Michael Corbin Ray and Therese Vannier have been friends since the mid-’90s, when they worked together at a series of imploding newspapers. After the death of journalism, they founded and ran a small marketing business for a number of years before falling for the siren call of Hollywood and screenwriting. Their first project was inspired by a bad dream, which should have been a warning to them.
While they share a love of stories, they come at it from different angles. Therese was raised on a diet of schlocky horror and martial arts movies from the ’70s, while Michael served time as an English major and occasionally aspires to commit literature. Their writing process often devolves into an argument over how much blood is too much blood.
They also share a fascination with the sciences, biology in particular. Therese studied marine biology and spends as much time in the water as possible. Michael has a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology, but prefers to keep his feet dry. They find common ground in birds and long-distance backpacking.
After many years educating themselves on the long odds of ever getting a screenplay produced—in spite of many strong competition finishes including being named finalists at the Austin Film Festival, silver medalists at Page International, and multiple Nicholl QFs—they decided to switch to books. They now have a big backlog of stories to tell in this newfangled format. Dead Reckoning is their second novel.
Oh, and against their better judgment, they’re working on another screenplay.
