A Kansas Native, Mark currently resides in Florida with his wife and four children. Since moving to Florida, he has pursued a lifelong aspiration of becoming a published author. He believes he has always been a writer and strived to follow in the footsteps of his namesake, Mark Twain.
His education started early as his father was a newspaper writer and editor for both the Kansas City Star and Kansan. Formal development started in high school writing classes at Sumner Academy where he completed the International Baccalaureate program. Additional teaching came from both Kansas City Kansas Community College and the University of Kansas. It was at KU where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Film. Informally, he was educated by the writings of C.S. Lewis, Lloyd Alexander and as he matured Stephen King and Tolkien. His interest in fantasy did not end on the page as some of his favorite movies include The Dark Crystal, Excalibur, Star Wars and Krull.
Professional experience dates back to the 1990’s. Mark has co-written four screenplays, two of which were produced as ultra-low budget direct-to-DVD features by East of Hollywood Productions. Through his relationship with East of Hollywood, Mark also became co-creator of an educational and entertaining children’s program. The Kidz Klub Tree House used the talents of a local radio personality and a group of child actors to update classic fairytales and fables. Each of the episodes brought a twist to the familiar stories and conveyed a positive message. On his own, Mark has completed three other novels and a screenplay. The Fourth Queen was published by Comfort Publishing in early 2009.
He believes being a father of four makes him uniquely qualified to write The Fourth Queen, the first of an eight story series that comes out of his world of Empyrean. Every day is an adventure with his children as they continue to teach him as well. His two young daughters unknowingly provided the models that helped create the main character sisters in The Fourth Queen. Many of their phrases and behaviors are shared with their fictional counterparts.
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