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.
Man in Black
Godspeed – Coming Soon
All families are somewhat dysfunctional… not all families get along with one another…
all families sometimes fight amongst themselves; however no family is more dysfunctional,
no family is more fractured, and no family members are at the odds with one another more than a family of gods.
One immortal and selfless god who has been in a state of rebellion against his family for many years – because he sought to influence and help humanity by “playing god” against the wishes of his father – finds themselves being put through a mortal trial of life and death like never before.
However, this “Rebel God” is not to be underestimated – and though he finds himself deceived and punished for his transgressions this “Man in Black” is a survivor and capable of anything.
Prepare yourself for every twist and turn of the continuing story of this former “Messenger God”.
Godspeed!
My New Book “Godspeed” – Coming Soon!
In Tribute To David Bowie: Talking About My Book “Playing God”
I remember January 10th, 2016, like it was yesterday… I remember what I was doing and where I was on the day when I heard that David Bowie had died… and I remember what I did next: I wrote a poem. I wrote a poem for David Bowie called “Always The Starman”, because I wanted to pay tribute to him, to who he was, and to what he and his music meant to so many people from all around the world. Then, not long after, I was inspired to write a short story that was not about David Bowie per se but his spirit definitely influenced it, my story “The Man in Black”; and following on from my short story I would go on to write six more short stories once again influenced by the spirit of David Bowie, which I would go on to collect together and have published in my short story collection “Playing God”. The original 2018 paperback version of “Playing God” had this image of David Bowie on the cover which I drew against a starry backdrop, and the 2024 hardback version featured a cover which was inspired by a sketch of David Bowie which was already within my book – but I gave it a fresh twist of colour and detail. Anyway, suffice to say, if it weren’t for David Bowie then I don’t know who I would be right now, because David Bowie has inspired me and he has influenced me for years in one way or another. I am so grateful for the spirit and the music of David Bowie which has visited me and inspired me so many times over the years, and I know that I am not the only one who feels that way. Rest in peace, David Bowie. Thank you, Starman. ⭐ 🖤
– Mark
The Storyteller: Homme en Noir
“Homme en Noir” is a poem taken from Mark’s 2025 poetry collection ‘The Storyteller‘ – now available to purchase in hardback and as an ebook from Amazon.
Playing God – republished
Get your copy of the new hardback version of my book ‘Playing God’!
‘Playing God’ is a book of “Seven stories. Seven perspectives. Seven experiences. Seven morality tales of one immortal Rebel, Hero, Friend, Fan, Father, Son, Playing God” – which was originally published in 2018.
This new hardback version of ‘Playing God’ features a new front-cover artwork, depicting the main protagonist and character of each of the seven stories – the enigmatic “Man in Black”, and sometimes “Man in White”.
The stories of ‘Playing God’, and the character of the powerful and mysterious “Man in Black” and his interactions with those he meets, are some of the most compelling and inspiring tales I have written, and I often think about them and what they personally mean to me.
And I also have to mention that ‘Playing God’, its stories, and the character of the “Man in Black”, is dedicated to, and was inspired by, the late, great, David Bowie.
You can get your copy of the new hardcover version of ‘Playing God’ from Amazon now!
-Mark
My Poem “Homme en Noir”
Everyone repeats themselves…
everyone sometimes wears
the same things over and over again -
even heroes…
everyone has secrets…
everyone makes the same mistakes
over and over again…
everyone is different,
and yet unavoidably human…
everyone lies; everyone has goods days;
everyone has bad days;
everyone gets to a point
when all they want is a quiet life…
everyone sometimes gets ahead of themselves…
everyone sometimes slips back into old habits…
everyone sometimes flies high…
everyone sometimes falls deep…
everyone needs air to breathe…
everyone can sometimes feel
suffocated by the same old routines…
everyone has a destiny, a purpose, an identity,
a life that can never be lost -
even those of us who might have forgotten
that long ago we were told by someone
that some day we will be somebody
who will make a difference…
everyone who goes to war
returns changed by what they have experienced -
and the first enemy of every battle
that has to be fought and overcome
is always the fear of the one who is fighting…
everyone who has searched for the truth
about something or someone
knows how it feels to be given an answer;
everyone who has investigated a mystery
about why something happened
knows that when light is shined upon darkness
details emerge from the shadows;
everyone who has taken a leap in their life
in which they had no idea
what the outcome would be
knows that a sacrifice is sometimes asked to be made
so that the righteousness of their actions
can be rewarded by those
who are willing to do the right thing
for a greater good…
everyone is someone…
everyone has a future, as well as past -
even someone who spends their time
doing good for others, without asking
for anything back:
someone who has been through so much,
and who identifies themselves first and foremost
as a messenger of truth, justice, peace, and love,
who is only ever witnessed in passing
as a mysterious man in black.
Short story: “The Man in Black” (2018) by Mark Hastings
A Poem A Day #185: Man in Black
Two years on, I’m still “Playing God”
It has been exactly two years since my book “Playing God” was published – and over that time, since writing the stories within, I have been thinking a lot about The Man in Black/The Man in White who is the protagonist of the book and the stories that I wrote.
I will admit that when I first began writing the character of “The Man in Black” in the first story of the collection I did not entirely know who he was, what he was, nor where he came from – however, the more stories that I wrote the more I discovered who he was, what he was, and where he came from, and when I was touched by the hand of inspiration and I found out who he was/what he was everything just fell into place and that realization echoed through and influenced every story that features him.
It’s weird, but I discover something new about the protagonist of the stories and the book I wrote every day – things that I must have included subconsciously while I was writing them – and when I think about who the “Man in Black” is and who he used to be before the stories that I told of him are set, I realize how much of his hidden identity/who he used to be continues to inspire everything that he does, the acts that he chooses to take, and the interactions that he has with the other characters of the stories… an identity that he is trying to run away from and be the antithesis of.
I have come to think of the seven stories of “Playing God” as three act plays, of a sort – something that was not initially intended, but something that delights me was the final outcome by accident… or was it? In any case, “Playing God” is and always will be a special book to me and one that includes so much of me within its pages and within the main protagonist. So, I just want to say a Happy 2nd Birthday to my book “Playing God”and happy birthday to “The Man In Black” who inspired me so much.
I drew this sketch back in February in anticipation for the two year anniversary of the publication of my book “Playing God” and it is essentially a brainstorm of things that the “Man in Black” might have had racing through his head at any given moment of every one of the seven stories within the collection that he features.
Writing all the stories of “Playing God”was a journey of discovery for me just as it was for the “Man in Black/Man in White” whom I wrote about, and I will always think of those stories and that character fondly, and perhaps one day I will find another tale to tell about the mercurious “Man in Black” who looks like David Bowie but who is not David Bowie.
-Mark
Mark The Poet 