About Mark Treble:
Mark Treble is the pen name of a long-time non-fiction author whose works cover anthropology, medicine, international affairs, the military and the sciences.
Mark has lived in ten states and twelve countries. He writes in a variety of genres from comedy through male-male romance to mystery thrillers.
Each book begins with “What if?” An as-yet unpublished work, for example, started with the question “What if ‘Forrest Gump’ had average intelligence and looks?” What if the main character changed and grew over time from a virginal frightened high school student with no life experience to someone whose life played out eventually in board rooms, academia and even briefly the national political stage? What if he was transported from a sheltered environment to a libertine university, where he evolved in every way possible assisted by a wide cast of characters? What if this were a coming of age tale called “Power?”
What if a 31 year old widower and his eighteen-year-old stepson had a fragile relationship that shattered every day, and was running out of glue to repair it? What if the stepson were in danger? And what if the stepfather, a local reporter, had to race against the clock through the morass of New Orleans’ crime world trying to keep his stepson out of danger, while putting himself in harm’s way? What if…? And what if this were “Life Struggles,” with a cast of characters moving fluidly across contemporaneous books and plots?
What if a gang of former high school basketball stars suddenly had one last shot at the Prom Queen they had all pursued? And, what if high school graduation was almost fifty years ago, and the guys thrill of youth had evolved into the fight against approaching age? And, what if the guys took off cross-country on a quest for Helen, the Prom Queen, was now Richie Gawne’s widow? This would be the comedy “The Trip to Helen Gawne.
What if, indeed.
What inspires you to write?
Mark began writing fiction as therapy to escape decades of depression. Mark’s careers moved from opera singer to intelligence officer to blue-ribbon panel expert, then to top-tier global management consultant, then successful Fortune 500 company executive, then back to consulting – but this time to small firms.
Mark has learned seven languages, lived in multiple cultures, seen most legal (and a couple of illegal) things, climbed a palm tree to avoid a wild boar, performed an emergency tracheotomy at 27,000 feet, dined with one emperor, one crown prince and two heads of state, moved almost 30 times, and switched industries only slightly less frequently than he changed his socks.
All this and more are fodder for a wide genre of books ranging from comedy through male-male romance to mystery-thriller and on.
Tell us about your writing process.
I first ask what if. Then, I put an imaginary set of characters into a situation and let the characters take over. Books are not written cover to cover, they’re written scene to scene and not in order. It would be interesting to watch these characters do …. How do they get there? What does that cause? what other characters and events are needed to get them there and then move them on?
I’m just finishing the conclusion to “Life Continues.” The rest of the book is only about 20% complete, but these characters have decided that’s where they’re going.
I sit back, let the characters take over and often are as surprised as anyone else by what happens.
For Fiction Writers: Do you listen (or talk to) to your characters?
My characters talk to me in my sleep. I recently woke up laughing after one of them said, “He verbed her euphemism.” That’s all it took. There’s an entire short story collection, “His Irredeemable Gerund,” coming out of that.
What advice would you give other writers?
Don’t set out to write a book about anything specific. Your characters may resist going there and take you to new and surprising places. My story about a female-dominated university became a twelve-year-long coming of age tale. My look into how a small high school’s basketball team won its games with average athletic ability and an astounding knack for messing with opponents’ minds became a tale of two young men dealing with the the aftermath of trauma.
I suppose if I ever set out to write a techno-thriller it will turn into a cookbook.
How did you decide how to publish your books?
I’m self-publishing because that lets me spend more time with my best friends – the characters in the universes I imagine – without having to take time out for agents and the like. I’m writing primarily as therapy, so all I have to do is convince the readers to pay attention, and even that isn’t crucial.
What do you think about the future of book publishing?
The immediate future is already here – self-published e-books. Just as with countless competing computer designs and operating system incompatibilities, the market will sort it out.
What do you use?: Professional Editor, Professional Cover Designer
What genres do you write?: Comedy, mystery-thriller, male-male romance, a few others.
What formats are your books in?: eBook
Website(s)
Link To Mark Treble Page On Amazon
Your Social Media Links
Goodreads
All information in this post is presented “as is” supplied by the author. We don’t edit, to allow you, the reader, to hear the author in their own voice.
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