People like Mike Shepherd

Mike Shepherd is the pen name of Mike Moscoe, an American science fiction writer who lives in Vancouver, Washington. He was born on August 2, 1947 in Philadelphia to a Navy family and travelled a lot as a child. It was not until high school that he finished a year in the school he started.

Shepherd sold his first published writing to the science fiction magazine Analog. It was a short story called "Summer Hopes, Winter Dreams" and appeared in the March 1991 issue.

His short story "A Day's Work on the Moon" was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novelette in 2000.

Shepherd has written about one book a year. His first three books, the Lost Millennium series (First Dawn in 1996, Second Fire in 1997, and Lost Days in 1998) had a combined sales of just over 20,000 copies, so his editor suggested that he switch genres, to military science fiction set in the future. His next three books, the Society of Humanity series (The First Casualty in 1999, The Price of Peace in 2000, and They Also Serve in 2001) sold better, at over 10,000 copies each, but not as high as was hoped. To make a fresh start for his next series, his editor suggested that he write under a new pseudonym.