Mark Leslie
Mark Leslie Lefebvre has been writing since he was thirteen years old and discovered his mother’s Underwood typewriter collecting dust in a closet. He started submitting his work for publication at the age of fifteen and had his first story published in 1992, the same year he graduated from university. Under the name Mark Leslie, he has published more than a dozen full length books. He pens a series of non-fiction paranormal explorations for Dundurn, Canada’s largest independent publisher. He also writes fiction (typically thrillers and horror) and edits fiction anthologies, most recently as a regular editor for the WMG Publishing Fiction River anthology series. The very same year, Mark saw his first short story in print he started working in the book industry as a part-time bookseller, and was bitten by the book-selling bug. He has worked in virtually every type of bookstore (independent, chain, large-format, online, academic and digital). He has thrived on innovation, particularly related to digital publishing, and enjoys interacting with the various people who make the book industry so dynamic. Between 2011 and 2017, Mark worked at the Director of Self-Publishing and Author Relations for Kobo where he was the driving force behind the creation of Kobo Writing Life, a free and easy to use author/small-publisher friendly platform designed to publish directly to Kobo’s global catalog in 190 countries. By the end of 2016, Kobo Writing Life established itself as the #1 single source of weekly global unit sales for Kobo and, in primarily English language territories, responsible for 1 in every 4 eBooks sold. Mark has spoken professionally in the United States and Canada, in the UK and across Europe, specializing in advances in digital publishing and the vast and incredible opportunities that exist for writers and publishers. Stark Publishing is an imprint Mark created in 2004 when he released his first book One Hand Screaming. He has used the imprint to publish more than 25 books. Campus Chills (2009) and Obsessions (2020) are two of the titles he used to anthologize other authors writing. Rude Awakenings from Sleeping Rough is the first single author title from a different author that he has published.
Marina Raydun: I feel like we need to start at craft beer. Do you brew your own or primarily sample and review others? Anything that pairs particularly well with writing?
Mark Leslie Lefebvre: I’ve only tried making my own beer twice. Once with my father when I was in my early twenties. It was not good. Well, the beer wasn’t good. The experience of making it with my Dad was the really fun part. And once a few years ago with my partner (and fellow beer conspirator) Liz. It was good, (the beer, and the experience doing it together), but it was a significant amount of work for just a single growler of beer. It seemed hardly worth it.
I’ll be honest, I just don’t have the patience to do it well. I’d MUCH rather drink and enjoy the fine work of the masters who are good at the process. In the time it would take me to make a single growler of IPA I could easily have enjoyed a few dozen growlers of someone else’s amazing craft brew.
MR: Anything that pairs particularly well with writing?
MLL: I actually don’t regularly drink beer when I write. Beer goes down TOO quickly. So if I’m writing in the evening, I usually pair it with a nice single malt scotch. That I can drink slowly.
MR: Besides fiction, you also write about nonfiction paranormal explorations. Can you talk to us a little bit about that?
MLL: When I started writing, it was to explore the unknown and the “what if’s” – the majority of my fiction might be classified as “Twilight Zone” in nature because I always liked to explore the dark corners, the unexplainable things. So, later on, when I saw the opportunity to turn some of the research I was doing into non-fiction explorations of the same thing, this time with a bit more “serious” approach (meaning, instead of making up the ghosts and the things that went bump in the night, I listened to first-hand accounts, read books and articles about them, and reported what I’d learned.
MR: Any fun findings?
MLL: Plenty of fascinating things. But I think the most intriguing thing I discovered in that process was learning just how much I could love history. I hated that class in high school. But it wasn’t until going on my very first ghost walk tour that I realized that history could be alive and dynamic and compelling. So it was my thirst for ghost stories that led to a much richer desire to learn and understand history. That was something fun to discover about myself.
MR: Your fiction work is primary in the horror and thriller genre. What attracts you to these subjects?
MLL: I’m not sure if “attracted” is the operative term so much as “has no choice but to be compelled by.” I’m always been compelled by the unknown, and my curiosity of what might be hiding in the darkness just out of site. As a 51 year old man, I’m still a little bit nervous about the monster under my bed, and worry about that hand reaching out to grab my ankles there, or between the joists of the basement stairs.
It has always been that way. It might always be that way for me. And thus, when I sit down to compose a story, those shadows tend to creep in. It’s just natural.
For the longest time, my Mom, who does not like reading anything I write, but loved reading, especially romance novels, “Mark, why can’t you write a nice story?”
All that being said, one of the redeeming qualities about writing about horror and thrillers and dark things is that, when the word itself is dark, I can create monsters and bogeymen where good triumphs over evil. Because at least there, I’m in control. Things can still make sense. Good and righteousness can prevail. Unlike reality. And, if the tension is too tight, at least the reader can close the pages of the book and feel safe again.
MR: How did publishing your first book change your writing process?
MLL: My very first book, One Hand Screaming was published in 2004. It was a collection of short stories. And it was self-published. I felt justified, even back in those “dark ages” of self-publishing, because the majority of the stories in that collection had been through a slush pile, selected by, and edited by an editor of some magazine.
And I created the book because I had a track record of selling short stories, but not a single book to my name.
I didn’t change my writing process so much as I changed my approach to the business aspect of writing and publishing. I stopped waiting for permission, and I was determined to do some bold experimentations in publishing. The first anthology I edited for a publisher was me partially going rogue and taking over an existing anthology when the original editor went MIA. The second anthology I edited I did using my self-publishing imprint and with an investment from three university bookstores to help ensure I could secure pro rates for my authors.
I basically applied the same creativity to the business of publishing as I applied to the writing itself.
MR: What is your favorite genre to read?
MLL: Oh, that’s a really tough one, because I genre hop all the time. I love reading different genres, I love exploring authors and subjects, and areas I haven’t read before.
But if you forced me to land on a single term, I’d like have to use the word Speculative Fiction. I like fiction that explores concepts of “what if” and in unique ways. So it’s a genre that I will always return to.
MR: Are there any books you’ve read over and over again?
MLL: I think I have read the novel Earth Abides by George R. Stewart more than any other novel. And in terms of non-fiction, the book On Writing by Stephen King is likely the one I’ve read the most.
Interesting aside. Earth Abides is about a virus that wipes out the majority of humans, and my partner Liz and I decided to read the novel together at the very beginning of the pandemic in the late winter/early spring of 2020. In fact, the book appears in the first two music parody videos (pandemic themed) that we released in the spring of 2020. It was a cheeky nod to the situation. But also a nod to one of my favorite novels of all time. Which, by the way, with the exception of some sentimentalities from the 50s related to sexism and racism, holds up quite well.
MR: Is there a book that people might be surprised to learn you love?
MLL: Ohh, that’s a good one. I suppose the fact that there are some pretty tropey romance novels that I just loved, maybe folks might find it interesting to learn that I’m a gigantic fan of Hamlet. Yes, I know it’s a play, but it’s one I’ve read multiple times, and always love watching performances of. I’m also a bit fan of Henry David Thoreau’s writing, in particular the essay Walking.
MR: Is there one topic you would never write about as an author? Why?
MLL: Another great question. Well, considering that I’ve written about two of my personal deepest darkest fears, the death of my father, and the death of my child; the fact that I’ve written about people doing some pretty nasty and terrible things to one another, I’m not sure that there is a topic that I would never write about.
Writing can be therapy in many ways; but it can also be a way to explore and try to understand fundamental elements of the human condition, to try to figure out why people behave in certain ways, or do certain things. And so, by being open to exploring even the most disturbing or confusing and misunderstood elements of humanity, I’m allowing myself to continue to learn and grow as both a writer and as a person.
MR: What do you owe real life people upon whom you base your characters?
MLL: I owe them the dignity to be explored, understood, and expressed with compassion and respect. Even if there might not be respect for some of their characteristics or actions they have taken, there is respect for allowing that character to be true and real.
To me, this means that a character can’t or shouldn’t be a stereotype or a convenient plot device. They need to be living and breathing and motivated by things that are critically important to them, even in their fictional makeup. And I owe that to all of my characters, even the ones that aren’t based upon real people.
MR: You are active on the indie-publishing scene and are incredibly supportive of fellow writers. Can you talk a little bit about your time with Kobo Writing Life?
MLL: I feel so lucky that I was in the right place at the right time when Kobo was looking to create a solution to make it easier for self-publishing authors to get books into their catalog. When I sat down with Michael Tamblyn to discuss the ideas, I knew that I was the perfect person for the job. My own experience as a writer and a bookseller, not to mention my years of experience creating a solution for smaller publishers to provide data to Canada’s largest retail book chain, provided me with exactly the right background to attack the role with in depth understanding, authenticity, and a balanced approach.
I love the fact that Kobo hired me, put me at a desk with a phone and a laptop and said: “Okay, figure out what we’re going to do.” I had carte blanche to come up with a solution. I spent a lot of time talking with various folks within Kobo as well as authors and industry people in order to come up with Kobo Writing Life. I got to brainstorm my ideas with some brilliant developers and then, later, hire a team to help me in supporting the platform and the authors.
I am tremendously proud of what we built when we created Kobo Writing Life and love that it set a standard that multiple other platforms have copied in multiple ways. It is a legacy that I am quite fond of, and always will be. Maybe that’s because I built a platform that I wanted to use as an author myself. So, while I had to wear a corporate hate, I was also able to wear my author hat at the same time and make sure that the systems created were balanced and effective for both parties.
To me, it’s like writing a great story where you are always keeping the reader in mind. When you do that effectively, the product, the tale you have generated, works its magic at connecting the author and the reader in a magical and virtual dance.
To learn more about Mark, please visit the following:
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Website: ABOUT – Mark Leslie