Mark Newell
Bio
Mark Newell, PhD, RPA, is a writer and archaeologist in Lexington, South Carolina. In addition to working major archeological projects, he writes historical action adventure, science fiction, non fiction, Ghosting and horror.
Stories (35)
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A Portrait of Elga
2. Berlin Steve had heard stories enough of the war from his father who was born a few years after the conflict ended. His grandfather had died fighting for the resistance, against the Nazis and then against the Russians. This had shaped his ideas about the German character and it was unsettling to see them confirmed in a strange way as he walked out of the gate into Templehof airport.
By Mark Newell4 years ago in Fiction
Blind Man's Breakfast
Part 2 The Counsel Of A Friend The problem was what to do. If he were to blurt the story to the police, a very public scandal would be sure to follow. That is, if he would be believed in the first place. They would think him strange at best when he claimed he had overheard a whispered conversation from fifteen paces away. This was an extraordinary ability he did not want broadcast to the entire Quarter.
By Mark Newell4 years ago in Fiction
The Secret City
Chapter 4 Bound for Panama The steady rhythm of the Dayrell’s engines lulled me to sleep for many hours. From time to time, I would drift from the arms of Orpheus to an almost waking state, only to reassure myself that I was far at sea, safe and quite distant from the deadly affair Prestwicke had embroiled me in. From somewhere on the ship, a crewman was singing. The lilting notes of “Shenandoah” played on a harmonica, seeming to urge me back to the depths of my rest.
By Mark Newell4 years ago in Fiction
A Portrait of Elga
A Portrait of Elga by Mark Newell Look into my eyes...and I will own you. The dry wizened branches of an ancient Wych Elm tapped on the window much like bony fingers picking at the leaded glass panes to gain entrance for something wicked in the darkness beyond. The full moon glimmered through the clouds, bursts of silver light casting shadows from the elm across the beam and plaster walls of the bedroom within.
By Mark Newell4 years ago in Fiction
The Dream Book
Larry Page, University of Michigan Commencement Address, 2009: "You know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night with a vivid dream? And you know that if you don't have a pencil and pad by the bed, it will be completely gone by the next morning. Sometimes it's important to wake up and stop dreaming. When a really great dream shows up, grab it."
By Mark Newell4 years ago in Humans
The Last Of The Riverboat Gamblers
"...Jack of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds, You robbin' my pocket, of silver and Gold.." 19th Century Alabama work song. Steven Davis grew up on the Savannah River. He was born at a time when the river was still important - the turn of the century when it was a major highway for just about anything headed for the port of Savannah, Georgia or back up to Augusta and beyond.
By Mark Newell4 years ago in Fiction
THE GODS OF GILGAMESH
There was a time when Russia's coastal Mirnyy Station supplied the Vostok camp by tractor-pulled sledges once a year. Those were the impoverished years when Russia struggled to maintain Vostok on its own. Global climate change, and the ever more critical need to understand it, altered all that. The long buried lake was thought to hold possible clues to long-term change. If its maybe million year pristine record could be studied, it might reveal that the changes that now threatened the earth were nothing more than vast cyclical events which mankind would eventually survive. Then again, the lake might prove that survival was no longer a sure thing.
By Mark Newell4 years ago in Fiction
Writer's Life
Writer's Life 02 Plotting The Historical Novel. I am not a best selling author (yet - like all of us!). I have published two novels and one has received some recognition and some great reviews. So, rightfully or not, I thought I would share one the most useful plotting tools I have developed for historical novels. As a "creative fiction writer" I recognize that I am basically a liar. I lie for a living. Now, as every successful liar knows, the best lies of all are those that contain a large element of truth. When your creation (lie) is buried in a spoonful of real honey it is so much easier to swallow. It is the same with the historical novel. The one thing all historical novels have in common is a certain character's place in our known history. Nothing destroys your believability quicker than a howling error of timing in a story that is set in a specific period of history. Imagine: "Captain Nemo stood at the helm of the Nautilus and checked the time on his Apple Watch..."
By Mark Newell4 years ago in Journal
THE GODS OF GILGAMESH
There was a time when Russia's coastal Mirnyy Station supplied the Vostok camp by tractor-pulled sledges once a year. Those were the impoverished years when Russia struggled to maintain Vostok on its own. Global climate change, and the ever more critical need to understand it, altered all that. The long buried lake was thought to hold possible clues to long-term change. If its maybe million year pristine record could be studied, it might reveal that the changes that now threatened the earth were nothing more than vast cyclical events which mankind would eventually survive. Then again, the lake might prove that survival was no longer a sure thing.
By Mark Newell4 years ago in Fiction
