Mike Fry

I have lived in Oklahoma most of my life. It has it's good sides and down ones, but overall it's a pretty nice place to live. There's a lot of energy here, if you know where to look. Being in the center of the country (maybe the center of the universe) has made Oklahoma an attractive place for many seeking the anonymity that existence here sometimes entails. We have an interesting, young history that encompasses the Old West and the new Space Age. I've grown up seeing Oklahoma City change and improve from a run-down dying place to a modern, entertainment Mecca.

I'm a proud Vietnam veteran. I served in Cam Rahn Bay in 1971. Not the toughest of wartime assignment being a clerk typist. I was fortunate in that, but unlucky to have received such a high draft number (18). I graduated from Putnam City High School in 1969 as the uncrowned class clown. It's a wonder they passed me through at all. Maybe they just wanted to be rid of my wise cracking ways.

After my term in the U.S. Army I attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater under the GI Bill, receiving degrees in English and English Education. I'm a lifetime supporter of all OSU sports to this day.But I soon discovered I wasn't built to be a teacher, even though I got to try it in Depew, Oklahoma. I've also worked at being a school janitor, a pizza maker, a waiter, a publicist at Yukon National Bank in Yukon, at a camera store called Baker Photo, at Kerr McGee, and at the Bethany Tribune and the Yukon Sun newspapers.

I later received my Masters of English/Creative Studies, focusing on screenplay writing, from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, OK. I had excellent writing teachers at UCO and would recommend that university and their department for all beginning writers. Dr. Clifton Warren was the Dean. My favorite teachers, who are authors themselves, were Linda McDonald (Crimes of Redemption, Death in Comanche County, In A World of Hurt), Mike MccQuay (Escape from New York, Jitterbug, the Matthew Swain series), and Hansford Martin, also a published author.

I'm married and my wife and I have two children who I love dearly. I also have a child who's half Vietnamese who lives in Dallas, Texas, and she has five children and many grandchildren scattered in Texas.

I have three self-published books currently in print: "Veetch: A Shoshone Shaman, a '58 Edsel, a UFO, and a Magical Key Save America's Bacon," "The Lipstick Case from Outer Space," and my latest novel "Medicine Odds: Magic and Luck in Cheyenne Country."

Veetch tells the story of an abandoned albino child, who grows to discover his differences are actually his strengths, as he learns to fit in, gain strength and acceptance, and battles to save his pristine environment from a destructive gold rush. He must also unlock the power of a secret artifact left on earth long ago to prevent the destruction of the western half of the United States.

In the Lipstick Case from Outer Space my main character finds himself in a dystopian America, where pollution is so bad a person can't go outside without lots of protection, even then, it's unsafe to remain in the elements for long, because radiation and other pollutants have decimated this world. All the rich men and beautiful women have flown to the exo-planet Eros, an off-world paradise, leaving the men of earth scrambling to find a mate. Most turn to booty-bots, robotic imitations. Harry needs to have a booty-bot in his life, but he doesn't have the necessary MUTs (Monetary Units of Transaction).

Medicine Odds explores slot-machine gambling in my native Oklahoma by focusing on a particular casino near me. Rumors are that a Magic Slot Machine exists therein and my main character could sure use some of that. But to get to play that machine he must acknowledge his own Cheyenne blood, go through several rituals, compete for the love of a cashier, and battle with a powerful energy corporation. His obsession with gambling turns into a battle for the rights of all Native Americans, and with the aid of Medicine (Sacred Objects and Powers) he puts his life on the line to secure those rights.

So if you feel like a little off-beat reading then order one of my novel.