Michael Blake
Michael Blake began his writing career developing screenplays in Los Angeles. After discussing a new idea for a historical film with Kevin Costner, the budding actor encouraged Michael to write the story as a novel, concerned that as a script the story would never reach the screen. The novel, Dances With Wolves, immediately became a number one New York Times bestseller. Michael Blake went on to receive an Academy Award for his screenplay, and has been writing novels and film scripts ever since.
In 2001, the sequel to Dances With Wolves, a historical novel depicting the disappearance of the Native Americans from the free plains, was released under the title The Holy Road. Unfortunately, the novel debuted on September 11th, and was largely overlooked until ZOVA Books acquired the rights. The rerelease of The Holy Road, followed by Michael's brand new World War I novel, Into the Stars, is scheduled for summer 2011. Michael Blake now lives on a ranch outside Tucson, Arizona, where he takes in wounded horses and continues to write.
Works
Dances With Wolves (rerelease) - 2011 - In honor of the 20th Anniversary of the Academy Award-Winning film adaptation of the novel, Michael Blake's historical masterpiece Dances With Wolves is now available in digital form. With a new preface by the author, the e-book edition of Dances With Wolves brings the 1988 classic to a new generation of readers. When Lieutenant Dunbar receives his orders to join the regiment stationed at Fort Sedgewick, he has no idea that the post has been completely abandoned. Left to guard the fort alone, Dunbar finds himself with nothing but the open prairie for company - that is, until a band of Comanche Indians returns to their summer grounds a few miles away. Dunbar is soon faced with a choice between his obedient solitude and the compelling way of life offered by the neighboring Indian people. But each choice has its consequences. This man of the prairie will first have to decide whether he is Lieutenant John J. Dunbar, U.S.A, or the Comanche warrior known as Dances With Wolves.
The Holy Road (rerelease) - 2011 - THE GRIPPING, EMOTIONAL SEQUEL TO DANCES WITH WOLVES. The Comanche people have evaded the white settlers for years, relying on their knowledge of the land and the strength of their warriors for protection. But with the fast encroaching railroad cutting across the countryside, there's nowhere left to go as an independent people. When the white representatives give them an ultimatum - to move to a reservation or face the armies of America - the Comanches must each make the choice for themselves, to accept the imprisonment of their people and the dissolution of their culture, or to suffer inevitable extinction. In this heart-wrenching sequel to the #1 New York Times bestseller, Dances With Wolves, all the familiar characters - Stands With A Fist, Kicking Bird, Wind In His Hair, and of course, the man who was Lieutenant John J. Dunbar - return with new, vivid complexity. A novel for any age, The Holy Road sheds compelling light on human resilience, social consequences, and the nature of freedom.
Into the Stars - 2011 - A new novel about one man's search for peace, in the time of war.
Trapped behind enemy lines in the midst of World War I, Ledyard Dixon has three choices. He can surrender to the enemy, he can stay on the run till the war is over, or he can find his way back across enemy territory, through enemy lines, and over the vast expanse of no man's land to rejoin his regiment. Nothing in the world calls him back to the theater of war, but even in the empty villages across the disputed countryside, there is no escaping it, either. As he wanders in search of safety, Ledyard meets an abandoned cavalry horse, Drayton. With Drayton's help, Ledyard avoids capture again and again, both by carrying him away from danger, and by uniting those around him with the common bond of animal affection. There, in the midst of war and danger, Ledyard learns what it means to love. He is taught by Drayton, who's faithful companionship proves stronger than any human bond, as well as a lone woman with whom they take shelter. Stripped by poverty and grief, the woman has nothing to offer but love. But no bond, however profound, can keep the war at bay. Together, horse and rider learn to fight for life, for beauty, and for peace. With Drayton, Ledyard just might find a way to ride out the war without losing his soul.
Airman Mortensen - 2012
The Two We Never Knew - 2012