Michael Stafford

Being raised in rural southern Illinois during the fifties and sixties, a part of America where farming and manual labor was the norm, my early life was centered around sports and education. As I changed and grew, America transformed itself into a land less moral but more inclusive. Recognizing and coming to grips with our evolution and place in nature's order seemed to be very important, even at an early age. I was on the right track and now my issues with society and the world I live in have come full circle, and my books reflect that evolution and concern. Between the Walls of Time is a story about a man who challenges authority, and wins for the people, not just himself. It is about who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. Oblivion's Reach is about losing your faith and getting it back. My latest novel, The Cotton King, is an environmental mystery about two very different individuals who have become killers, and a snake of significant proportion. My next work-in-progress is entitled The Land Above the Air. This is the story of two sisters, both real, who escaped and survived The Trail of Tears. Their culture, the forces that sought to strip them of everything they held dear, and their destination are all brought under the microscope of history.