Showcase: Untoward by Mark Brisby

Daumis Mucker knew that turning thirteen was unlucky, but when he tries to rescue another boy from sinister magicians, they are both captured, starved, and tortured for his pluck.

Cewyn Shirad feared being taken by the Deymen, but what he had not counted on was the friend he would make in captivity and the powers that were already unlocked within him.

Rilliam Woodcutter only wanted to be out from beneath his crooked master's thumb. But when trouble brews in the form of two brats and their would-be savior, he must set aside his own desires and continue the dark work of his mentor.

Tadrec TeyAn always wanted to be a hero, but after having recently lost his comrades, will he be able to face down his former childhood abductor? Is he responsible enough to protect Daumis and Cewyn whilst leading them to safety? Can he get them to Horizon before the minions of evil forever corrupt their spirits?

Q.  What inspires your writing?

A. Everything that I see, hear and encounter in my life inspires me in some fashion.  Good or bad, well especially the bad because it's more fun to get out.  I'll see a bird in a tree and wonder what one of my characters would think if he was seeing the same bird and about how I could tie that into a scene to make him easier with which to identify.

Q.  What is your favorite thing about being an author?

A. Creating whole worlds, civilizations, deities, aliens, and even witty/wise/quirky side characters.

Q.  What is the toughest part of being an author?

A. Promoting oneself, especially if one is an introvert.  Getting people to see that your work exists and then to get them to care enough to buy it is a monumental undertaking and something I did not even think about during the writing process.  All I was concentrating on was finishing the story.

Q.  If you could not be author, what would you do/be?

A. Probably a masseuse because I give great massages. 

Q.  What would the story of your life be entitled?

A. Fighting Myself At Every Turn

Q.  What is your favorite book of all time?

A. Conan the Barbarian (the complete collection of the original stories) by Robert E. Howard.  He very succinctly illustrates danger, daring, suspense, magic, and even the darker side of civilization all entwined in a vibrant tapestry of a dashing hero who men either fear or admire and who women adore...eventually.

Q.  Which character from ANY book are you most like?

A. I usually feel like Damien Vryce from the Coldfire Trilogy, because I have to please a lot of people and quite often I'm put in charge of things.  And I have a gloomy outlook on things sometimes and am taken in by those I desire and made a fool of.  If I could tap into the fae and use magic though, I could live with all the rest quite happily.

Q.  What character from all of your books are you most like?

A. I'm split into four of the main ones really.  Tadrec has my wit.  Daumis has my observations of human interaction.  Cewyn has my logic.  Rilliam has my qualities for scheming.

Q.  Which book would you love to take a weekend vacation inside of?

A. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie.  I would so meet Hercule Poirot.  Plus I figured it out before very long, so I could "help" their investigations.

Q.  What is your favorite season?

A. I love autumn.  Here in Virginia, the trees are a variety of different colors, and it's like being in an oil painting.  My absolute favorite smell is that of burning leaves.  Every October, I inhale as deeply as I can whenever I'm out and catch a whiff of it.

Q.  What inspired your book cover(s)?  Or what is your favorite book cover and why?

A. I had originally just wanted to have a black background and have an image of bones lined up to spell out the title for Untoward (my only finished project thus far), but I could not find an artist.  But instead I used a photo I had taken and had made into a negative.  It's from a point of view of looking upwards at an angle to it, limbs devoid of leaves.  As a negative, some people think it's supposed to be neural fibers or nerve endings.  I like the idea of nerve endings, because it fits, but it's really just a tree.

Q.  Tell me something funny that happened while on a book tour or while promoting your book.

A. I went into my old work location and told them about it, and the employees were thrilled and many ordered them on Amazon that very day.  When I went back weeks later with paperbacks to sell, more people there found out and bought them from me right then and there.  I was amazing!  But every single pson is like, "Mark Brisby?  Who the hell is that?  That's not your last name!"  All of them.

Q.  Are you working on something new?

A. I have two other projects started already, and the sequel to Untoward is on the drawing board.  I have to see what I can do with other stuff just in case no one likes the first book in this series.  If no one does, then why waste time on book two?  One project is one involving ancient Rome, and another is set in the future in space.

Q.  Anything you want to say to followers of this blog or those that are just stopping by?

A.  Thanks for checking out my showcase!  If you want to submit something, just follow their policies and submit.  They are very helpful at promotion.  Also, if you do get a paperback of my book on Amazon, it's large (8 1/2 x 11"), so you would get charged more than $20 for something that size.  And sorry that there are no page numbers...it just makes it all so much more ominous when you can't just glance down to see how far you've come.  I hope to do a second edition soon, smaller sized, and perhaps a map and some illustrations.

Find out more about Mark HERE