A LIFE IN STORIES
Hi, I’m Mark.
Writer. Traveler. Storyteller.
Recovering fundamentalist.
Perpetually curious.
Whether writing books or short fiction, designing graphics or producing media, or leading workshops or teaching Sunday school, my life’s work has revolved around telling great stories.
A Working Writer
I’ve authored more than a dozen non-fiction books on subjects from Apple Computers to lucid dreaming. I’ve also created more than a dozen Tarot and brainstorming decks.
Over the past three decades, to keep the lights on and feed my hungry babies, I worked for big organizations (SkyTel/WorldCom and the Federal Reserve Bank) writing more than 300 corporate video scripts designed to explain complex ideas (like “benefits cliffs” and “red lining”) to people would rather spend weekends in the park than study text messaging protocols or debate the merits of quantitative easing.
DOING-INVENTION
First Deck
The Bright Idea Deck
Fifty-two countries so far!
Learning to Be Myself
After escaping my home town of Anniston, Alabama, in a rainbow-hued balloon, I was kidnapped by post-modern minimalists at the prestigious Center for Writers (University of Southern Mississippi), where I earned an MA in creative writing. During that time, I designed and taught in the nation’s first computer-aided collaborative writing classroom, earned my first writer’s paycheck with a wince-worthy comic book script, and began coming to terms with the fact that, despite having been groomed as a fundamentalist minister, I was definitely gay.
Coming out changed everything—and led me toward a different, deeper relationship with faith. These days, I’m part of the welcoming New Albany United Methodist Church, where I help with communications and try to live out the kind of Christianity I can actually believe in.
A Life I’m Proud Of
I live a quiet and happy life with Clyde (my husband since 1992) and our rescue dogs, Windy Day and Lucky Day. We’re an openly gay couple in rural Mississippi — which can be, depending on the day, challenging or charming. We’re lucky to have found a church focused on serving its community, sharing God’s grace, and truly welcoming all at New Albany United Methodist Church.
What you’ll find here
This site is a gathering place for my essays, travel stories, photographs, fiction, and experiments with technology. Instead of posting to social media, I collect ideas and memories here.
Want to say hello? Drop me a note.
A few places to start
Three paths into the things I write about.
Life & belonging →
Faith, identity, and finding a place in the world.
Stories & writing →
Books, imagination, and the work of making stories.
Places & pictures →
Journeys, photographs, and unexpected discoveries.