Michael Craft Johnson (born 1950),[1] who goes by the pen name Michael Craft, is an American author of gay and lesbian mystery novels. His 2019 novel ChoirMaster won the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for LGBTQ,[2] and four of his novels have been finalists for the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Mystery.[3][4][5][6]

Personal life

In 1950, Craft was born in Elgin, Illinois, where he remained until he ventured to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.[1] In the 1980s, he moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin.[1]

Craft met his now husband, Leon, in 1982.[1]

In 2005, Craft and Leon moved near Palm Springs, California.[1]

When California legalized same-sex marriage in 2013, Craft and Leon were wed.[1] The couple now lives in Rancho Mirage, California.[7]

Education

As a child, Craft attended Catholic grade school for eight years, then became a student at Elgin Academy, then a private boarding school, where he graduated as class valedictorian.[1]

Craft studied graphic design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.[1] He pursued a graduate degree at the Institute for Communications Research but dropped out in 1976.[1]

Craft later received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles.[7]

Career

Craft began his career at the Chicago Tribune as an art director, a position he held for 10 years.[1] While at the Tribune, he moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin and traveled to Chicago by train, during which he wrote the first draft of his debut novel.[1]

Craft left the Tribune in 1987 to work for his partner's family-owned business, which manufactured musical wind instruments. During his time, he was able to focus on his writing.

In 1991, Craft's debut novel, Rehearsing, was accepted by Los Hombres Press, a small publisher of gay writing in San Diego.[1] The book was released in February 1993.

In the early 2000s, Craft began playwriting and screenwriting.[1] His stage play Photo Flash was performed in 2003 in Wisconsin, then in 2008 in California.[1] In 2011, he was involved in the production of Pink Squirrels, a short, independent film.[1]

Awards

Awards for Craft's writing
Year Title Award Result Ref.
1994 Rehearsing Society of Midland Authors' Adult Fiction Award Finalist [7]
2001 Name Games Lambda Literary Award for Gay Mystery Finalist [3]
2002 Boy Toy Lambda Literary Award for Gay Mystery Finalist [4]
2003 Hot Spot Lambda Literary Award for Gay Mystery Finalist [5]
2018 FlabberGassed Muse Medallion for Cat Mystery Finalist [8]
2019 ChoirMaster Muse Medallion for Mystery Novel Finalist [9]
2020 Lambda Literary Award for Gay Mystery Finalist [10][6]
IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award for LGBTQ Gold [2]

Publications

Novels

  • The Macguffin (2011)
  • Inside Dumont: A Novel in Stories (2016)
  • Desert Getaway (2022)

Claire Gray series

  • Rehearsing (1993)
  • Desert Autumn (2001)
  • Desert Winter (2003)
  • Desert Spring (2004)
  • Desert Summer (2005)

Mark Manning Mysteries

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

Mister Puss series

  • FlabberGassed (2018)
  • ChoirMaster (2019)
  • HomeComing (2020)

Anthology contributions

  • Chase The Moon: Issue One, edited by Matt Creswell (2014)
  • Palm Springs Noir, edited by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett (2021)

Plays

  • Photo Flash (2003, 2008)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "Autobiography". Michael Craft. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  2. 1 2 "Winners: LQBTQ". IBPA Book Award. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  3. 1 2 Gonzalez Cerna, Antonio (2001-07-10). "13th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  4. 1 2 Gonzalez Cerna, Antonio (2002-07-10). "14th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  5. 1 2 Gonzalez Cerna, Antonio (2003-07-10). "15th Annual Lambda Literary Awards". Lambda Literary. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  6. 1 2 Hart, Michelle (2020-03-10). "Here are the Finalists For the 2020 Lambda Literary Awards". Oprah Daily. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  7. 1 2 3 "Michael Craft". The Society of Midland Authors. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  8. ↑ "Member Books by Category". Cat Writer's Association. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  9. ↑ "2019 Communications Contest". Cat Writers’ Association. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  10. ↑ Yee, Katie (2020-03-10). "Here are the finalists for the 2020 Lambda Literary Awards!". Literary Hub. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
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