NEXT CHAPTER AUTHOR
Mark Richardson
His short stories have appeared in numerous crime and literary publications, including Hobart, Fugue, Segue, Crime Factory, Switchback, and Nth Position.
Born in the Chicago area, he graduated from the University of Iowa, and promptly escaped the midwestern winters for sunny California, first living in Los Angeles and then San Francisco. He spent thirty years working as a writer and marketer for tech companies in Silicon Valley.
Mark now lives in the East Bay with his wife, two children, and the world’s cutest dog. He spends his time writing fiction, obsessing about the Chicago Cubs, attending his daughter’s softball games, and reading stacks of books. He loves genre-bending fiction, especially speculative writing with a noir flavor. In 2019, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and supports the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
IN THE AUTHOR’S WORDS
Author interview
Interview submitted .
What inspired you to start writing?
Fame and money.
Who are some of your favorite authors and books?
I'm a prolific reader. I like classics and new books. I enjoy nearly every genre except romance, and I love non-fiction. I follow the Stephen King adage, "Books are a uniquely portable magic." I'm always reading/carrying a book. If I had to pick one favorite author, it would be Haruki Murakami. His stories really speak to me. I feel like in my books, I am trying to combine Murakami weirdness with noir elements, and maybe a bit of sci-fi too.
What would you like to tell readers who have just discovered your books, but haven't read one yet?
My novels are all genre-bending, with elements of noir, dystopia, magical realism, and just general weirdness. I guess you could call them speculative fiction. I like shorter novels (50 - 80K words) so that's what I write. A reader recently sent me a note that I liked: "I really dig your writing. You've got a unique voice & strong prose. That's a damn fine combo for me."
Who is the favorite character you created, and how did they come into being?
I like all my characters, I created them after all. But my favorite is Wellington Thorneycroft, the protagonist of my second novel, The Sun Casts No Shadow. He's a thief, a murderer, a drug addict, an orphan, a womanizer, and generally not a good guy. But as I wrote the book, I couldn't help but root for him.
What are your future plans as a writer?
Keep plugging away. I'm hooked. Writing is my jam. I worked for 30 years as a marketing and communications writer in Silicon Valley, and came to fiction writing late. I want to keep writing both novels and short stories, and hopefully my books will find a bigger audience.