My Poem “Sunset Storyteller”

Just before sunset
on a cool and calm evening near the seashore,
a group of friends gathered together
to go for a walk and follow a path
lead by a storyteller of infinite
creativity, imagination, and inspiration…
the promise of the evening adventure
was palpable by all who had been
inextricably drawn together by something
akin to the force of gravity;
however no one could have known
just how much of a magical experience
this away mission would be…
a gentle tram ride; a short walk down quiet streets;
the eventual arrival at the beach
all felt like moments filled
with rising levels of energy, excitement and joy –
because as the party of friends
proceeded to walk together
it felt as if new connections were being created
that would last for a lifetime.

The storyteller of languages
both spoken and unspoken
then guided the group of starry-eyed friends
along the beach and pointed out
landmarks of significance
which were a part of a tale that speaks
to the struggle that sometimes rages within people
after they have lost a loved one –
and as everyone followed along
and listened to every detail of the story being told
there was no one who was not spellbound
and entranced by the words and the imagery
that was forming within their minds.

The group then came upon the statue
of the same sea-ogre within the tale
they had been told about
and everyone who looked upon them
actually believing that they might come to life
and threaten the group;
however, because the group were protected
by the ensorcelling words of the storyteller –
an entrancing and spellbinding daughter of the sea –
no one came, nor could ever come, to any harm,
and once again the fellowship
were guided along the beach
until they came upon a giant metal shell
that as they got closer to it
seemed to encapsulate
the various voices of the group
into one harmonious chorus.

The ensemble of companions remained silent
as the sun began to set and the beautiful light of life
bound this group – our group – to one another
as we all looked out to sea towards the magnificent
sphere of fire seemingly dancing
upon the surface of the water;
before long the light of the sun faded,
but the magic of the shared experience remained –
as did the meaningful, profound, lasting,
and beautiful words of the tale
that had been shared continued to echo –
and I was so overcome and overwhelmed
with feelings of gratitude, as well as with
memories of my father who I miss every day,
that I shed a silent tear and thanked
our “sunset storyteller”
for the blessed and everlasting gift
that she had given to me.

Podcast Episode: Godspeed – Coming Soon

In this episode I talk about my upcoming book “Godspeed” and how it and its story connect with previous characters and previous books and stories that I have previously published.

Podcast Episode: “Some Things Change And Some Things Never Will”

In this episode I give an update on what I have been up to recently, what I have been writing, and what I am looking forward to in the future.

The Outsider: By The Book

The poem “By The Book” by Mark Hastings, taken from his 2026 poetry collection ‘The Outsider’ – out now and available to buy online from Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/0f2ZS3kqu

The Outsider: The Library of Mark

My poem “The Library of Mark”, taken from my 2026 poetry collection ‘The Outsider’ – out now and available to buy online from Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/05PdiPiF

The Shadow of The Wolf – Chapter One: Wild Wolf

In this episode, Mark reads Chapter One: “Wild Wolf” of his new book ‘The Shadow of The Wolf’ – the sixth book in his The Wolf and The Vampire book series, which focuses on the mother, daughter, wife, werewolf Olivia Hunter – published February 2, 2026.

What’s it about?

Two Wolves Collide.

Sister and brother,
Olivia Hunter and Mark Mayweather –
separated from one another all their lives –
are once again drawn together;
however, their reunion does not unfold
as they hoped it would,
and as a result they find themselves
on opposite sides of a life and death struggle
that will expose who they are, what they are,
and what kind of a werewolf they both are.

And witness the reunification
and the reckoning of the relationship
of Olivia Hunter and Vega – The Vampire King.
Will their love survive the battle being fought
beneath The Shadow of The Wolf?

The Shadow of The Wolf is available to buy from Amazon here: https://amzn.eu/d/5p8DJJF

My Books Remastered

You can get a copy of my books ‘Too Close To The Sun’, ‘Vega – The Vampire King’, ‘The Return of The Wolf’, ‘I’ll Meet You At The Lighthouse’, and ‘The Wolf and The Vampire Collection’ with their newly updated and remastered covers, as well as all my other books from Amazon now! 😎

My Poem “The Realms of Possibility”

The more you live, the more you grow,
the more you see, the more you hear,
the more you experience things changing
in profound, considerable, and unexpected ways,
the more you become aware and accustomed
to the insatiably complex nature of the world…
the more you learn about yourself
and the way things are and have always been,
the more you start to understand
and appreciate the things that have happened -
both the good and the bad -
that everything and everyone
has in common with each other…
the more you believe in the power of a person
to be able to change their mind
about what they have always believed,
the more that you realise that people
are not just driven by instinct alone;
because sometimes some people have such
an outpouring of empathy and compassion
for others whom they don’t know
that they even surprise themselves
and their level of charity and generosity
as a result can even surprise and surpass
any and every expectation that they
might have had of their own actions…
the more you do to educate yourself
on what is true and what is false,
on what can be described and what can be proven,
the more you learn that so much
of what we all do and what we have always done
comes down to what we are capable of sacrificing
in order to achieve a sense of purpose in our lives -
and sometimes the price we are faced with
we deem to be too high,
while sometimes some people find
that have no choice but to do what must be done…
the more you do not judge the person next to you,
or the person who is just trying to do their best
to find out why they are who and what they are,
the more that you will see that nothing and nobody
will ever truly fit the model of who they are
sometimes told they are expected to be -
because even those people who attempt
to publicly emulate someone else
behind closed doors everyone is their own self
with their own thoughts, feelings, and emotions
on things and on people, but sometimes
everybody has to keep their own council
on what to say and what not to say;
however, there are some people who
believe that it is their responsibility
to challenge, to argue, and to defend
each and every arena of self-expression,
because there are so many places in the world
where the freedom to say, and to be
who you want to be, is not a guarantee…
the more you accept that the more you know
the more you will be able to make something
that much more interesting and meaningful to you,
the more you will experience a new and a sometimes
more nuanced view of everything and everyone,
and the more that you see the cracks in the facade
of those who portray themselves as someone
and something seemingly untouchable
to the overriding principles and the laws of nature -
those described, as well as those intrinsic
to life as we know it on this planet -
the more you can come to realise that nothing
you can imagine is ever truly
outside of the realms of possibility.

My book ‘The Shadow of The Wolf’ – Out February 2

In this episode, Mark talks about his upcoming book ‘The Shadow of The Wolf’ – the fifth book in his The Wolf and The Vampire book series, which focuses on the mother, daughter, wife, werewolf Olivia Hunter – which is due to be published February 2, 2026.

What’s it about?

Two Wolves Collide.

Sister and brother,
Olivia Hunter and Mark Mayweather –
separated from one another all their lives –
are once again drawn together;
however, their reunion does not unfold
as they hoped it would,
and as a result they find themselves
on opposite sides of a life and death struggle
that will expose who they are, what they are,
and what kind of a werewolf they both are.

And witness the reunification
and the reckoning of the relationship
of Olivia Hunter and Vega – The Vampire King.
Will their love survive the battle being fought
beneath The Shadow of The Wolf?

Preorder The Shadow of The Wolf from Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/5p8DJJF

My Poem “The Life of a Story”

Every story is an alternate reality,
a parallel universe, a world of possibilities…
every story is filled with characters
all bound by the rules of there individual realities…
every story has its own meaning to be told…
every story has its own seasons and history
that informs the present and the future
by repeating the same the echoes of the past
which never get old…
every story is different, and its own,
and yet connected to every other…
every story continues beyond that which
can be read within the pages between
the front and the back covers…
every story should be written
by those who are meant to write it,
but every story deserves to read by everybody…
every story can make a difference
to the lives of people who are drawn
to the magic and the poetry of the art
that they feel hypnotised by,
like a moth to a flame…
every story has a special place in the heart
of its creator and its author,
because no matter how many times it is read
no one but the writer of a story could ever
write the story of dedication that it took
to make a story clear and correct
after what can sometimes feel like a lifetime
of existing within a mist of mistakes…
every story has its own version of itself within it
that someone is writing simultaneously,
and every story has its own version of its author
living their life and being who they are supposed to be -
and within every story there are those
who sometimes dream that they are characters
in someone else’s story,
but they can never find the words to explain why…
every story has a beginning, an end,
as well as a conclusion -
however every story is a journey that begins
with the answer and the conclusion of another story,
because the truth is that every story is all one story
written into the words of every person,
even if they don’t realise it,
and every time anyone thinks they know
everything about every story they have been told
someone else will have their own version of the same story
and a new reality, a new universe,
and a new world is created, over and over again,
that continues to change and evolve
the way in which anyone can tell, retell,
and give new meaning to the life of a story.