Michael R. Collings

He is known for his literary critiques and bibliographies of the works of Orson Scott Card and Stephen King, though he has also published critiques and bibliographies of the works of Peter Straub, Dean Koontz, C. Lewis, Brian W. Aldiss, and Piers Anthony. His In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card was the first book-length academic look in Card's works.

• Born — 29 October 1947 • Birthplace — Rupert, Idaho • Occupation — Writer, bibliographer, literary critic, poet, professor (retired) • Language — English • Education — Master's degree (English) Ph.D. (English literature) • Alma Mater — Bakersfield College (AA) Whittier College (BA) University of California, Riverside (MA and PhD) • Period — 1979 - current • Genres — fantasy, horror, science fiction • Subjects — Orson Scott Card, Stephen King • Notable Works — In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card • Spouse — Judi Collings • Children — Michaelbrent Collings

Michael Robert Collings was born in Rupert, Idaho. He graduated from Bakersfield College in 1967 with an Associate's degree, then graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English from Whittier College two years later. After graduating with a Master's degree in English from the University of California, Riverside in 1973, Collings received his Ph.D. in English literature from UCR in 1977, specializing in Milton and The Renaissance. Before he began teaching creative writing and literature at Pepperdine University, Collings taught at UCR, San Bernardino Valley Community College, and UCLA. He taught at Pepperdine from 1979 until 2010, when he retired. He now lives in Idaho with his wife, Judi. His son, Michaelbrent Collings, is a fantasy and horror writer. Collings was introduced to Stephen King's work by a student, David A. Engebretson, in 1983, and published his first book on him, The Many Facets of Stephen King, in 1985; reading King led to his also studying and publishing on Koontz and Robert McCammon. The World Horror Convention awarded him their Grand Master Award in 2016.

• "C. S. Lewis and the Music of Creation" (July–August 1979), Lamp-Post of the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society • "The Mechanisms of Fantasy" (January 1980), Lamp-Post of the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society • "To Be Still a Man: Abstraction and Concretion in C. S. Lewis" (January 1982), Lamp-Post of the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society • "Beyond Deep Heaven: Generic Structure and Christian Message in C. S. Lewis's Ransom Novels", (December 1986), Lamp-Post of the Southern California C.S. Lewis Society • "Brothers of the Head: Brian W. Aldiss's Psychological Landscape" (1988), Spectrum of the Fantastic: Selected Papers from the Fifth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, Greenwood Press • "Brian W. Aldiss" (1989), Reader's Guide to Twentieth Century Science Fiction Writers, American Library Association • "To See the World the Poet's Way" In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization, and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card. New York: Greenwood Press, (1990), Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed.Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 279. Detroit: Gale, 2010 Sources:

• The House Beyond the Hill (2007, Wildside Press) • Singer of Lies (2009, Borgo Press/Wildside Press) • The Slab (2011, Borgo Press/Wildside Press) • Static! (2011, Borgo Press/Wildside Press) • Shadow Valley (2011, Borgo Press/Wildside Press) • Writing Darkness (2012, CreateSpace) Wordsmith series • The Veil of Heaven (2009, Borgo Press/Wildside Press) • The Thousand Eyes of Flame (2009, Borgo Press/Wildside Press) • Three Tales of Omne (2010, Borgo Press/Wildside Press, published in an omnibus with The Elder of Days by Robert Reginald)

• The Nephiad: An Epic Poem in XII Books (1996, Zarahemla Motets)