​Mike Langan was born and raised in Syracuse, N.Y. in 1968. He graduated from Jamesville-DeWitt High School in 1986, Deerfield Academy in 1987, Colgate University in 1991 (receiving his B.A. in philosophy, cum laude), George Mason University in 1995 (receiving his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing), and George Mason University School of Law in 1998 (receiving his J.D.).

At Colgate, Mike studied creative writing with Fred Busch, and British Literature on the Colgate London English Study Group. At George Mason, Mike studied creative writing with Dick Bausch, Alan Cheuse, Susan Shreve and Steve Goodwin, and was both a graduate fellow and graduate teaching assistant. He served as the co-manager of the Writing Center and the co-editor of the George Mason Review. In law school, Mike was Notes Editor of the George Mason Law Review, an Associate Justice of the George Mason Moot Court Board, and a student member of the George Mason Inn of Court.

After law school, Mike practiced law in Washington, D.C., first consumer protection law at the law firm of Collier Shannon Rill & Scott, and then civil litigation and white collar criminal defense at the 800-lawyer law firm of Piper Rudnick (now DLA Piper). At Piper, Mike served on the firm's Associates' Committee and Hiring Committee, and received the firm's "Model Citizen" Award. In 2001, Mike moved back to Syracuse, where he practiced civil and criminal litigation in state and federal court in the trial department of Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC. In 2004, he became the career law clerk to a federal court judge.

Mike's first novel, Dark Horse, was published in hardcover by Five Star, an imprint of Gale, in February of 2008. His second novel, Ready for the Defense, was published in paperback by Treble Heart Books in May of 2008. Mike’s third novel, Ready for the People, was published by Hilliard & Harris in the summer of 2019. Also in the summer of 2019, Mike’s first and second novels were republished by Hilliard & Harris, with Dark Horse being renamed Grave Injuries.  

Mike's short stories have been published by The Boston Literary Magazine (Fall 2008), The Upstate New Yorker (August 1995), The Colgate Portfolio (Spring 1992), and Nihil (Fall 1988). His law review have been published by The Labor and Employment Law Journal (Fall 2019), Court Review (Spring 2007 and Fall 2014), and the George Mason Law Review (Spring 1997). He has taught undergraduate courses in Freshman Composition, Advanced Composition and American Literature at George Mason University, an undergraduate course in Consumer Law at Syracuse University's Whitman School of Management, and more than a dozen continuing legal education courses on state and federal court practice and procedure.

He lives with his lovely wife Sara and daughters Nora and Georgia in Fayetteville, N.Y., a suburb of Syracuse.