Mark retired in 2017 after thirty-three years working in higher education finance and wanted to try writing again. The Wild Rose Press released Peculiar Activities on October 6, 2021. This is the first book in the Detective Henry Ike Pierce series. This manuscript won first place in the mystery category of the 2019 Oklahoma Writers’ Federation annual contest. The second in this series, Shadowed Souls, was released on Halloween 2022. Mark is working on the third in the series called Glass, with a hoped-for release date in late 2025. This manuscript won first place in the mystery category of the 2024 Oklahoma Writers’ Federation, Inc. annual contest.
Mark is one of thirteen authors bringing together thirteen mystery/suspense/horror stories for a Friday the 13th series to be released on May 13, 2022. Mark’s short story is A Gentleman from the Darkness. A second in the series, Hell is Empty, was released on January 13, 2023, and the last of this series, A Wicked Fate, was released on October 13, 2023. An upcoming two-part series is coming on September 13, 2024, Dormer, and December 13, 2024, A Dormer Christmas.
Mark is working on his first sci-fi/mystery novel called Tempus Mors. Flash fiction pieces: “Don’t Forget Us” won first place and creme de la creme of the 2023 Oklahoma City Writers’ contest; “And When She Saw What She Had Done” won second place in the 2022 OKC Writers’ contest; and “The List” won second place in the 2021 OKC Writers’ contest. His flash fiction piece, “Alone in Warsaw,” was published in the Autumn 2019 edition of the U.K. publication Painted Words.
Mark grew up in Duncan, Oklahoma, then attended the University of Oklahoma, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in political science and public administration.
He and his wife have three grown children and will celebrate their fortieth-third anniversary in November 2023. Their first grandchild was born in October 2022. His favorite reads are mystery/suspense/international intrigue novels. He’s found a niche with medieval murder mysteries, noting that it’s interesting to see the lifestyles of other eras and how crimes were solved. His favorite music includes Elvis, Chicago, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Boz Scaggs (among many others).
