, columnist

Dan Savage Daniel Keenan Savage (born October 7, 1964) is an American author, media pundit, journalist, and LGBTQ community activist. He writes Savage Love, an internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column. In 2010, Savage and his husband, ...

, and cartoonist

Alison Bechdel Alison Bechdel ( ; born September 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist. Originally known for the long-running comic strip ''Dykes to Watch Out For'', she came to critical and commercial success in 2006 with her Graphic novel, graphic memoir ''Fun ...

. In 1998 he began recording his weekly radio show for the Gay BC Radio Network.

2000s

The third in the "Trials of My Queer Life" series, ''It's Not Mean If It's True'' (Alyson Books), was published in 2000. It was a bestseller, and Ford was once again nominated for a Lambda Literary Award for best humor book but did not win. Also coming out in 2000 were two other projects. The first was an audio recording. ''My Queer Life'' (Fluid Words), in which Ford read pieces from his three essay collections. The recording also contained two songs from "Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me," a musical project for which Ford wrote the lyrics and performed the narration. In December 2000 Ford released ''Paths of Faith: Conversations about Religion and Spirituality'' (Simon & Schuster). Written for young adults, the book was a collection of interviews with leaders from a range of spiritual traditions and included the last interview given by former Archbishop of New York John Cardinal O'Connor. ''This Queer Life'', a stage production written by Ford premiered at the Loring Playhouse in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

in 2002.

Works

Adult Novels

* ''Last Summer'' (2003), Kensington Books * ''Looking For It'' (2004), Kensington Books * ''Full Circle'' (2006) * ''Changing Tides'' (2007) * ''Jane Bites Back'' (2009), Ballantine * ''What We Remember'' (2009), Kensington Books * ''The Road Home'' (2010), Kensington Books

Novellas and Short Stories

* "Night of the Werepussy" (2002), included in ''Queer Fear II'' * ''Sting'' (2003), included in the book ''Masters of Midnight'' * ''Midnight Thirsts'' (2004), Kensington Books

Young Adult Novels

* ''Suicide Notes'' (2008), HarperCollins * "Every Star That Falls" (2023), Sequel to Suicide Notes

Nonfiction

* ''100 Questions & Answers about AIDS: What You Need to Know Now'' (1992), Macmillan * ''The Voices of AIDS'' (1995), William Morrow * ''The World Out There: Becoming Part of the

and

Community'' (1996), The New Press * ''Out Spoken'' (1998), William Morrow * ''Paths of Faith: Conversations about Religion and Spirituality'' (2000), Simon & Schuster * ''Ultimate Gay Sex'' (2004) * ''The Path of the Green Man: Gay Men, Wicca, and Living a Magical Life'' (2005), Citadel Press

Collections and Essays

* ''Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me'' (1998), Alyson Books * ''That's Mr. Faggot to You'' (1999), Alyson Books * ''It's Not Mean If It's True'' (2000), Alyson Books * ''The Little Book of Neuroses'' (2001) * ''My Big, Fat, Queer Life'' (2003)

Awards

* ''The Voices of AIDS'' (1995) : National Science Teachers Association-Children's Book Council Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children; Booklist magazine Editors' Choice * ''The World Out There: Becoming Part of the

and

Community'' (1996):

Firecracker Alternative Book Award The Firecracker Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards focusing on small-press publishing. Previously known as the Firecracker Alternative Book Awards (FABs), in the current form they are known as the CLMP Firecracker Awards for Independ ...

nomination * ''Out Spoken'' (1998): National Council of Social Studies-Children's Book Council Notable Children's Book in the field of

Social Studies In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...

; Booklist magazine "Top of the List" selection * ''Paths of Faith: Conversations about Religion and Spirituality'' (2000): Booklist magazine Top 10 Religion Book of the Year; Booklist Editors' Choice "Top of the List" selection for YA Nonfiction; New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. * "Night of the Werepussy" (2002), was nominated for a Gaylactic Spectrum Award for best short fiction.

American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults

* ''100 Questions & Answers about

: What You Need to Know Now'' (won, 1992) * ''The Voices of AIDS'' (won, 1995)

Lambda Literary Award

* ''The World Out There: Becoming Part of the

and

Community'' (nominated for the Young Adult category,, 1996) * ''Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me'' (won Best Humor, 1998) * ''Out Spoken'' (nominated for the Young Adult category, 1998) * ''That's Mr. Faggot to You'' (won Best Humor, 1999) * ''It's Not Mean If It's True'' (nominated for Best Humor, 2000) * ''The Little Book of Neuroses'' (nominated, 2002) * ''Masters of Midnight'' (nominated, 2003) * ''My Big, Fat, Queer Life'' (nominated, 2003) * ''What We Remember'' (won Gay Men's Mystery, 2009)

References

Additional sources

Day, Frances Ann (2000). ''Lesbian and Gay Voices: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide to Literature for Children and Young Adults''. Greenwood Press. pp. 188–190. . pages 191-193.

External links

* https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mike-ford
Official site

Official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Michael Thomas 1968 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists Lambda Literary Award winners Living people American gay writers American Wiccans American male novelists LGBTQ Wiccans American children's writers American mystery writers American LGBTQ novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Wiccan novelists 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers