Michael
Thomas Ford (born 1968) is a gay American author of primarily
gay-themed literature. He is best known for his "My Queer Life" series
of humorous essay collections and for his award-winning novels Last
Summer, Looking for It, Full Circle, Changing Tides and What We
Remember.



This is the ninety-first post in a series highlighting the best gay and
lesbian authors from the 20th century (with a few before and after that
period) who have recorded in fiction, and nonfiction, the history of gay
people telling what life is, and was, during an important time of
history.

Career highlights

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 Life" series. His work has been
nominated for eleven Lambda Literary Awards, twice winning for Best
Humor Book and twice for Best Romance Novel. He was also nominated for a
Horror Writers Association Bram Stoker Award (for his novel The
Dollhouse That Time Forgot) and a Gaylactic Spectrum Award (for his
short story "Night of the Werepuss").

Ford
began his writing career in 1992 with the publication of 100 Questions
& Answers about AIDS: What You Need to Know Now (Macmillan), one of
the first books about the AIDS crisis for young adults. Named an
American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults, the book became
the most widely-used resource in HIV 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. This book too was named an ALA Best Book, as well as a
National Science Teachers Association-Children's Book Council
Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children and a Booklist magazine
Editors' Choice.

Ford's next book, 1996's The World Out There: Becoming Part of the Lesbian and Gay Community
1998
saw the release of two books, the first being OutSpoken (William
Morrow), a collection of interviews with gay and lesbian people that was
again aimed at young adults. The book was widely praised for its candid
discussions of queerlife, and it was named both a National Council of
Social Studies-Children's Book Council Notable Children's Book in the
field of Social Studies and a Booklist magazine "Top of the List"
selection, and received a Lambda Literary Award nomination, Ford's
second in the YA division.

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
was based on the columns Ford had been publishing for several years in
his syndicated newspaper column, "My Queer Life." The book received a
Lambda Literary Award for Best Humor book, winning out over titles by
lesbian comic Kate Clinton, columnist Dan Savage, and cartoonist Alison
Bechdel.

Ford followed the success of Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love
Me with That's Mr. Faggot to You (Alyson Books, 1999). Slightly more
acerbic than its predecessor, Mr. Faggot brought Ford a whole new
audience hungry for a voice they could relate to. Again the book soared
to the top of the bestseller charts, and once again Ford walked away
with a Lambda Literary Award, edging out previous winner comedian Bob
Smith. That same year he began recording his weekly radio show for the
GayBC Radio Network.

The third in the "Trials of My Queer Life"
series, It's Not Mean If It's True (Alyson Books), arrived in stores in
2000. Following in the footsteps of the first two, the book was an
instant bestseller, and Ford was once again nominated for a Lambda
Literary Award for best humor book. Although he lost to comic superstar
David Sedaris, the attention earned Mike the notice of Michael J. Rosen,
director of the James Thurber House and editor of the prestigious
"Mirth of a Nation" series of Best American Humor Writing. As a result,
two of Mike's essays were included in the second Mirth collection (Simon
& Shuster, 2002) and featured on a CD read by actor Tony Roberts.



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 wide
range of spiritual traditions and included the last interview given by
former Archbishop of New York John Cardinal O'Connor. The book returned
Ford to the genre in which he first became well-known, and like his
previous books for young adults this one was unanimously praised for its
insightful take on an often delicate topic, being named a Booklist
magazine Top 10 Religion Book of the Year, a Booklist Editors' Choice
"Top of the List" selection for YA Nonfiction, and a New York Public
Library Book for the Teen Age.

In October 2001 Ford's fourth
essay collection, The Little Book of Neuroses, hit bookstores and like
the previous three collections became an instant favorite with readers,
immediately shooting to #1 on numerous regional bestseller lists. Also
like the others, in February 2002 it was nominated for a Lambda Literary
Award, giving Ford an unprecedented four consecutive nominations in the
category of Best Humor Book.

The summer of 2002 found Ford
embarking on yet another adventure as This Queern Life, a stage
production based on his work and penned by him, premiered at the Loring
Playhouse in Minneapolis. An insightful and riotous collection of scenes
drawn from his essay collections, the play wowed audiences and is
currently being considered for production by numerous regional theaters.
Also in that year, his short story "Night of the Werepuss" was
published in the Lambda Literary Award-winning collection Queer Fear II
and was nominated for a Gaylactic Spectrum Award for best short fiction.

In
2003 Ford entered a new phase of his career with the release of his
first novel for adults. Published by Kensington Books, Last Summer
centered around the character of Joshua Felling, who escapes to
Provincetown for a few days of reflection after discovering that his
lover is having an affair and then finds himself caught up in the lives
of the people he meets there. The book was an immediate hit, earning
rave reviews and comparisons to Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City.
Publishers Weekly described the book as a "brimful first novel about
life, love and self-discovery" and praised the "crisp prose and snappy,
contemporary dialogue," while Entertainment Weekly lauded Ford's prose,
calling it a "winner" and "addictive." This new book was a huge favorite
with fans, and won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Romance Novel.

Also
appearing in 2003 was Sting, an unusual and haunting vampire novella
included in the book Masters of Midnight, and My Big, Fat, Queer Life, a
best-of collection compiling the most popular essays from his "Trials
of My Queer Life" series. Both books received Lambda Literary Award
nominations.

In early 2004 Ford surprised fans with the arrival
of Ultimate Gay Sex, a beautifully photo-illustrated guide to sex and
relationships for which he wrote the text. Drawing on his years of
experience writing the "Sexpert" and "Sex Adviser" columns for gay men's
magazines FreshMen and Men, he created an indispensable manual covering
topics ranging from coming out to aging, sexual health to sexual
positions.

Ford's second novel for Kensington Books, Looking for
It, was published in the summer of 2004. Centered around the lives of a
group of gay men living in a small upstate New York town, the novel was
heralded by Booklist as an "engaging page-turner of lives within lives,
an insightful and entertaining read about what we seek, and what answers
we find within and without." Like its predecessor, Looking for It
reached the top of gay bestseller charts and quickly became the hottest
gay book of the summer.

Ford's second vampire-themed novella was
featured in the 2004 Kensington Books collection Midnight Thirsts. Set
against the background of a weary American Midwest during World War II,
Carnival is the story of midway ride mechanic Joe Flanagan, who finds
his quiet life disrupted by the arrival of the mysterious Mr. Star and
his traveling freak show.

2005 brought the publication of The
Path of the Green Man: Gay Men, Wicca, and Living a Magical Life
(Citadel Press). Drawing on Ford's interest in religion and
spirituality, the book set forth a blueprint for gay men interested in
exploring pagan spirituality from a uniquely-gay viewpoint. Praised as
an eloquent meditation on pagan thought and beliefs, the book brought
Ford his tenth Lambda Literary Award nomination. In it, he revealed that
between 2001–2002, he wrote the Wiccan-themed, YA Circle of Three
series under the pseudonym Isobel Bird.

Also in 2005 came Tangled
Sheets, a collection of erotica Ford had written under various names
over the years. Long-asked-for by fans of Mike's nom-de-porn, the book
was welcomed as a literary exploration of sensuality, desire, and
self-discovery.

In 2006, Ford released the much-anticipated novel
Full Circle. Called by one reviewer "the Great Gay American Novel," the
book chronicled the lives of two men—best friends born a day apart in
1950—through six decades. In effect a history of gay life, the book was
also a profound statement about the friendships that exist between gay
men. Upon its release, the book went to the top of numerous regional
bestseller lists.

Changing Tides, Ford's fourth novel for adult
readers, was released in August 2007. Exploring the themes of family and
self-discovery, the novel centers around a marine biologist in Monterey
whose quiet life is turned upside down by the arrival of his estranged
teenage daughter and by his attraction to a graduate student in English
who comes to California to research what might be an unpublished John
Steinbeck novel about a Cannery Row worker coming to terms with his love
for another man in 1940s America. The novel won Ford his second Lambda
Literary Award in the Gay Men's Romance category.

In October
2008, Ford returned to his young adult roots with the publication of
Suicide Notes (HarperCollins), the blackly-comic story of a young man
forced to come to terms with his emerging sexuality after a failed
attempt at ending his life puts him in a psychiatric hospital.

In
2009 Ford released his fifth novel with Kensington, What We Remember, a
portrait of a family torn apart when the father, believed to have
committed suicide, is found to have been murdered. As the mystery around
his death is unraveled, so too is the tragic history of a family that
isn't what it seems. What We Remember won the 2009 Lambda Literary Award
for Gay Men's Mystery.

In December 2009 Ballantine released
Ford's Jane Bites Back, the first of a three-book series about Jane
Austen, who still exists as a vampire bookshop owner living in the New
York suburbs, who has to deal with two suitors and a dark figure from
her past. In May 2010 Ford published The Road Home, his sixth novel for
Kensington Books. The Road Home is the story of a photographer who,
following a car accident, reluctantly moves in with his father. As he
recuperates, he becomes intrigued by the story of a local man who fought
in the Civil War, and his interest leads to uncovering some surprising
truths.

See  michaelthomasford.com  web site