Michael Shayne Bell is an American science fiction writer. He debuted with the story “Jacob’s Ladder” in 1986 in the Writers of the Future book and contest, where it won first prize for the second quarter of 1986. He has published one novel, Nicoji, in 1991, but has remained active at shorter lengths. He was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1995 for “Mrs. Lincoln’s China”, and nominated for a Nebula Award for Best Novelette in 2002 for “The Pagodas of Ciboure”. He won an award for editorial excellence from the Association for Mormon Letters for Washed by a Wave of Wind: Science Fiction from the Corridor, a collection of science fiction short stories by people who lived or had lived in Utah. His 2000 story “The Thing About Benny” was selected for The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Eighteenth Annual Collection, and his 2003 story “Anomalous Structures Of My Dreams” was selected for The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-First Annual Collection.