Mike Zimmerli is an author and editor whose work has contributed to the publication of more than fifty books in addition to his own. Although he has spent much of his later career as an editor, Mike stepped into the spotlight in 2022 with the launch of his own mystery series, The Blue Bridge Mysteries, featuring private investigator Jimmy Favreaux, his girlfriend Wendi, and others. 

A Minnesota native, Mike lived in several areas of the state—from its northern lakes and forests to the southern farmland and prairie. In 2004, he and his wife, Mary, moved to St. Marys, Georgia, a small town located along the Atlantic coast, just across the St. Marys River from the Florida border. For sixteen years, Mike served in church ministry before transitioning to full-time freelance writing and editing in 2021. 

The same year he began freelancing, he edited and published One Soldier’s Story, a memoir of his father’s experiences in the Pacific Theater during WWII. Since then, Mike has edited a wide range of books for authors from all walks of life, while continuing to develop his own writing. 

In 2025, he tried retirement and failed. Instead, he served ten months as an interim worship director. In July 2026, he tried retirement again. We'll just have to wait and see how this works. 

His Blue Bridge Mysteries—named after the bridge spanning the St. Marys River between Georgia and Florida—currently include:

• -  Zamboni Is Not a Pasta

• -  Wanted: Dead or Alive (Again)

• -  To the Last Breath

• -   Perchance 2 Dream

• -  The Cost of Survival (set in northern Minnesota’s lake country)

• - A Deadly Anthology (coming in 2027)

And, there are more books on the way—PI Jimmy Favreaux and his unpredictable circle of allies still have unfinished business with The Man and other bullies. He is also working on a collection of stories he wrote in the 1990s, when his children were teenagers, and his defense mechanism was to write about what they did and post them on his website. 

For those who have never been quite satisfied with the story of the events leading up to Jesus' birth, Mike wrote a biblical historical fiction called The Annunciation. It stays true to the biblical narrative, but it fills in the dialogue many of us wish we had been privy to: when Mary told Joseph she was pregnant, when Joseph said he couldn't go through with the wedding, and when Joseph went to Mary to apologize for not trusting and believing her ("I'm sorry. I was really stupid ..."). There are the visitations by the angels: to Zechariah in the temple, to Joseph in a dream, to Mary, and finally to the shepherds over the Judean fields. We even get to watch and listen as the shepherds meet the baby Jesus (it may not be what you've ever envisioned!). 

All of Mike's books are available in paperback, hardcover, Kindle ebook, and Audible (Kindle Unlimited subscribers can read or listen for free!). Digital versions are only available on Amazon, while the print versions are available there, too, and in other unexpected places.

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For questions, feedback, or praise, contact Mike at mkzpublishing@gmail.com.

For complaints, send emails to jimmycrackcorn@idontcare.com