Michael grew up in the USSR. After moving to the U.S. and earning a History degree from UC Berkeley, he worked jobs from commercial fishing to radio hosting before landing in cinematography. Michael directed several shorts that screened at international festivals and has nearly a hundred VFX credits in film and TV. BLIND SIDE OF THE SUN is Michael’s debut. He began it in Russian and switched to English midway, which felt proper for a book about borrowed identity. An earlier version was a Top Pick in the 2024 Claymore Awards (Historical Mystery) and longlisted for the Letter Review Prize for Unpublished Books.