Featured Author - Michael Drakich! - Part 1

I’m a professional Realtor by trade, selling for over thirty years now. Divorced eight years, I have three children, a daughter, Brooke, 21 and two sons, Miles, 19 and Erik, 17. At the age of fifty-three, I’m probably a lot older than many writers when they enter the field. But I don’t consider that a hindrance. I’ve always been an avid reader, but it took my divorce to give me the impetus to begin writing. When those times came where my kids were absent, I decided to use the time to try my hand at writing. On Monday, February 20, 2006, at 4:23:53 PM, I sat down and began the process. Choosing science fiction and fantasy as the genres of choice was an easy one. When I was a kid, the local library was only a block from my house. I bet I read every sci-fi and fantasy on its shelves. I grew up at a time when the space race was real and when the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey came out [1969], science fiction went mainstream. It’s an easy genre to fall in love with because its level of escapism is unmatched by any other. I recall when Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope hit the theatres [1977], I saw it eleven times! Even today, I follow what’s up with NASA and all facets of exploring our universe. I find it simply romantic.

[Please Note: Science Fiction/Fantasy wasn’t just for the theaters at this time, either! There were a couple of groups - Arkham (1970-72), Black Sabbath (1970 – “Behind the Wall of Sleep”), Blue Oyster Cult (several songs from 1976 to 2001) - who wrote music based on science fiction authors, such as H.P. Lovecraft, who moved and inspired them. Bands like Led Zeppelin found inspiration for Led Zeppelin IV from J.R.R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings and Iron Maiden based the song, “To Tame a Land” on Dune by Frank Herbert. Of course there are many other works of literature that proved inspiration for music, but that is for another time! :)
References: www.hplovecraft.com , www.examiner.com - in this article, though, the author shows the Piece of Mind album cover but mistakenly refers to the band as Metallica. These are definitely Iron Maiden’s works though!]