Underneath the ink, my name is Michael. I am a Master's student of English at Arizona State University (#forksup) and a rebel theologian with scars to prove it. I earned my undergraduate in English with Cum Laude Honors and an induction into The National English Society.

I believe in Jesus Christ, not as a metaphor but as my Lord and Savior. The Bible is my compass, even as I navigate literary hallucinations, cinematic overdoses, and cultural contradictions. I hold scripture in one hand and Edgar Allan Poe in the other. Sometimes, they even whisper to each other back and forth on my shoulders.

My work has roots in personal experience—loss, love, addiction, faith—and branches into public scholarship. I’m currently developing a research project that argues the Genesis creation account is not at odds with modern cosmology but may in fact contain the divine echoes of Einstein’s relativity and the Big Bang.

Additionally, I am developing/coining a new theory called "The Literary Blackout"--an idea that came to fruition when I realized that there is minimal research surrounding how drugs intersect with narrative and bleed into the culture we idolize today, although, it is rooted in dangerous/illegal behavior. Moreover, I am turning essays into publications, short stories into a book, and building a website to offer editorial services.

Don't worry ... a novel is coming, too. I know. Patience is hard; although, it is a virtue, right?

Somewhere between Psalm 51, The Rolling Stones, Pulp Fiction, and Lil Wayne, I found my voice; however, it was God and my mother, Sherri, who lit the fire in my eyes and gave my fingers cocaine-like speed on a keyboard.

If you’re looking for clean lines, poetic grit, or a mind that doesn’t flinch when faith and culture clash—stay a while ... you might like it in here.