Welcome to my website!  I hope you enjoy browsing around as much as I do in providing you material at which to browse.

It occurs to me that what most readers know about most fiction writers is what they find on the back of the book, the book cover, or the author’s acknowledgement.  That is, unless they happen to meet the author at a book-related event, or an author is fortunate enough to have some media attention. Thus, I’d like to use this part of my website to help readers get to know more about me and, perhaps by extension, more about fiction writers in general.

To begin, I sometimes find myself wondering why writers; write…particularly those of us who write fiction.  I honestly believe there are probably as many reasons why as there are authors.  However, that doesn’t stop me from wondering, nevertheless.

“So, Mark,” you might ask, “why do you write fiction?”  Good question!  I think there are several “factors” which propel my writing:

  • I have a very vivid imagination.

  • While I am lousy at remembering names I never forget a face, so it is easy for me to mentally visualize characters who fill my idea of what and who a particular individual in my book will encompass.

  • I believe I have a talent for writing.  Notice I say a talent, without quantifying that word.  I leave it to others to decide how good or bad a writer I am.  Believing I do have some talent for writing motivates me to write; I don’t want to waste it.  In fact, I feel it would be wrong for me not to write.

  • I have been blessed with a lifetime of singular experiences, all of which have contributed to shape me into who I am today.

Now, I suspect a lot of fiction authors might have similar factors motivating them to write.  But at least, for now, you know what one of us is up to.

Cheers, and good reading!

Mark

March 2026 Update

No; I’ve not been kidnapped by space aliens or gone AWOL; I just got wrapped around the axle on other, book-related activities.  Allow me to get you up to speed.

The biggest news is I have a new publisher:  Perfect Publishing out of Baltimore: (https://www.perfectpublishing.com/ .  I signed on with them in January, and initially they will be republishing two of my novels which are currently out of print:  “RAVEN” and “Angela’s Letter.”  They are also going to publish a revised version of my first novel:  “The Third Day.” The new version is “The Three Days of Lost Sheep.”  I’ve included pictures of the new covers for each book, all three of which I think are stunning!  “The Three Days of Lost Sheep” should be launched in April, followed by “RAVEN” in May/June and “Angela’s Letter” later this summer.  We are talking about two more books later in 2026; more on that as we get the details worked out.

            One thing that Perfect Publishing is, in my opinion, VERY good at getting its author’s name and books out there, involving him or her in social media.  Since joining Perfect Publishing, I’ve done three different on-line seminars;  one was focused on Love (Valentine’s Day), one on generating an acronym which reflects one’s philosophy/ideas on a subject, and one on a theme from “Angela’s Letter:  Forks in the Road of Life..  Here are links to all three youtube sessions:

I also had the chance to attend a fund-raising benefit for O. J. Brigance, a former NFL star who has been living with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, for the last 19 years.  I found out that night the average life span once someone is afflicted with ALS is two to four years. 

I was absolutely amazed and impressed by the positive attitude both he his and his wife, Chanda, displayed.  This was first real exposure I’ve had to someone dealing with ALS, a particularly insidious disease which does not lend itself to heart-tugging images. Yet to hear these two people speak – O. J. uses a device which turns his eye movements into spoken words –  was inspirational.

We only seem to hear about ALS when a celebrity, such as the late Eric Dane, contracts the disease.  In the meantime, ALS keeps debilitating others who, with their families, friends, and caregivers try to make the most of their lives.  May we all support those with ALS through our prayers and, if possible, financial support, so one day this disease will be a thing of the past.

To learn more about O. J. and his fight, visit his website:  https://brigancebrigade.org/.

I shared this information with a good friend of mine who does counseling in New York and New Jersey.  She told me about a client of hers who was also afflicted with ALS.  She shared this vignette:  “He was a devout Catholic and told me: ‘I don’t mind the journey God has put me on but I very much mind the bus He’s sent for me to take.’ I’ve never forgot that.” 

Nor should we.

Mark