Chris,

I read through many of the bios and tried to sculpt mine to be about me and not the book.  You are right in your comments, that isn’t as easy as it would seem.  A huge THANK YOU for the promo and the outlet to get the message out.

– Mark

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As a boy, I caused a lot of trouble.  I would say it was typically unintentional – mostly the meandering, mischievous type of trouble that makes one an excellent little brother.  I proudly admit that I was good at being bad.  Getting caught earlier in life would have been profitable for my personal character development.  But time and consequences finally straightened me out.  A stint in the Army also helped me grow up.  I have always read voraciously, but never spent much time on classic literature until married a beautiful, young southerner who gave me an appreciation for Dickens, Austen, Hugo, and Tolstoy.  In time, she also gave me four daughters who have opened worlds of ballet, drama, emotions, and music to me.

When I am not holding a book or pecking on a keyboard, I like to run marathons and build furniture.  My family has developed a heart for orphans and joyfully support several charities related to poverty and orphan care.  I have been blessed to travel to Swaziland and Haiti to build things to help their children and hope to return to Africa many more times.  The other thing I enjoy is coaching, teaching, and mentoring young men.  I lost my own mentor to cancer five years ago.  Before he passed, he encouraged me to follow my dream and write.

Since then, I’ve developed, plotted, and begun a dozen novels but never quite found the right niche until I stumbled into my friend, Virgil Creech.  The goal of my writing is to weave moral truths and humor into a story that is relevant and engaging to young people and families.  Because he is a trouble-maker, Virgil allows me to recount some of my youthful wanderings then turn the tables as I try to show him a better way.  I love to laugh and have been heartened by some of the feedback I’ve received.  There is nothing more rewarding than to have someone I’ve never met say my book caused them to laugh out loud.  The book, Virgil Creech Takes a Swipe at Redemption, is available on Amazon (See details HERE).  Virgil lives in the 1920’s in a small fictional Georgia town called Portsong.  He probably doesn’t have a favorite subject in school, but history was mine.  So I took a liking to the research involved in developing the book. 

The best way to contact me or find out more about Virgil is through my blog where I tell stories from different characters’ perspective.  Of course, Virgil takes over from time to time and you never know what he’ll blog about!  See: Portsong

Thanks for taking the time to read a little about me and I hope to share a porch swing and a glass of lemonade with you in Portsong!

-Mark Myers