The Red Slippers

Michael E Wills was born on the Isle of Wight, UK, and educated at the Priory Boys School and Carisbrooke Grammar. He trained as a teacher at St Peter's College, Saltley, Birmingham, before working at a secondary school in Kent for two years.

After re-training to become a teacher of English as a Foreign Language he worked in Sweden for thirteen years. During this period he wrote several English language teaching books. His teaching career has included time working in rural Sweden, which first sparked his now enduring interest in Scandinavian history and culture - an interest that, after many years of research, both academic and in the field, led him to write 'Finn's Fate' and the sequel, 'Three Kings - One Throne'. Continuing in a Viking theme, in June 2015 Michael published 'Children of the Chieftain: Betrayed', the first of a quartet of Viking adventure stories for young readers. The book was described by the Historical Novel Society as 'an absolutely excellent novel which I could not put down' and long-listed for the Historical Novel Society 2016 Indie Prize. The second book in the quartet, 'Children of the Chieftain: Banished', was published in December 2015.

Today, Michael works part-time as Ombudsman for English UK, the national association of English language providers. Though a lot of his spare time is spent with grandchildren, he also has a wide range of interests including researching for future books, writing, playing the guitar, carpentry and electronics. He spends at least two months a year sailing his boat, which is currently in Scandinavia.