Mike was born and raised in Kirkland Lake, a small northern mining town with a nearby First Nations reserve. He grew up with a love of the north, winter or summer, exploring the surrounding woods with his friends, and his grandfather. He moved down south in his 20's to follow a career in quality management, but his real pleasure was still heading outside the city, with canoe and tent. While in Toronto he also developed an interest in back-alley murals, in artistic graffiti, and worked with some police there that saw its potential as a community building exercise. He'd always been a voracious reader, so several years into retirement he decided to try writing, and hasn't stopped since.
