Mike Nappa Explained

Mike Nappa
Birth Date:10 December 1963
Birth Place:Norman, Oklahoma, U.S.
Occupation:Author, editor, literary agent
Genre:non-fiction, theology, writing resources, church resources, children's literature, Christian fiction
Notableworks:VeggieTales Super Comics, God in Slow Motion, Johnny Grav & The Visioneer, 77 Reasons Why Your Book Was Rejected

Mike Nappa (born December 10, 1963) is an Arab-American author of more than 60 books and an entertainment journalist for the e-magazine, PopFam.com "Pop Culture for Families." Although he's published books for all ages with many different companies, he's best known for his work in children's religious publishing where he created the award-winning comic book characters, Johnny Grav & The Visioneer, and co-created the VeggieTales comic book characters, the Quitter Critter Quad Squad, and also notable for his grief-support books about losing his wife, Amy, to cancer.

Biography

Nappa was born in Norman, Oklahoma. He started his career as a youth pastor,[1] and then transitioned to writing church resources at Group Publishing in Colorado. He eventually joined Group as a book acquisitions editor and remained active as an author.[2] In 1995, Nappa left Group Publishing to start his own company, Nappaland Communications Inc., which became the parent company for Nappaland Literary Agency and the long-running e-magazine, PopFam.com "Pop Culture for Families."[2] Since then he has published over 60 books[3] which have collectively sold more than a million copies worldwide.[4] He has also served as a fiction acquisitions editor for Barbour Publishing, as a general acquisitions editor (fiction and non-fiction) for David C. Cook publishers, as Editor in Chief of the short-lived Destination Magazine (published by the now-defunct Private Escapes Luxury Destination Clubs),[5] and as Publications Director for Blue Margin Inc.[6]

In 2000, Nappa created the award-winning serialized comic book characters, Johnny Grav & The Visioneer,[7] [8] for Clubhouse kids magazine. That comic ran for three consecutive years in the magazine, from January 2000 through December 2002. The Johnny Grav characters returned in 2010 for another three-year run in Clubhouse (2010–2012), which included a serialized prose novel called Nightmare City that ran both in print and online.

In 2015, Nappa joined the VeggieTales universe as a writer for the VeggieTales Super Comics line of graphic novels and comic books created under license from DreamWorks / Big Idea Entertainment (B&H Kids). In this capacity he adapted classic VeggieTales videos into comic book format, and also co-created new Veggie characters for the original comic book story, LarryBoy and the Quitter Critter Squad.[9] In 2017, he was featured in the Bibleman universe (B&H Kids)[9] and also began publishing the independent fantasy comic, Chihuahuas Are Lucky (Walking Carnival Comics) with acclaimed illustrator Dennis Edwards.[10]

Although he published several suspense novels under the pen name "Sharon Carter Rogers", it was not until 2016 that Nappa began publishing adult fiction under his own name: the Coffey & Hill trilogy of suspense novels. Each of these novels features an Atlanta-based private detective team investigating an Edgar Allan Poe-themed mystery. The first book in Coffey & Hill was Annabel Lee, and the second was The Raven, both published by Revell (Baker Publishing Group).[11] The third book in the series, A Dream Within a Dream, was co-authored with Melissa Kosci and released from Revell in 2020. A Dream Within a Dream was delayed several years due to the death of Nappa's wife, Amy, in late 2016.[12]

Hard Way Home, a memoir of the passing of his wife (and frequent co-author), Amy Nappa, was released in 2019.[13] [14]

In 2020, Nappa joined the gaming industry, working as a narrative designer/scriptwriter for Talofa Games[15] [16] on the AR app Run Legends initially funded by Niantic (Pokémon Go; Harry Potter: Wizards Unite).

In 2023 Nappa began publishing the Bible-Smart™ blog in association with the publication of his commentary book, Bible-Smart™: Matthew (Rose Publishing/Tyndale House). The blog and book focus on answering questions people have sent him about specific passages from the Bible.

Current bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: For Bible Study Nerds. Beliefnet.com. February 8, 2022.
  2. Web site: Nappa, Mike | Encyclopedia.com. Encyclopedia.com. February 8, 2022.
  3. Web site: Books by Mike Nappa (Author of Annabel Lee). Goodreads.com.
  4. Web site: Authors | Baker Publishing Group. Bakerpublishinggroup.com.
  5. Web site: Destination. PDF. Nappaland.com. October 26, 2022.
  6. Web site: thrivethroughdata | Mike Nappa. Bluemargin.com. February 8, 2022.
  7. Web site: 2001 Awards | Evangelical Press Association. Evangelicalpress.com. February 8, 2022.
  8. Web site: 'Johnny Grav' wins TV pilot award. Christianretailing.com. February 8, 2022.
  9. Web site: You searched for Mike Nappa. B&H Publishing. February 8, 2022.
  10. Web site: Chihuahuas Are Lucky #1 . Indyplanet.com.
  11. Web site: Search results | Baker Publishing Group. Bakerpublishinggroup.com.
  12. Web site: Mike Nappa answers your questions — Ask the Author. Goodreads.com. February 8, 2022.
  13. Web site: Mike Nappa (Author of Hard Way Home: A Woman's Inspiring Battle with Cancer and the Lives She Touched). Listennotes.com.
  14. Web site: AmyNappa.com. Nappaland.com. October 26, 2022.
  15. Web site: Mike Nappa. Linkedin.com. February 8, 2022.
  16. Web site: Run Legends. Talofagames.com. February 8, 2022.

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