Michael P AmramI earned a BA degree in English from the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 1989. Success, having my writing read and possibly bought, was always the plan. To implement it, I began writing stories, poetry, snippets of everything I saw. Before I was maried, I lived (and made it out alive) in a very much crack-infested urban area of South Minneapolis. I dealt with roaches, crack-heads and shrill siren sounds every night. The days, hanging out at Brit's Pub, gave me insight to how the have-nots live. I grew up in the relatively tranquil suburb of Richfield, Minnesota. During and after college I traveled. Germany, France, Egypt, England, Israel, Norway can be claimed as places I've visited, derived poems from, recorded my benign experiences. My first Poetry book, Scenes the Writer Shows {forty-one places a poem can go} conspires to retell the snippets of life abroad. My pose has so far manifested itself in the genres of nonfiction, creative nonfiction, and historical fiction. My first novel, The Orthodoxy of Arrogance (Trafford, 2013) is historical fiction. My second novel, Agent of Orange (Trafford, 2014) also fictionalizes history in a way James A Michener never did. I relate fads, trends, and news events of the time to my characters. I write how they live, what they learn, and how the events affect their lives. My first effort was a small nonfiction book called Would God Move a Ping-Pong Table: a cumulative analysis of faith and religion (Loft Press, 2005). This book follows religion, and the faith it requires, from the Inquisition to the September 11 terrorist attacks. It is full of factual information dealing with everything from faith healing to the Golden Rule. The only part that borders on creative nonfiction is the chapter from which the title comes. At UMD I prayed for a Ping-Pong table to be moved, and it was, ostensibly by supernatural forces. My other shorter stories have been published in paper and online magazines, anthologies, and journals. My first occurred in 1998. I currently participate in a writer's group at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis. Read More Read Less
