BEN MIKAELSEN

BIOGRAPHY I BOOKS I PRESENTATIONS I BOOK ORDERING

Born and raised in Bolivia, South America, Ben Mikaelsen started writing full time in 1984. After six years and 127 rejections, his book, Rescue Josh McGuire, was published.

It takes Ben about a year to write a novel. "About 2 months involves research," he says. "Then it takes approximately 4 months to write a rough draft, and then 6 months to rewrite. I spend more time  re-writing, so in a way I should be called a rewriter instead of a writer."

Ben has won the International Reading Association Award and the Western Writer's Golden Spur Award. In 2004, Red Midnight was named an IRA Young Adults' Chioce. In 2005, Tree Girl was named an IRA Teachers' Choice. In addition, his novels have won many state Reader's Choice awards. 

These novels include Rescue Josh McGuire, Sparrow Hawk Red, Stranded, Countdown, Petey, Touching Spirit Bear, and Red Midnight.

Ben's articles and photos have appeared in numerous magazines around the world. His novels have been carried by Scholastic and Troll book fairs, and  are recorded on unabridged audio tape with recorded books. Rescue Josh McGuire has also been optioned for big screen use.

Featured nationally on Jack Hanna's Animal Adventures and also on German national TV, Ben lives in a log cabin near Bozeman, Montana, with a 700 pound black bear named Buffy that he adopted and has raised for the last twenty years.