Birth Date: April 28, 1976
Likes: Computers - when they work, his daughter's laugh, his son's funny baby noises, when "the muse" is present, his wife's smile, crisp fall days, good coffee and donuts, working from home.
Dislikes: Elvis, relish on his hotdogs, deadlines, guys who don't wash, writers who can't write, editors who can't edit
Hobbies: He is lucky enough to have a job that is also his hobby - writing! He has kept a diary for years and is now researching his and Deanna's family history. If Michael could call walking a hobby, he would - he does his best thinking during walks in the park.
Aspirations: To make a living from his writing, to be remembered by his children as a great dad, to grow old graciously, to be less emotional and more objective.

Readers have watched Michael grow from a little boy to a husband and even more recently, a father. There were times when Elly and John never thought they would see the day their son was a responsible adult - but parents of teenagers rarely see the light at the end of the tunnel! Now in his thirties, Michael has become the type of man who would make any parent proud.

It seems like only yesterday this now-successful author was teasing his sisters and testing his parents' limitations. Elly and John noticed the change in Michael after he had been away at school for a few years. Each time he came home he was more man than boy. A significant part of that growing-up process occurred when Deanna Sobinski came back into his life. She was his elementary school sweetheart and when she moved away she and Michael lost touch. Years later, a car accident reunited the young couple.

They were both attending the same university. They finished school together and began their careers: Michael in journalism and Deanna as a pharmacist. Soon they were discussing marriage, but their plans became complicated and they wed in secret. Six months after a second and very grand wedding her mother planned, Deanna announced she was pregnant. Not sure if he was ready for parenthood, Michael accepted his new responsibility and prepared to be a father. He's now smitten by the smiles and outstretched arms of his daughter and son, and being a dad suits Michael Patterson just fine.

Professionally, Michael spent some time as editor-in-chief of Portrait magazine but eventually learned that life at the top of the corporate ladder was not for him, and when he received word that his first novel was going to be published he was inspired to quit his job and write full-time. He's become a professional novelist - and a dad who works from home and can be there when his family needs him. After a disastrous apartment fire, he and Deanna bought the Patterson home from Elly and John, and now the younger generation of Pattersons are living just down the street from the Patterson elders.