Michael Meeske
Michael Meeske writes across genres, including women’s historical fiction, mystery, suspense, horror, and gothic fiction.
The Magdalen Girls, Michael’s first novel for Kensington Books, written as V.S. Alexander, was published in 2017. Set in 1962 Dublin, it deals with the dark history of the Magdalen laundries, a system of institutionalized servitude formerly sanctioned by the Catholic Church.
His second book for Kensington, The Taster, about a food taster for Adolf Hitler, was released in 2018 and was sold to Harper Collins/Avon in the UK as Her Hidden Life. In addition to the UK, foreign rights were sold in Canada, Germany, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Spain, and Italy. The Taster has been optioned for an English-language film by Ascent Film in Rome.
His third novel, The Irishman’s Daughter, was released in March 2019 and received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly along with acclaim from the American Library Association. Foreign rights to V. S. Alexander’s novels have sold in Europe, Central and South America, and have been translated into five languages. He is at work on his fourth novel for Kensington to be released in 2020, with a fifth slated for 2021.
Cleis Press published The Combat Zone, the first in his Cody Harper mystery series, written as Vincent Wilde, as well as the sequel, An Absent God. Both books are available through Cleis or on Amazon.com.
Other writing credits include Frankenstein’s Daemon, a sequel to Frankenstein, and Poe’s Mother, a psychological suspense thriller, offered through Usher Books available on Amazon.com. Additionally, his short stories, In the End, He Dreamed, and, Feelers, were selected for inclusion in two anthologies of gothic horror published by Firbolg Publishing. Zombieville was included in a 2011 horror anthology of short fiction by Florida Romance Writers (FRW), headlined by Heather Graham.
From 2008 to 2010, he served as Vice President of FRW. He has been an active member of FRW and guest since 2002. He is a former member of the Writers’ Room of Boston, a non-profit working space for novelists, poets and playwrights.
Some of his influences include Edgar Allan Poe, Shirley Jackson, Oscar Wilde, Daphne du Maurier, Richard Matheson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and any work by the exquisite Brontë sisters.
You can contact Michael by clicking here or on Facebook.
