AUTHORS CORNER- Mike Cindell

Hello, beautiful people! Trust your Christmas preparation is going on exceptionally well. 

Up until this point, mine has been great, and I am eager to bring you something new. Today we have a  special guest in our midst. 

I know him to be an Author. The multiple times I have had the chance to talk with him, he seems like a shy individual. He is always aware of others and open to learning new things. 

Those are my musings about Mark, probably, my thoughts aren't right. We will find out in a bit as Mark will tell us more about himself.

Additionally, he will answer some questions my group and I arranged.

MARK CINDELL

I was born in Chicago Illinois.  My mother was born in Germany while my father was born in Puerto Rico. Due to the horrifying things that happened around where we lived, I grew my passion for reading. Our house was on lockdown pretty much all day apart from school hours.  Roald Dahl's Charlie and The Chocolate Factory were some of the creations and creators that made me love books some more. 

After various incidents and bad events in the area we lived, my parent taught it was wise we relocate. When I was twelve years old, my family and I moved to Puerto Rico. Relocating to Puerto Rico was a great idea, however, life was hard. We grew up through poverty. For some rare reason, I became fascinated with creating stories; it was my way of somehow mentally escaping my current life and travelling through the pages I'd create. 

Since then I kept writing but never dared to publish or show any of my stories to anyone until I finished.   Apart from writing my main hobbies are reading, going to the movies and finding good food through local restaurants.

Q & A

 What is the name of your latest book, and what inspired it?

 My latest is; In Between. It was inspired by a comic I read when I was a child called Spawn by Todd Mcfarlane.

 Do you have any unusual writing habits?

I'd say my most unusual habit is my playlist.   I select music that makes me feel a certain way. For instance: I'll listen to Say Something From A Great Big world which is a song that can easily bring me to tears. Sometimes, Canon D by Pachelbel; even though it's weird, I come up with some of the best Ideas at my rawest point.  I do the same with adventure, action, thrillers.  I've organized a playlist that creates the mood for the type of book or scene I'm writing.

 What authors or books have influenced you?

Stephen King, James Patterson, Danielle Steel, John Katzenbach & the one and only: Roald Dahl has been the writers that in one way or another inspired me to write.

The book that made the most impact in my life was Charlie in the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. As I mentioned earlier, I grew up in a very dangerous area in Chicago IL. Our home was usually on lockdown after school. This book was so colorful and creative in so many ways, it kept me alive and also kept my mind off of the shootings and other things that happened while I lived there, in a way it saved my life.

What are you working on now?

I'm currently working on various projects, the sequel / follow up book to In Between. A thriller called the Art Of Blood  which is the story of a serial killer that is told through the eyes and emotions of the killer,  I'm also working on a Science Fiction book called Memories of Tomorrow & a thriller horror book by the title: The Playground which is about various prisoners who wake up in a deserted city and discover they're part of a black market survival game called the playground.  I have other projects that are in in the backlog until I finish my current projects.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?

This is something that is a work in process, I've previously used FIVERR for ebook promoting. I'm still learning to get social media to work in my favor, to discover new writers, new websites and blogs that help new self-published authors like myself.

Do you have any advice for new authors?

Don't give up, keep reading, keep writing.  I know it's hard, and I know that for every single supporter, you get, there are 10 more haters waiting to rain on your parade.  But writing is something that is way more necessary than many understand.  Your book can easily be the uplift for someone's bad day, but if your book doesn't exist that will never happen.  Most importantly, if you don't guide us into that amazing world inside your head, word by word thru each colorful page.  Who Will?

AUTHOR'S JOKE OR INSPIRATIONAL TALE

I grew up in a special family when I say "special" I don't mean in a good way.  I got emancipated at the earliest age possible. I have to make this explanation so you can have a sneak peek of what my background was like. This will help you understand my story better.  When I reached the age of 18, I started to work in an AT&T call center. Back then it was a huge step up for me both career-wise and salary wise. The town where I worked was Guaynabo PR, it is about 8 towns away from where I lived back in Vega Baja PR. During these periods, I had no car and could not count on getting a ride from anyone (and I mean anyone).


During the first 6 months working for this company I used public transportation to get to work, however, the first shift assigned to me was from 3 pm -12 pm. In Puerto Rico, there is no such thing as transportation at night time, no train, no ferry, no local bus, nothing. During these periods, I had no other option but to walk which basically took 6-8 hours depending on my pace. When I'd get home it would be to take a shower to sleep two or three hours max and then take back off to work due to the distance from my home to work.  Sadly, during my quest to earn a living, I got assaulted twice and in one of the occasions, I was beaten by four men.  Now, while this anecdote sounds a little tragic, I stood firm and focused towards my goal which was to work hard, save some money, and to change my life for good. 


My point is that; there will be hard moments in life, the moments we want to give up, stop writing, prefer to stick to what we have and not take a risk or commit to something that is not guaranteed.  I stood committed, yes, there were speed bumps and hiccups along the way, they will always exist. If you remain focused and push forward, anything and everything is possible.  Being able to say I have finished my first novel and am working on more than two projects make me so proud. Come to think of it! What if I stopped along the way? What if I decided to stop pushing through those 6-8 hours work? Definitely, I would never have made it here.  Yes, people may call you stupid, awkward or weird, but if you know what you want, what you're passionate about; no one can stop you.


I don't know if this story is too long or doesn't fit the point, but this story defines me as a person. I'm not looking for any pity, however, I think this would be of help to someone.  Hopefully, it fits the point of what we're trying to accomplish.

Was this fun? Would you like us to add some other questions to our list? Did you enjoy the interview? Simply give us your suggestion in the comment section.

You can show Mark Cindell some love on his social media;  Facebook, Twitter. Also Mark's new book "In Between" will be out soon. If you would love to get a copy, simply stay tuned as you might be one of the lucky people to get a free copy.

Get a copy of  In Between by Mark Cindell for free!

Please Ignore the price showing on the HTML link. The book is free.

You can also get access to his book by clicking here.