Michael J. Sullivan (author)

Michael J. Sullivan
Michael J. Sullivan
Born	September 17, 1961 (1961-09-17) (age 50) Detroit, Michigan
Occupation	Author
Nationality	American
Genres	Epic fantasy
Influences Tolkien, Steinbeck, Hemingway, King, Rowlings, Hosseini, Rand
michaelsullivan-author.com

Michael J. Sullivan is a contemporary American author of epic fantasy as well as an artist. He cites the following major influences on his writing: plotting from Tolkien, setting from Steinbeck, brevity from Hemingway, characterization from Stephen King, fun from J. K. Rowling, trusting the reader from Khaled Hosseini, and character descriptions from Ayn Rand.^[1]

Sullivan resides in Fairfax, Virginia.

History

Sullivan began writing at the age of ten.^[2] Over a span of fifteen years, he wrote thirteen novels, but never made any serious attempts at publishing them. When he finally decided to seek publication, it was to produce a series of books that he wrote for his dyslexic daughter. His first published work, The Crown Conspiracy, was released in October 2008.^[3]

The Riyria Revelations

The Riyria Revelations is a six-book epic fantasy series. All the books were written before the first one was released.^[4] It abandons the recent trends in fantasy toward the lengthy, gritty, and dark, and brings the genre back to its roots and traditional elements.^[5] The series is centered around two thieves, Royce Melborne and Hadrian Blackwater and contains adventure, humor, and twisting plots. The two are reminiscent of buddy cop movies but set in a fantasy setting.^[6] Sullivan style has been compared to David Eddings and early Raymond E. Feist.^[7]

Bibliography

• The Crown Conspiracy, Aspirations Media (2008), ISBN 0980003431; Ridan Publishing (2010), ISBN 0979621135
• Avempartha (2009), Ridan Publishing, ISBN 0979621119
• Nyphron Rising (2009), Ridan Publishing, ISBN 0979621143
• The Emerald Storm (2010), Ridan Publishing, ISBN 0982514530
• Wintertide, (2010), Ridan Publishing, ISBN 978-0982514580
• Percepliquis (2012) Orbit Publishing, ISBN 978-1937475017 (forthcoming limited run, January 2012)
• Theft of Swords (2011) Collects "The Crown Conspiracy and Avempartha" Orbit Publishing ISBN 978-0316187749 (forthcoming, November 2011)
• Rise of Empire (2011) Collects "Nyphron Rising and The Emerald Storm" Orbit Publishing ISBN 978-0316187701 (forthcoming, December 2011)
• Heir of Novron (2011) Collects "Wintertide and Percepliquis" Orbit Publishing ISBN 978-0316187718 (forthcoming, January 2012)

Awards and recognition

• 2012 Fantasy Book Critic's Top 5 Anticipated Releases for Q1 for Heir of Novron ^[8]
• 2011 Civilian's Reader 6 Most Anticipated Reads for Dec for Rise of Empire ^[9]
• 2011 Library Journal's Best Books for Fantasy/Sci-Fi for Theft of Swords ^[10]
• 2012 Civilian Reader's Top Five List for January 2012 for Heir of Novron ^[11]
• 2011 Library Journal's Fantasy/Sci-Fi Debut For September for Theft of Swords ^[12]
• 2011 Civilian's Reader 5 Most Anticipated Reads for Nov for Theft of Swords ^[13]
• 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Top 25 Novels for The Emerald Storm and Wintertide ^[14]
• 2010 Top 10 Read in 2010 List by Only the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy for The Crown Conspiracy ^[15]
• 2010 GoodReads Choice Award Nominee for The Emerald Storm ^[16]
• 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Top Independent Novels for The Emerald Storm and Wintertide ^[17]
• 2010 Bookworm Blues Best Overall Read for Avempartha ^[18]
• 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Top Independent Novels for The Emerald Storm and Wintertide ^[19]
• 2010 Iceberg Ink Best Read Award for The Crown Conspiracy ^[20]
• 2010 Fantasy Book Critic Anticipated Releases for The Emerald Storm and Wintertide ^[21]
• 2009 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Finalist for Fantasy for Avempartha^[22]
• 2009 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Finalist for Fantasy for Nyphron Rising^[23]
• 2009 Dark Wolf Award for The Riyria Revelations^[24]
• 2009 National Indie Excellence Award Finalist for Fantasy for The Crown Conspiracy^[25]
• 2009 Dark Wolf Top 5 books of First Half of 2009 for The Crown Conspiracy ^[26]
• 2009 Fantasy Book Critic Notable Fantasy Book for Avempartha ^[27]
• 2008 Fantasy Book Critic Notable Indie for The Crown Conspiracy^[28]
• 2008 ReaderViews Literary Award Finalist for Fantasy for The Crown Conspiracy^[29]
• 2007 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Finalist for Fantasy for The Crown Conspiracy ^[30]

Cover art

In addition to writing, Sullivan received a scholarship to attend the Center for Creative Studies as an artist. He formed his own advertising agency in 1996 and ran it until 2005 when he closed it to write full time.^[31] Sullivan also created the cover art for the series The Riyria Revelations.^[32] Unlike the depictions of the main characters on the covers of many fantasy novels, Sullivan instead illustrates on the cover a scene from the book.^[33]

On May 31 Orbit Books announced their copies of the Riyria Revelations Covers^[34]

Publishers

Aspirations Media was the first publisher to print Sullivan's work ^[35] releasing The Crown Conspiracy in October 2008. They also had a contract to publish his second book Avempartha, but by April 2009^[36] it was announced that economic conditions required them to cancel the release of the second volume in the series. AMI's first printing of The Crown Conspiracy sold out in December 2009.^[37]

Ridan Publishing released the first edition of Avempartha in April 2009 and obtained the rights to The Crown Conspiracy from AMI, producing a second edition of that book in January 2010. They have subsequently released Nyphron Rising and The Emerald Storm, the third and fourth volumes in the series.^[38] Ridan is planning to release all six books in the Riyria Revelations series.

In March, 2010 it was announced that two publishers in the Czech Republic were bidding for translations rights for that region.^[39]

In February, 2011 it was announced that Orbit Books (an imprint of Hachette Book Group) signed Michael to a 3-book deal.^[40] The exact numbers have not been reported but Fantasy Book Critic^[41] reported that Jack Womack of Orbit disclosed it was a six-figure deal negotiated with agent Teri Tobias. The trilogy is being released in three consecuative months: Theft of Swords (Nov 2011), Rise of Empire (Dec 2011), Heir of Novron (Jan 2012) The exact numbers have not been reported but Fantasy Book Critic^[42].

External links

• Author's Home Page
• Author's Blog
• Author's Publishers Page
• Publisher's Author Page
• Michael J. Sullivan at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database

References

1. ^ "Interview - Michael J. Sullivan". Dark Wolf's Fantasy Reviews. 2009-07-17. http://darkwolfsfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/2009/07/interview-michael-j-sullivan.html. Retrieved 2010-11-16. 
2. ^ "Author Biography: Michael J. Sullivan". Ridan Publishing. http://www.ridanpublishing.com/michaelsullivan.html. Retrieved 2010-11-16. 
3. ^ O'Connell, Michael (2008-09-25). "Getting to Know...Fairfax author Michael Sullivan". Springfield Connection. http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=320089&paper=72&cat=104. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
4. ^ "Review: The Crown Conspiracy by Michael J. Sullivan". King of the Nerds. 2008-05-11. http://kingofthenerds.wordpress.com/2009/05/11/review-the-crown-conspiracy-by-michael-j-sullivan. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
5. ^ "Review: Avempartha". Speculative Fiction Junkie. 2009-07-03. http://speculativefictionjunkie.blogspot.com/2009/07/review-avempartha.html. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
6. ^ Moore, Tammy. "The Crown Conspiracy: Michael J. Sullivan". SF Site. http://www.sfsite.com/10b/cc306.htm. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
7. ^ "The Crown Conspiracy: Familiar and comfortable". Fantasy Literature. 2010-01-13. http://www.fantasyliterature.com/sullivanmichaelj.html. Retrieved 2010-01-31. 
8. ^ "Some Highly Anticipated 2012 Books: January-March". Fantasy Book Critic. 2010-12-26. http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2011/10/some-highly-anticipated-2012-books.html. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
9. ^ "2011 Releases Here's a list of the titles I'm most looking forward to in 2011, by month of UK release.". Civilian Reader. 2011-11-11. http://civilian-reader.blogspot.com/p/2011-releases.html. Retrieved 2011-11-18. 
10. ^ "Best Books 2011: SF/FantasyBest". Library Journal. 2011-15-09. http://reviews.libraryjournal.com/2011/11/best-of/best-genre/best-books-2011-sf-fantasy/. Retrieved 2011-11-18. 
11. ^ "2012 Releases". Library Journal. 2011-11-11. http://civilian-reader.blogspot.com/p/2012-releases.html. Retrieved 2011-11-18. 
12. ^ "Science Fiction/Fantasy, September 2011". Library Journal. 2011-15-09. http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/reviews/book/891691-421/science_fictionfantasy_september_2011.html.csp. Retrieved 2011-11-18. 
13. ^ "November’s Most Anticipated". Civilian Reader. 2011-10-31. http://civilian-reader.blogspot.com/2011/10/novembers-most-anticipated.html. Retrieved 2011-11-18. 
14. ^ "Top Independent Novels of 2010". Fantasy Book Critic. 2010-12-26. http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-top-25-novels-of-2010-in-covers-30.html. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
15. ^ "Only the Best of 20 ten (and also some of the worst)". Only the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy. 2011-01-10. http://onlythebestscifi.blogspot.com/2011/01/only-best-of-20-ten-and-also-some-of.html. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
16. ^ "2010 GoodReads Choice Awards". Goodreads.com. 2010-12-26. http://www.goodreads.com/award/choice#41637-Fantasy. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
17. ^ "Top Independent Novels of 2010". Fantasy Book Critic. 2011-01-09. http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-top-independent-novels-of-2010-by.html. Retrieved 2011-02-2 2. 
18. ^ "My epic "Blah-blah-blah of 2010" list". Bookworm Blues. 2010-12-22. http://bookwormblues.blogspot.com/search?q=best+of+2010. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
19. ^ "Top Independent Novels of 2010". Fantasy Book Critic. 2011-01-09. http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-top-independent-novels-of-2010-by.html. Retrieved 2011-02-2 2. 
20. ^ "2010 Iceberg Ink Awards". Iceberg Ink. 2010-12-23. http://icebergink.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-iceberg-ink-awards.html. Retrieved 2011-02-2 2. 
21. ^ "Liviu's Anticipated 2010 Releases Part 2". Fantasy Book Critic. 2009-12-12. http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2009/12/livius-anticipated-2010-releases-part-2.html. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
22. ^ "Book of the Year Award Finalists". Foreword Magazine. http://www.bookoftheyearawards.com/finalists/2009/category/fiction-science-fiction-fantasy/. Retrieved 2010-04-01. 
23. ^ "Book of the Year Award Finalists". Foreword Magazine. http://www.bookoftheyearawards.com/finalists/2009/category/fiction-science-fiction-fantasy/. Retrieved 2010-04-01. 
24. ^ "Dark Wolf's Awards 2009". Dark Wolf's Fantasy Reviews. 2009-12-30. http://darkwolfsfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/2009/12/dark-wolfs-awards-for-2009.html. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
25. ^ "Winners & Finalists of the 2009 Awards". National Indie Excellence Awards. http://www.indieexcellence.com/indie-results-2009.php#37. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
26. ^ "Looking over the first half of 2009". Dark Wolf Fantasy Awards. 2009-06-30. http://darkwolfsfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/2009/06/looking-over-first-half-of-2009.html. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
27. ^ "The First Half of 2009 Part 1: Fantasy and Mainstream". Fantasy Book Critic. http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2009/07/first-half-of-2009-part-1-fantasy-and.html. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
28. ^ Suciu, Liviu. "Fantasy Book Critic’s 2008 Review/2009 Preview—Liviu C. Suciu". Fantasy Book Critic. http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2009/01/fantasy-book-critics-2008-review2009_16.html. Retrieved 2007-09-22. 
29. ^ "2008 Literary Awards Finalists". ReaderViews Magazine. http://www.readerviews.com/Awards2008SemiFinalists.html. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
30. ^ "Book of the Year Award Winners". Foreword Magazine. http://www.forewordmagazine.net/botya/search2k7.aspx?srchtype=title&srchval=The%20Crown%20Conspiracy. Retrieved 2010-01-26. 
31. ^ "Biography: Michael J. Sullivan". Fantasy Literature. http://www.fantasyliterature.com/sullivanmichaelj.html. Retrieved 2009-08-07. 
32. ^ Marie, Dee (2008-11-03). "Behind The Crown Conspiracy". Renderosity Magazine. http://renderosity.com/news.php?viewStory=14302. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
33. ^ "Cover Art - The Riyria Revlations". Dark Wolf's Fantasy Reviews. 2009-07-02. http://darkwolfsfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/2009/07/cover-art-riyria-revelations.html. Retrieved 2010-01-16. 
34. ^ ."Cover Launch: THE RIYRIA REVELATIONS by Michael J. Sullivan". Orbit Books. http://www.orbitbooks.net/2011/05/31/cover-launch-the-riyria-revelations-by-michael-j-sullivan/. Retrieved 2011-06-01. 
35. ^ "Behind the Crown Conspiracy". Renderosity. http://renderosity.com/news.php?viewStory=14302. Retrieved 2008-11-03. 
36. ^ "April Fools, Not So Funny". Author's Blog. 2009-03-20. http://riyria.blogspot.com/2009/03/april-fools-not-so-funny.html. Retrieved 2010-04-01. 
37. ^ "Author Michael Sullivan Offers Signed Copies of His Sold Out Debut". Fantasy Book Critic. 2009-12-28. http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2009/12/author-michael-sullivan-offers-signed.html. Retrieved 2010-04-01. 
38. ^ "The Emerald Storm: Fourth Book in the Riyria Revelations". Fantastic Fiction. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/michael-j-sullivan/emerald-storm.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-01. 
39. ^ "No Really, I’m Big in Czechoslovakia". Author's Blog. 2009-12-28. http://riyria.blogspot.com/2010/03/no-really-im-big-in-czechoslovakia.html. Retrieved 2019-04-01. 
40. ^ "Orbit acquires self-published ebook bestseller". Orbit Publishing Blog. 2011-02-22. http://www.orbitbooks.net/2011/02/22/orbit-acquires-self-published-ebook-bestseller/#more-16215. Retrieved 2019-04-01. 
41. ^ "Orbit Acquires Michael Sullivan's Ryria Revelations in a Significant Deal". Fantasy Book Critic. 2011-02-22. http://fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com/2011/02/orbit-acquires-michael-sullivans-ryria.html. Retrieved 2011-02-22. 
42. ^ "Bro-mance is never out of style!". Orbit. 2011-15-11. http://www.orbitbooks.net/2011/11/15/bro-mance-is-never-out-of-style/. Retrieved 2011-11-19. 

Persondata
Name	Michael, Sullivan
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1961-09-17
Place of birth	Detroit, Michigan
Date of death
Place of death