avg_rating: 3.8
name: Michael Schmicker
about: Michael Schmicker is an investigative journalist, nationally-known writer on scientific anomalies and the paranormal, and Amazon Top 100 author. He's also a historical fiction buff (his two all-time favorites being Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose"; and George Orwell's " Burmese Days," because he spent five formative years in Southeast Asia). His latest book is "The Witch of Napoli," an historical novel with a paranormal twist set in Italy and England in 1899. On March 6, 2015, readers transformed it into an Amazon Top 100 bestseller, pushing the novel to #41 in paid books out of 3.3 million books available in the Kindle Bookstore. That same day, it hit #1 in both the Historical Fantasy and Victorian Historical Romance categories in thre Michael Schmicker is an investigative journalist, nationally-known writer on scientific anomalies and the paranormal, and Amazon Top 100 author. He's also a historical fiction buff (his two all-time favorites being Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose"; and George Orwell's " Burmese Days," because he spent five formative years in Southeast Asia). His latest book is "The Witch of Napoli," an historical novel with a paranormal twist set in Italy and England in 1899. On March 6, 2015, readers transformed it into an Amazon Top 100 bestseller, pushing the novel to #41 in paid books out of 3.3 million books available in the Kindle Bookstore. That same day, it hit #1 in both the Historical Fantasy and Victorian Historical Romance categories in three countries simultaneously - the U.S., Canada and England. It spent 68 consecutive weeks as a Top 20 novel in Amazon's "Italian Historical Fiction" genre; earned a 2015 BRAG Medallion (Historical Fiction) and a 2015 Chanticleer Award (Supernatural Fiction); a combined 875 five-star reviews from Amazon and Goodreads readers; and high praise from critics: Kirkus Reviews calls it "Impressive...an enchanting and graceful narrative that absorbs readers from the first page." Huffington Post Books calls it haunting: "...science and the supernatural collide in a burst of passion you won't soon forget." The San Diego Book Review praises it as "One of a kind...a deeply moving novel you can't put down," while the Historical Novel Society finds it "Utterly absorbing...Highly recommended." And the Literary Fiction Book Review calls it "Meticulously researched...a riveting tale of 19th century Europe and its obsession with the occult." On July 12, 2016, the Audible audiobook debuted on Amazon. In October 2016, Amazon selected "The Witch of Napoli" as one of 25 Historical Romance Bestsellers to be featured by Amazon's new "Prime Reading" program.Michael has been a featured guest on national broadcast radio talk shows, including twice on Coast to Coast AM (560 stations in North America, with 3 million weekly listeners). He also shares his investigations and writings through popular paranormal webcasts including Skeptiko, hosted by Alex Tsakiris; Speaking of Strange with Joshua Warren; the X-Zone, with Rob McConnell (Canada); and even spent an hour chatting with spoon-bending celebrity Uri Geller on his program "Parascience and Beyond" (England). He reviews books for the Journal of Scientific Exploration; is a contributor to EdgeScience magazine; serves on the Boards of Advisers of both the Parapsychology Foundation, and Rhine Research Center; and is a member of the American Society for Psychical Research, as well as England's venerable Society for Psychical Research.He is the co-author of "The Gift, ESP: The Extraordinary Experiences of Ordinary People" (St. Martin's Press (USA)/Penguin Random House (UK). His first book, "Best Evidence," has emerged as a classic in the field of scientific anomalies reporting since its first publication in 2000. He is a contributor to EdgeScience magazine, and his writings also appear in three anthologies: "The Universe Wants to Play" (2006); "First of the Year 2009" (2009), edited by former Village Voice writer Benj DeMott; and "Even the Smallest Crab Has Teeth" (2011).Michael began his writing career as a crime reporter for a suburban Dow-Jones newspaper in Connecticut, and worked as a freelance reporter in Southeast Asia for three years. He has also worked as a stringer for Forbes magazine, and Op-Ed contributor to The Wall Street Journal Asia. His interest in investigating the paranormal began as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand where he first encountered a non-Western culture and people who readily accept the reality of ghosts and spirits, reincarnation, psychics, mediums, divination,and other persistently reported phenomena unexplainable by current Science. Before joining Peace Corps, he studied documentary film production at New York Un ...more