Mark Best

Profile Information:

Hometown:

Knoxville, TN

About Me:

I wrote a play about a crooked boxing match while I was in grade school. Unfortunately, it was never performed because, after the first read through, I could never get the rest of the kids in my fifth grade class to come back to my house for rehearsal. It was probably for the best...I can't remember most of it, but what little I do recall was pretty bad. But, hey, I was 11. That should count for something.

My first published story came after college. "Comeback" was published in Hardboiled. Its about an ex-con, on his first day out, and a crooked cop who doesn't want him to go straight. I got paid five dollars for that story, and I bought 100 copies of the magazine, so my career was off to a financially poor start..

I've had several stories published over the years, but for awhile I was afraid I might be a jinx. Several magazines that published my work have folded, including Blue Murder, Somniloquy, Naked Kiss, Murderous Intent Mystery Magazine, The White Fedora, and Vampire's Crypt.

My two biggest successes as a writer were placing second in the International Imitation Raymond Chandler Writing Competition, and winning the 2005 Derringer Award for "The Safest Place on Earth."

I Am A:

Writer

Books And Authors I Like:

Michael Connelly, Robert Parker, Loren Estleman, Jeremiah Healy, Thomas Lipinski, Lawrence Block

Movies And TV Shows I Like:

24, Remington Steele, The Rockford Files, Magnum PI, James Bond, The Usual Suspects

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