Michael Z. Williamson

Michael Z. Williamson is a science fiction and military fiction author. Born in Birkenhead, England, he and his family emigrated to Canada, then the United States in 1978. Williamson frequently utilizes the pen names "Mad Mike" and "Crazy Einar". He is retired from the United States Air Force.

Williamson's first book, Freehold, was released in January 2004, it is notable in the Science Fiction genre for having a strong female protagonist. The novel is set in a future wherein the United Nations is a fascist empire. Williamson's next novel, The Hero, was written with New York Times best-selling author John Ringo and takes place within the universe of Ringo's Legacy of the Aldenata series. Both Freehold and The Hero were published by Baen Books. He also has many short stories published in various anthologies.

Williamson has written or published several other works: The Weapon, covering events concurrent to Freehold told from a different point of view; Better to Beg Forgiveness, a story set in the Freehold universe but before the Grainne War series and a follow-on book to that with the same characters: Do Unto Others; and Contact with Chaos set 20 years after the events of The Weapon.

Michael has also written the Target: Terror series, which thus far includes The Scope of Justice, Targets of Opportunity, and Confirmed Kill. These cover the story of two U.S. Army Rangers, engaged in black operations against terrorist groups threatening the United States.

He is also the Editor at Large of SurvivalBlog.com, a blog on disaster preparedness topics.

He and his wife Gail had two children. As of November, 2016, they are now divorced.

Williamson in July 2011, from a photo for a PSA by Oleg Volk.

Grainne War/Aftermath (Freehold Universe)

• Freehold (Baen Books, ISBN 0-7434-7179-2, January 2004)
• The Weapon (Baen Books, ISBN 1-4165-0894-5, August 2005)
• Angeleyes (Baen Books, ISBN 978-1-4767-8186-0, November 2016)
• Rogue (Baen Books, ISBN 978-1-4391-3462-7, September 2011)
• Contact with Chaos (Baen Books, ISBN 1-4165-9154-0 (Hardback), April 2009; ISBN 1-4391-3373-5 (Paperback), July 2010)

Ripple Creek (Freehold Universe)

• Better to Beg Forgiveness... (Baen Books, ISBN 1-4165-5508-0 (Hardback), November 2007; ISBN 1-4165-9151-6 (Paperback), February 2009)
• Do Unto Others (Baen Books, ISBN 1-4391-3383-2 (HB) August 2010; ISBN 1-4391-3459-6 (PB), July 2011)
• When Diplomacy Fails... (Baen Books, ISBN 1-4516-3790-X (HB) August 2012)

Target: Terror series

• The Scope of Justice (Avon, ISBN 0-06-056524-1, July 2004)
• Targets of Opportunity (Avon, ISBN 0-06-056525-X, March 2005)
• Confirmed Kill (Avon, ISBN 0-06-056526-8, September 2005)

Legacy of the Aldenata (with John Ringo)

• The Hero (Baen Books, ISBN 1-4165-0914-3, June 2004)

Other work

• Tour of Duty short story collection, editor (Baen Books, ISBN 1-4516-3905-8 August 2013)
• A Long Time until Now (beginning the Temporal Displacement series, Baen Books, February 2014)

Short stories

Michael Z. Williamson in July 2003

• "Naught but Duty" (December 2005), short story in the anthology Crossroads and Other Tales of Valdemar ISBN 0-7564-0325-1, edited by Mercedes Lackey. DAW Books
• "The Humans Called It Duty" (March 2007), short story in the anthology Future Weapons of War ISBN 1-4165-2112-7, edited by Joe Haldeman and Martin H. Greenberg. Baen Books
• "The Sword Dancer" (December 2008), short story in the anthology Moving Targets and Other Tales of Valdemar ISBN 0-7564-0528-9, edited by Mercedes Lackey
• "Wounded Bird" (December 2009), short story in the anthology Changing the World: All-New Tales of Valdemar ISBN 0-7564-0580-7, edited by Mercedes Lackey
• "The Price" (May 2010), short story in the anthology Citizens ISBN 1-4391-3347-6, edited by John Ringo and Brian Thomsen. Baen Books
• "The Groom's Price" (December 2010), Co-Written with Gail Sanders, short story in the anthology Finding the Way and Other Tales of Valdemar ISBN 0-7564-0633-1, edited by Mercedes Lackey
• "Battle's Tide" (August 2011), short story in the anthology Exiled: Clan of the Claw ISBN 1-4391-3441-3, edited by Bill Fawcett. Baen Books
• "The Brute Force Approach" (August 2011), free short story published in Free Short Stories 2011 by Baen Books.
• "Heads You Lose" (August 2011), short story in the anthology Lawyers in Hell ISBN 1-937035-01-8, edited by Janet Morris and Chris Morris.
• "The Bride's Task" (December 2011), Co-written with Gail Sanders, short story in the anthology Under the Vale and Other Tales of Valdemar ISBN 0-7564-0696-X, edited by Mercedes Lackey.
• "A Flower Grows in Whitechapel" (December 2012), Co-written with Gail Sanders, short story in the anthology Elemental Magic ISBN 0-7564-0787-7, edited by Mercedes Lackey