Joe Siple is an American writer currently living in Fort Collins, Colorado. In his biography on his website, Siple describes working for 17 years on the manuscript of The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride before landing a publication deal with Black Rose Writing. Siple has since published four other books: The Final Wish of Mr. Murray McBride, set in Jason’s adulthood; Charlie Fightmaster and the Search for Perfect Harmony, a story about a young professional baseball player with a troubled younger sister; The Town with No Roads, about a woman whose father falls into a coma; and The Last Dogs, about a near-future time where almost all dogs have been euthanized. His books all tackle stories meant to elicit strong emotional responses from readers and often address difficult subjects such as death, grief, and illness. Siple sees his writing as an opportunity to make the world a better place. 

The Five Wishes of Mr. Murray McBride was a USA Today bestseller when it was first published in 2018. It has since won the National Indie Excellence Award and the PenCraft Award. It was named Book of the Year at the Maxy Awards in 2018.