First of all, many thanks to Mark for taking out time from his busy life for this interview. I did an earlier interview with him regarding his first book, Between Two Fires. (You can read it HERE. )
Now that the awaited sequel, Dark Winds Rising, is to be released tomorrow, here's a closer look into his writing history and process.
How
young were you when you first started writing fiction?
Honestly, as far back as I can
remember. Even before I could properly write I remember making little books
with crayon pictures and stapling it together in preschool. I’ve always loved
stories and always will.
When
did you know or decide you wanted to be an writer/author?
I’m not sure it was ever a conscious
decision, it’s simply me being me. I’ve always had these stories coming out of
me, and figured that sooner or later they’d end up in print.
Has
fiction always been your specialty, or do you also write poetry?
I love writing novels, poetry, you
name it. It’s all part of the wider artistic canvas. I truly believe that
living life itself is a work of art, so everything we do is a form of
story-making.
Have
you written any books for children?
Not yet, although I make up plenty
of bedtime stories for my kids, so I’ll probably have to eventually write some
of those down too.
You’ve written
two books about Medieval Wales and a spy story about WWII.
Yup, and I’ve got another Viking
story in the mix as well.
What
got you interested in Welsh history?
I’m interested in all eras of
history, but I think that part of what drew me to this time period was the lack
of writing that had been done on the subject. I found it all so fascinating and
couldn’t believe more people hadn’t written about this place and time in more
detail.
What
got you interested in WWII?
I’ve always loved murder mysteries,
especially British ones, so combining that with London during the Blitz was
just too much fun to resist.
Who
was/were your favorite author/s when you were a kid?
I really enjoyed those “I Can Read”
books as a little kid, such as Sam the Minuteman. I’ve always loved
history books and have also been reading about the American Civil War since I
was pretty young.
Who
is/are your favorite author/s now?
So many to choose from. I’m a big
fan of Lawrence Durrell, simply for his incredible ability to write in such
magnificent language. Tolkien is of course fun, and I was heavily influenced by
The Mists of Avalon as well. Shakespeare and Homer are favorites of
course too. The list goes on J
Are
you working on a new novel at this time? If so, is it a new book in your Welsh
series? A new spy novel? Something else?
I’ve got a few projects in the
works. I’m really enjoying exploring historical murder mysteries as a genre, so
you can expect more WWII era stories to come as well. But I like to keep the
future pretty wide open. Often times I don’t know what I’m going to write until
I actually sit down and write it.
What advice would you give a beginning
writer?
Follow Ray Bradbury’s advice. Write
a lot or you’re doomed. J
Honestly, the key is to keep it fun. That’s why you started writing in the
first place, right?
What advice do you wish someone had given
you, and why?
It’s hard to give advice, because
often I need to learn things myself the hard way for it to really stick. I’d
say the key is to remember that not everyone is your audience, so don’t try to
please everyone or you’ll end up pleasing nobody at all.
Do you foresee a time when you will be a
full-time author?
It’s a tricky question. Most authors
have a day job (even famous ones – Joyce was a teacher, Dickens an editor,
Vonnegut a Technical Writer, etc.). As nice as the image of a cabin in the
woods sounds for an author, I think that by having a day job and continuing to
be in the everyday struggle for life only adds inspiration and authenticity to
a writer’s work. That being said, I know I could fill my day full time with
writing if given the chance. J
Thanks again for having me here,
Elizabeth!
My pleasure, Mark, as always.
Those of you who want to know more about the author can visit his website HERE and learn more about his books, his blog, and his appearances and events.
You can also visit him on Facebook and Twitter. Just click either of these two to go visit his pages.
Here's the publisher's link that can give you several different places to order it by one click: Go HERE.
For those who want to start at beginning, you can also order Between Two Fires at all those sites HERE but these are each "stand alone" books. You can enjoy each story for itself.
Readers, what is your favorite period of history? What countries interest you? Do you tend to read series novels or stand-alones?
How about you? Do young people inspire you? Do you get rejuvenated by contact with young people? What are you celebrating this week? 
