Michael Barnette grew up in the wilds of Miami, Florida where he enjoyed the nightlife and wide variety of cultures, but not the late night driveby shootings. Deciding on a change of pace, Michael moved to Athens, Georgia where he lived for several years before migrating west. He misses the ethnic food in Miami, he doesn't miss the driveby shootings.

The last two years he was in Miami, Michael went from being a poet to writing short stories. One of the short stories he wrote, Zoner, was also the first gay erotica he'd ever written. Set in his cyberpunk world setting?which takes place in a future variant of Miami?and using characters established from an unfinished novel he was working on, he submitted the story to Circlet Press. The story was published and has been well received in the gay community, garnering a Gaylactic Spectrum Award nomination in 2003, while the anthology, Wired Hard #3, was a finalist for the Lamda Literary award that same year. He has since been nominated for the Gaylactic Spectrum Award six more times, both for novels and short stories.

Seeing the popularity of erotica?and finding it much easier to sell than poetry?Michael changed his writing focus in 2003 and started researching the types of erotica popular with readers.

The rest, as they say, is history.