Here’s a little bit about me…

I come from Glasgow, Scotland but these days I live in Auckland, New Zealand.

It’s sunnier. There are more earthquakes.

For ten years, between 2001 and 2011, I worked as a musician throughout the UK and Ireland, playing bass guitar and having the time of my life. I worked with a variety of bands and musicians, touring and recording, and it was a wonderful way for anyone to spend their twenties and early thirties. I met some of the best people. I made lifelong friends who, although I don’t see them often anymore, I still love dearly.

I met my wife on the road.  Not literally lying on the road. I met her at a gig, you know?

I love her dearly too.

I quit music in my early thirties. Truthfully, I was burned out and after floundering for a while with no direction, I decided to go back to uni and study something because I never did that after school and was always curious to see if I could handle that sort of thing. I attended an evening course at Strathclyde University in Glasgow where I studied English, Sociology, and Psychology. It was in December 2010, during the English Literature lessons, as we read short stories from the Heath Introduction to Fiction, that I felt the passion for something return. A passion that had been missing since leaving music behind.

In 2011, I retired from the world of music and went to work on my degree in English Literature and History. All the while I was writing short stories. Bad ones. My first one was all about vampire puppies. My writing wasn’t great but I stuck with it. I self-published a little without knowing what I was doing but mostly I entered writing competitions because they offered money for prizes. Eventually after lots of rejection I won a UK prize and started to get shortlisted for several international contests.

But mostly I failed.

And so, I kept working at it.

Eventually I got my degree and put it in the sock drawer (it’s still there). All the while I got better at writing. Besides fiction, I was also writing regular feature articles for sports and fitness magazines and websites. Some pop culture stuff in there too. The highlight of this era was interviewing Bruce Lee’s daughter Shannon, talking to her about her dad’s legacy amongst other things. A conversation with the great boxing trainer, Emanuel Steward (RIP), was also a thrill.

I moved to Australia in July 2015.

In October 2015, I attended a two day publishing workshop with Writers Victoria in Melbourne. At that point, I’d been debating over which publishing path to take – indie or traditional. That weekend sealed the deal because the traditional representatives were disappointing and that’s the polite version. For them, the writer was a beggar who had to come to their table and beg for scraps. Beg for opportunities.

I didn’t like that. So I chose indie.

Indie was hard. Still is and it’s been a steep learning curve but I made the right choice. I’ve written a lot of apocalyptic and dystopian fiction before moving into the thriller/horror/suspense genre in 2021.

Anyway, that’s enough about me.

If you’d like to get in touch, use the contact form on the contact page. Don’t be shy.

Last thing and it’s a big thing. Thank you for all the support.

Now go away and be happy.

Mark