Michael Nethercott: Biography
My mother’s parents were off-the-boat Irish from County
Kerry, while my father’s ancestry drew from both Ireland and Italy. I,
being the sum of that, consider myself Irish-American, with a fistful of
Italian for flavor.
I count myself as a New Englander, despite the fact that I spent my first seven years in New York State. I grew up in Connecticut, spent a good chunk of my twenties in Massachusetts, lived one summer in Maine and one winter in New Hampshire, and eventually settled in Vermont. There I met my wife and co-authored my daughter and son.
My path through life
has been a somewhat curvy, nonconventional one. At different points (not
necessarily in order) I’ve 
been a performing clown,
storyteller, actor, backpacking traveler, housedad, organizer of
theatrical events, door-to-door environmental fundraiser, and co-owner
of a cooperative natural food restaurant. I also spent a couple summers
with my kids touring as a family act, offering shows at numerous Vermont
libraries. And from time to time, I’ve organized personalized adventures
for individuals, rites of passages in a sense, involving theatrics,
introspection, and physical challenges (kind of hard to explain.)
In the midst of this hodgepodge, there has been one constant: writing. Over the years, I’ve put my hand to different genres and forms and have appeared in various national periodicals. I currently have an agreement with St. Martin’s Press to publish two traditional mystery novels featuring my detective team of O’Nelligan and Plunkett. My other credits include Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine; The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction; Plays, the Drama Magazine for Young People; Cobblestone; Hopscotch for Girls; Chrysalis Journal; Crimestalkers Casebook; and the anthologies By Hook or By Crook: The Best Crime and Mystery Stories of the Year, Dead Promises, Gods and Monsters, Thin Ice, and Dead Calm: Best New England Crime Stories. 
In addition, my novella “O’Nelligan’s Glory,” winner of the Black Orchid Novella Award sponsored by Hitchcock Magazine and the Wolfe Pack (an organization of mystery aficionados) is included in By Hook or By Crook: The Best Crime and Mystery Stories of the Year. My one-act play “The Best Wine,” a tale of the French Resistance, won the Nor’easter Playwrights Competition and was selected for full production. Like many a writer, I also have a cache of works still seeking publication including a juvenile novel and two screenplays, one concerning a mysterious troupe of performers, the other an historic drama about the abolitionist John Brown. Additionally, I’ve conducted writer’s workshops in various forums, and have led prison workshops for the PEN American Center, in a program which encourages inmates to write and share poetry and prose.
I’ve no doubt done other things in my life, but who can keep track of it all?