After the Fall
I, Ryan Michele Phillips, was born in Chicago, IL on May 27, 1981 to a workaholic mother and an alcoholic father. (Can you spell: TRAUMA?) Thankfully they had enough sense between the two of them, not to procreate a second time. Thus, I am an only child.I spent my formative years bouncing from one ritzy, pseudo-Christian school to another in cities including, but not limited to: Miami, FL, Greer, SC, Southfield, MI and Memphis, TN.Notoriously indecisive, I’ve changed majors (Secondary Education, French, Journalism, English …) and transferred colleges (Hope College, Michigan State, U of Memphis …) more times than I care to remember.Bedridden in the middle of my junior year due to complications from juvenile onset diabetes, I pilfered my mother’s company laptop and began to type away my frustrations. At 21, it was the most cathartic experience of my short-lived life. Who knew that what started out as a form of self-therapy would, a mere five months later, turn into my first novel?Fully recovered, with a second novel in the works and bored of Memphis’ somewhat limited charms, I made the executive decision to spread my wings and leave the nest. New York, of course, was my first pick, but after four days of viewing coffin-sized real estate, I reassessed my plan and my budget and moved to Chicago. Best decision I ever made!In January 2004, my first novel,Saving Grace, was released, and was followed shortly after, by the July 2005 release of my second novelAfter the Fall. My third novel – the highly anticipated sequel toSaving Grace–Fall From Grace, is scheduled for a mid-2006 release. And I am currently hard at work on my fourth novel, Ciao, Bella.When I’m not roving the deep recesses of my imagination or responding to my readers’ emails, I’ve got my nose in a textbook, studying toward my M..F.A in Creative Writing.