Interview with Mark McQuillen

Published 2015-09-15.
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
Getting up and Facing the challenge of a new day. I'm disabled, I've got 8 lbs of metal in my lower back from severe multilevel degenerative disk disease. So just the act of getting up has its challenges.
When you're not writing, how do you spend your time?
Reading, playing computer games and Facebook. Yes I'm a Facebook Fiend.
How do you discover the ebooks you read?
I get emails about new ones. I get a lot of freebies and some recommendations from friend's.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
Yeah it was Darkness Awaits. I wrote the first book in exactly 4 months to the day. I sat in my easy chair and wrote the entire book on a 7 inch Samsung Tablet. The same one I'm writing this on now.
What is your writing process?
I just let what's going to come out come out. Once I wake up and sit down its down to writing from 9 o'clock in the morning to midnight everyday.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
I was in the 5th grade and I had an English teacher who was really into Tolkien. He read the Hobbit cover to cover in class. I was like wow. I was hooked. I've read every book of Tolkien's or about him. His birthday and mine are on the same day January 3rd.
How do you approach cover design?
I really don't do the design. I must look for stock photos that look cool.
What do you read for pleasure?
Fantasy of course. Robert Jordan
What is your e-reading device of choice?
My eight inch Samsung tablet.
When did you first start writing?
Actually seriously four months ago. I got bored one day and started typing and here we are.
What motivated you to become an indie author?
It's just way too hard to get published. You send 15000 submissions with no responses. I've never taken rejection well. I get really depressed. Your book could be terrific except for this one editor who doesn't like your format or your sentence structure. The entire normal publishing process just annoys me. Not that I'd turn down a contract if it was offered. I'm doing this whole process on the cheap. Don't have any money to spare.
How has Smashwords contributed to your success?
Well we'll see how it goes!
Smashwords Interviews are created by the profiled author or publisher.

Books by This Author

Valkyrie lll: Song of Darkness
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 109,710. Language: English. Published: December 6, 2018 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Epic, Fiction » Fantasy » Paranormal
Gil thought that the showdown with Malice was a fight of good against evil. The struggle was pretty straight forward or so he thought.investigating Malice's past reveals a deadly foe that may destroy them all.
Legends 5: Illusions of Present
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 74,340. Language: English. Published: March 24, 2018 . Categories: Fiction » Erotica » Paranormal, Fiction » Fantasy » Paranormal
There was always more to a story than met the eye.
Distorted Pasts
Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 81,570. Language: English. Published: September 30, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Paranormal
Pathen is dead but the war rages on. Syra the Senior Queen of the Enotal is ravaging the verse. Malice and her companions are in a race against time before Syra can destroy the fabric of reality.
Judgements
Series: Legends. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 89,950. Language: English. Published: June 3, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Paranormal
Malice had made the ultimate sacrifice, in hopes of gaining insight into the whereabouts of Pathen. For years she had searched for the truth, and a way to rid her Verse of the evil that plagued it; and now she stood one step closer to her goal.
Chronicles
Series: Legends. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 151,190. Language: English. Published: February 21, 2017 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Paranormal, Fiction » Fantasy » Epic
Navina had learned much in such a short time, and yet there was still more that she needed to know. So many questions that just had to have answers; but she had help now. A Demon and his mate. A Witch, she had come to call friend, and a Valkyrie, whose own quest had brought them all together.
Legend's
Series: Legends. Price: $3.99 USD. Words: 100,760. Language: American English. Published: December 14, 2016 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Paranormal
Malice had loved, and lost; but the world had not ended. There was so much more to do, so much anger to release. But when a messenger arrives with word of a love returned, after all this time; and carrying a warning that will send ripples across the expanse of space and time, Malice must find the one who holds the key to unlocking the secrets of the enemy, and free Marena from her sweet slumber.
Valkyrie: Darkness Rising Valkyrie Darkness Book 2
Series: Valkyrie Darkness, Book 2. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 44,070. Language: English. Published: November 24, 2015 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Paranormal
Now that Gil Swanson has joined the elite ranks of the Valkyries the mystery of Malice deepens. He finds that this conflict has been raging for centuries and their enemy Malice is an evil from the ancient world. A malignant force who will stop at nothing to have her revenge. Now Gil stands on the threshold of Ghost Mountain with the fate of two worlds hanging in the balance
Valkyrie:Darkness Awaits Valkyrie Darkness Book 1
Series: Valkyrie Darkness, Book 1. Price: $2.99 USD. Words: 120,660. Language: American English. Published: December 11, 2015 . Categories: Fiction » Fantasy » Paranormal, Fiction » Fantasy » Epic
Time was but a moment. Past, present, future: it mattered not. The mirror was supposed to give the viewer a look into these moments and prolonged use could lead to insanity. Many had succumbed to the mirror's effects, but Tisiphone, the heir to the Valkyrie throne, had promised herself not to let it get that far.