Born, raised and educated in the rural heart of England, MARK BLASDALE is an internationally-acclaimed author, seasoned traveller, lecturer, biographer and historian.
A self-diagnosed coffee-addict, hopeless list-writer and self-proclaimed 'Spirit of Christmas', Mark’s passion for writing stems from childhood when he was introduced to the works of Charles Dickens by a family friend. Now a serious collector of antiquarian volumes himself, and with influences that include Washington Irving, Mark Twain, John Keats, O’Henry, Damon Runyon, Percival C Wren and Paul Gallico, it’s little surprise that Mark is a passionate advocate of the Novella, Literary Sketch and Short Story.
His first book, Keeping Christmas, was published in 2014. Subsequent titles include All the Year Round (latterly titled A Day in the Life of Dickens), Six Hills: Spencer Bridge, Twelve Tales of Christmas, Christmas Miscellany, The Reckoning of Thaddeus Pike, Harrison’s Patch and 2019's About Bloody Time.
Mark’s interests, hobbies and influences, though too vast and varied to fully document here, include American history and politics, Victorian literature, rugby, hiking, ink & wash painting, cappuccino in all its wondrous forms, Mr Daniel Lambert, the history and traditions of Christmas, the philosophy of Mr Bob Ross, the teachings of American author/raconteur Shelby Foote, anything remotely connected to Charles Dickens, and the music of The Beach Boys.
