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| Mark in India, 2008 |
From a June, 2011 interview.
... "Everyone
calls me Mark. I just use M. F. for writing. In the early days, every search engine brought up ten zillion entries for Mark
Twain and Tom Sawyer. So I said, 'Enough already.'" ... "Yes, many people think the variety of my books is bizarre.
They're very different. That's just the way it's happened. ... "A common
theme? That would have to be a fascination with 'Why' people do what they do runs through
each book. Why did Admiral Yi do what he did, and in his case, how? What were Dalia's reasons for converting to Islam? To
sticking with that husband? For what she did.... In The Shiva Paradox the motives of Temple Cook, the erstwhile hero,
of his friend Captain Bob, of the seemingly evil 'Joe the Snake' and monstrous 'Greg the Giant,' and of the beautiful Deena,
are key to the whole thing. "It's a little harder to see the "Why"
aspect of The Real Man's Sex Book--or is it? Is there an easier thing to ever understand than the instinct towards
sex, mating, and towards romance and relationsips? 'Why' be interested in that? Who isn't? Wouldn't life be boring without
lust and love?" ...
"My first published book, The Priest
Wonho's Memories of Admiral Yi, was historical fiction. Of course, regarding Admiral Yi it was the most accurate
historical fiction you could ever find. ... "The Admiral is one of the greatest men--and human beings--who ever lived.
To me, he is the ultimate commander. Only Alexander the Great could compare. ... "Yet it is the little things about Admiral Yi that made me want to write about him. His kindness towards children.
Risking his career, and maybe his life, to help refugees. His unswerving loyalty to the ideal of a divinely ordained king
even as his showed the most terrible of weakness and idiocy. How he did what he did, twelve ships against over one-hundred
fifty, all filled with lethal samurai who had one primary goal--to gain glory by killing him." ... 
"Then came Married To Islam. Couldn't be more different--a
true story, a memoir. And a woman's book! Admiral Yi turned out to be mostly for men, and for Korean women who love him. But
Married to Islam--it turned out to be a chick flick of a book! And I am one of the authors! Women love it. That's not how I meant it. To me, it was for men, too. But, hell, I also thought women would
like Admiral Yi more than they have so far. ... Still, Dalia's story is fascinating--and anybody , male or
female, who isinterested in some very surprising perspectives and insights about Islam would enjoy it. The marriage contract
alone is worth it's weight in gold. A woman who has a solid contract has as many, or more, rights than most women in western
countries--and who would have guessed? And Mohammed, peace be upon him, was actually pro-women, especially given his era and
culture. The surprises, at least for me, just kept coming. ...
"Right now I'm waiting on a great guy, an
editor named Shane, to hear about The Shiva Paradox.
He might want it for his company. If not, the way the market is going these days, it will be an e-book soon. I'm hoping this
one will be liked by both guys and gals. Certainlymen like it. But so far the ladies who've read it like it, too. ... "There is so much in
that book. If you've never been to India you'll know it pretty well after following Cook's adventures. Not as well as after
Maximum City or Shantaram, perhaps, but what is there is 100% accurate. And regarding spirituality in India--some of the gurus, swamis,
craziness, and depth--it's exact. Temple Cook's path is in a large degree my own, and much of what he hears and experiences
is precisely what I did. .... "Plus it's a lot of fun. My friend Belva of www belva's list. com yelled at me."
(He laughs) "She said that once she got into it she couldn't go to sleep until she's seen what happened next, and that
she kept thinking that until she finished the book. And that was at 4 in the morning." (More laughing.) "That showed
me I got it right in The Shiva Paradox.
A few readers like that make a book worthwhile, though a lo tof them would be even nicer." ...
"I spilled my guts in The Real Man's Sex Book. Parts
of it were not easy to write. Some were hilarious, though. Anything involving Captain Bob and Tai-chi Tony has to have some
excitement and laughter connected to it, and Jimmy the Waterfall Man is one of the world's class acts. T-Ray is of course
an inspired maniac. The sad thing is that he's been like Cassandra of Troy most of his life--he shouts the truth regarding
Intuition, De-Identification, birthing, and sexual bliss and few have heard." (Mark smiles.) "This book will help
with that, of course. .... "Will this book make people angry? Of course. So far peopple have either loved it or hated it--though
in fact nobody can hate all of it. Who, whether politically correct to the point of idiocy or a staunch Feminist, can
complain about multiple orgasms? Can a gay upset about T-Ray's theories complain about the Buzz? Does a woman mind a man who
is more certain, more assertive, who won't take any crap, and yet who is polite, kind, and non-abusive? "Yup, any woman would love to have a man as a partner who put what this book has in it
into practice. What she'll resent is being with this gent, and him not choosing her as his full-time gal. She'll have to get
with it to keep him--and the old 'you step forward, I step back' and other games won't work with him. .... "So they resent me writing about
types of women. Well, guess what? That's reality. Some guys like blondes, some Asians, some boobs, some legs, and on and on.
That's the way of the world. And guess what? Some women like rich guys. Others like atlhletes. Some girls chase musicians.
Again, 'it's the way of the world as we know it.' The Real Man's Sex Book is just to make it--I
hope--better and more fun for the men who read it, and for the ladies lucky enough to spend time with them."
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