Michael spent the last 25 years fitting in his writing around job and family obligations. He began writing my first novel in 1978 while a small-town police officer working night shifts. When things quieted down after 0300 AM he would park his cruiser near an intersection where he could keep an eye on the town and fill his pad up with text. Toward the end of his shift he would go to the office and type it up before heading home. H usually produced about 2,000 words of material per night and the first draft of his first book (Time Loves a Hero- a science fiction novel) was finished in about six months. When he moved on to a career in international security and Intel in West Africa in 1988 he managed to find the time to record more adventures between (and often in the midst of) African revolutions. He completed his second book (a Memoir- Tales of a Country Cop in Africa) in 1993. Michael’s third book (The Role of the Security Officer- a training manual) was published while he was employed full-time as a security manager and trainer for an armored truck company in Washington State. Michael retired early at fifty-seven years of age in order to devote him his time to writing. In 2007 he completed tree more books: a 257,000 word personal memoir titled A Novel Life… a prequel and sequel to Tales of a Country Cop in Africa, a book of poetry and prose called, Surviving the Darkness and Fatu the Lioness, a children’s book set in West Africa (where he lived for many years). Michael says: “As my creative writing professor in college used to say over and over, Writers, Write! He also used to say that most writers who succeed in the field have to produce around a million words before they ever see their name in print. I have always heeded his wisdom and followed his advice largely because I simply love to write. Writers do indeed, write. We write because we love words and because we love creating new and interesting characters and worlds on paper. We write because we love sharing those worlds and words with others. We write not because we need to be rich, or because we crave recognition, but because we are thinkers and we feel compelled to communicate those thoughts”. Michael says: “As my creative writing professor in college used to say over and over, Writers, Write! He also used to say that most writers who succeed in the field have to produce around a million words before they ever see their name in print. I have always heeded his wisdom and followed his advice largely because I simply love to write. Writers do indeed, write. We write because we love words and because we love creating new and interesting characters and worlds on paper. We write because we love sharing those worlds and words with others. We write not because we need to be rich, or because we crave recognition, but because we are thinkers and we feel compelled to communicate those thoughts”.

Michael Jaquish is a published poet, novelist and international journalist who has written for a variety of publications including Soldier of Fortune magazine. Following his retirement from law enforcement administration in the Pacific Northwest, he worked overseas in West Africa for many years providing security and Intel for US Embassy operations, the European Union, The United Nations, Save the Children and Voice of America as well as logistical support for NASA's space shuttle abort landing site in The Gambia. He currently resides in Gig Harbor, Washington, where he writes and provides firearms and street survival training for private security operations, serves as an international consultant and works as a private investigator and expert witness regarding matters of security guard training and management. To date he has published eight books and numerous articles and short stories.

Fatu & The Liones
This is a traditional West African children’s story that has up to now, been passed down through the generations by village elders to children around camp fires beneath the great African moon. Fatu is the wife of Momodou and she is without child and unhappy because her husband, a village fisherman, ignores her for his fishing duties. She seeks help from the local Marabout man (witch doctor) who lives in a great, hollow baobab tree in the jungle and is sent on a quest to obtain breast milk from a nursing lioness. Her search and what happens after contains a valuable life-lesson for young African children. This is a very special story that deserves to be shared with children everywhere. Product Details: PDF (10182 kb)

A Novel Life
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a cop, a Merchant Marine or a spy rubbing shoulders with ambassadors, mercenaries and gold and diamond smugglers in South America, Asia and Africa surrounded by revolution and political intrigue? If you read some of this in Soldier of Fortune Magazine or TALES OF A COUNTRY COP IN AFRICA, you will be riveted by the rest of the story. The author shares his convoluted journey beginning with his birth so you can discover for yourself what it takes to form a man into the kind of person who packs three lifetimes into one as he survives three African revolutions and overcomes more challenges than the average person ever has to face.

Surviving The Darkness
Regardless of how strong and prepared we think we are, life has a way of humbling us with unexpected challenges from time to time. How we react to those challenges eventually comes to define the kind of person we are. This little book of prose, poetry and sketches sprung from the heart of a journey that carried the author down a series of dark and dreary pathways and back into the light, providing him with an awareness that what happens to us is not nearly as important as how we react to what happens to us. The author uses poetry to show how adversity can be confronted as you decide whether to surrender or survive. He chose survival and his journey should inspire others who face similar challenges. The stories that follow the poetry serve as entertaining evidence of that survival.

A Life Well Traveled
This collection of previously published poems and short stories is a tribute to the creativity and skill of Orpha June Coburn-Jaquish (1931-2002), a truly unique and wonderful woman who saw life as few are privileged to view it. As you open these pages you will step into her world and travel with her through her youth into her winter years, sharing her passion for life. It is a life of tears and joy, sunshine and thunder, pain and joy, birth and death… all that life has to offer, and more. And it is presented in a way that only Orpha June could have done.