Michael Anthony Steele is an author and screenwriter living in Dallas, Texas. He’s written for a wide variety of entertainment and educational properties from Barney & Friends to the novelization of the recent film, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. He’s written over 60 licensed books for such major properties as Shrek, Penguins of Madagascar, Wordgirl, The Batman, Garfield, Spider-man, Speed Racer, Winx Club, Sly Cooper, and many more. Anthony’s television experience begins with the award-winning PBS series Wishbone and carries him all the way to writing 25 episodes of Barney & Friends and 4 DVDs of Boz: The Green Bear Next Door. Between writing projects, Anthony is thrilled to give presentations to schools and libraries across the country. Having been fortunate enough to write for so many famous brands, his appearances require very little preparation on the part of the instructors because, most likely, the kids are fans of one or more of the properties for which he’s written. Anthony’s current presentation features multimedia elements and tells the story of how he became a writer—following an exciting path through a career in photography and special effects. His appearances have been described as the “rock-n-roll” author visits since he comes with an animated presentation, humor, audio/visual elements, loads of energy, and a guitar—that’s right, a guitar! His life’s journey has given him unique experience and the ability to share behind-the-scenes knowledge, tell stories, and answer questions not only about writing but also about the film and television industry. More importantly, the main theme of his program is how, with hard work and determination, the students can achieve anything they wish. Anthony was in elementary school when he was first inspired to become a writer and they too can get inspired right now! It’s just that simple and exciting!