William Michael Ried was born and grew up in East Meadow, Long Island, graduated from East Meadow High School, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. He practices law and writes novels in New York City.

Ried began in 1979 writing a memoir of six months hitchhiking, wandering and working in Western Europe. Over many years of attending law school, having the manuscript stolen from a car, working at several law firms and one global information company, marrying and raising two children, this book became a novel about adventure and resilience, freedom and solitude in a world before cell phones and GPS. He finally published in October 2018 and Five Ferries was named a finalist in the 2019 American Fiction Awards for Best New Fiction.

He published his second novel, Backstory, in March 2021. After months of preparation and outlining, the initial draft took barely three months to write, but sixteen more months to edit and publish. Although labelled by Book Life Reviews as a roman à clef, this book is pure fiction, written from the points of view of eight imagined characters. He had long professional experience with copyright law but needed to research, not only the history, theory and structure of the novel, but also the physical layout and long traditions of Trinity College in Dublin, the care and disabling of luxury sports cars, the day-to-day activities of college professors, criminal law in New York State and the study of propaganda. In 2021 Backstory won the New York City Big Book Award for Mystery, won a Silver Medal from the Wishing Shelf Book Awards for Adult Fiction, was a semi-finalist for the Kindle Book Award for Literary Fiction, and was named a 2022 Eric Hoffer Award Category Finalist.

Ried’s third novel is a Dickensian tale of retribution, morality and fortitude. It follows a young protagonist from a world of entitlement through tragedy to an awakening of morality and self-reliance. The research focused on the southern coast of Maine and the Lower Eastside of Manhattan, the businesses of selling second-hand records and dealing in precious stones, ocean sailing, the regulation of communication-blocking devices, and the operation of general aviation airports and Ponzi schemes. He published this book, titled Pandion, in June 2022, and it was named a 2022 Distinguished Favorite Mystery by the NYC Big Book Awards.

Bill lives with his wife Megan in Manhattan, welcomes questions and comments about his books or literature in general at fiveferriesnovel@gmail.com, and thanks readers for posting book reviews.