So here we are. New website. New blog. New shoes. A new venture into the world of publishing and being a self-published author. Exciting and daunting.
This isn’t my first blog and it isn’t my first website. I’ve tried and failed to start and maintain a blog on many occasions and I’ve never been able to stick to them. My last website lost momentum because the YouTube channel I was running at the time also ground to a halt, and I didn’t have a product to hold everything together.
Suffice it to say, I’m not very good at sticking to things and seeing things through.
Except for writing books.
Without meaning to sound arrogant, it’s always an odd feeling when people react to the fact that I’ve written six full-length manuscripts with shock. It’s what I’ve known since I finished my first just after I turned eighteen, so I’ve not known any different throughout my entire adult life. It’s just something that’s always been a part of who I am. It’s exactly the same as for people who pour hours into perfecting their art, or sculpting their bodies, or who master their sport.
As this is the first of what I intend to be many (regular) posts, I suppose it makes sense to start off with the obligatory introduction to post just so you can see how adorable and quirky I am.
I’m Mark. I’m thirty-two. I was born in the south of England but I now live in Manchester where it rains quite often. I have an irrational fear of balloons. My favourite film is Forrest Gump and my favourite book is ‘The Painted Man’ by Peter V Brett. I have a chronic knee problem. I don’t drink hot drinks. I can name all fifty US states in alphabetical order. I practically have no sense of smell but I still have perfect vision despite all other members of my family requiring glasses. People say I look like Edward Norton.
In terms of my writing, ‘Quin of Light’ is the first book I’ve taken to the brink of publication, an elemental fantasy that tells the story of five siblings each born with the power over an element and who are cursed to only be killed by one another. Cheerful stuff, but there is a talking cat so. . .
And I have a whole host of other ideas. I describe my other WIP as a crossover between ‘Lord of the Flies’ and Pokemon. I want to tell the story of Emmy who’s life is tied to seven arrows that will never miss when shot and who will die once the seventh arrow is fired. I want to make you laugh at the story of the patrons in a tavern who gain their powers through drinking cocktails and alcohol – the drunker they become, the more powerful they get!
And I plan on getting back on the YouTube/BookTube bandwagon once I have a few other life-related things in place. I might even drop my old channel somewhere so everyone can cringe at 2017-18 Mark.
So that’ll do for now. I plan on posting a blog post every Friday and book reviews such as this one on The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. I hope to see more of you soon on Twitter and Goodreads and maybe if I’m lucky, one or two of you might give ‘Quin of Light’ a chance.
Peace.
o m g i am so excited for your book “quill of light” but i am even MORE excited to see your old youtube channel. please share for your fanbase!!!!
love and fantasty
philippa
p.s. you DO look like edward norton