mystery

Vega – The Vampire King – republished

Mark Hastings books , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Get your copy of the new republished, hardback, version of my book ‘Vega – The Vampire King’!

Originally published in 2021, ‘Vega – The Vampire King’ is the backstory of Vega, “The Vampire King”, who was first introduced in my book ‘The Wolf in You’, and essentially tells the tale of his origin story: where he came from, who he was, what he has had to live through, and how he ultimately became the leader of all the vampires on Earth.

Within ‘Vega – The Vampire King’, you discover that Vega has been who and what he is for a long time, and over the centuries he has encountered several other supernatural individuals – including some characters who I have written about and who have connections to other characters within my other books, namely: Olivia Hunter.

‘Vega – The Vampire King’ is a prequel, a sequel, as well as somewhat of a parallel story to the events my book ‘The Wolf in You’ and gives Vega’s perspective on his relationship and his love of Olivia Hunter – what lead him to her, what he did to protect her, and how and why he fell in love with her.

‘Vega – The Vampire King’ is essential reading if you have read my book ‘The Wolf and The Vampire’ and you want to learn more about someone who is not like any other vampire you may have read about or heard of before – because, even to those who may have heard of him, Vega, in many ways, is an enigma and a mystery, as are the best and the most interesting of characters.

You can get your copy of the new hardcover version of ‘Vega – The Vampire King’, featuring a brand new cover artwork, on Amazon now!

The Doorman (2024) – The Audiobook

Mark Hastings books, me, Podcast, Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , 
Simon Starling is a young man who just has no luck when it comes to relationships - and no matter what he does he always finds himself heartbroken. You would think that one day Simon's luck would change. Right? You would think that one day Simon would find "The One" for him? Well, one day, after breaking up with his girlfriend, something happens to Simon which leads him to visiting a magical place called "Reader's World" and be introduced to its enigmatic and mysterious custodian, "The Doorman", and from that moment Simon's life would never be the same again.

Chapter One – “Introduction”:

Chapter Two – “Mrs. Robinson”:

Chapter Three – “Reader’s World”:

Chapter Four – “Shrödinger”:

Chapter Five – “Raven”:

Chapter Six – “The Green Door”:

Chapter Seven – “The Cardinal”:

Chapter Eight – “The Dream”:

Chapter Nine – “Open”:

Chapter Ten – “The Break-through”:

Chapter Eleven – “The Red Queen”:

Chapter Twelve: “Deadlock”:

Chapter Thirteen: “Phoenix”:

Chapter Fourteen: “The Shadow Man”:

Chapter Fifteen: “The Dark Room”:

The Doorman (2024) – Chapter Sixteen: “Ouroboros”:

Get your copy of the hardcover version of The Doorman on Amazon now!

Short story: ‘The Angel’s Halo’ (2016): “The Angel’s Halo” – part 2

Mark Hastings books, Podcast, Short-story , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
In this episode, Mark recites part 2 of his short story ‘The Angel’s Halo’ from Mark’s 2016 short-story/poetry collection “Too Close To The Sun.” The story tells the tale of Holly Harris: an imaginative young woman living and working in New York City, at a bar called “The Angel’s Halo,” who is looking for love, as well as dreaming of finding her purpose in life – not knowing that she has already been been chosen for something and will soon find out who and what she has always been meant to be. You can read Mark’s poetry on his website http://MarkThePoet.Me, and you can purchase all of Mark’s books of poetry, short-story anthologies, and novellas on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HjAJMC

My Poem “From Time to Time”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , 
In white writing
on black leather
I saw the warning
"Nothing lasts forever" -
something I have known all my life,
but recently more acutely than ever.

I have never been blind
to the fact that the universe
is constantly sending us all
messages and signs...
I have never been oblivious
to the fact that some things are created
and some people are
the way that they are
for reasons that might not become clear for a considerable amount of time.

Sometimes, people do not know
why they chose to make the choices
that they did at a particular moment...
sometimes, people can see
what is to come -
both the good and the bad -
and they decide to proceed anyway,
because we all know that life is
sometimes both scarier than a horror movie
and sometimes ridiculous
enough to make us laugh.

From the day that we are born,
the world changes around us...
from the time that we are grown
and we see, and we understand,  
that nothing and no one
is meant to be eternal,
we know that there will come
a day when life will go to great
lengths in order to teach us
all a lesson about what matters
when everything is said and done...
we all have to live the life
that was always meant for us.

From what I have seen,
and from what I have learned,
I would say to anyone who
still has no idea what
they are supposed to do
when it comes to making a decision -
whether seemingly insignificant,
or one that is life-changing -
never forget that we are
allowed to make mistakes,
and perhaps repeat the same mistakes over and again.
Why? Because whether we
want to believe it, or not,
each and every one of us is a mystery -
sometimes even to ourselves -
and sometimes the slow discovery
of who we are can make us all feel better
about the most random things in life
that we have accumulated, remembered,
and sometimes we pick out from
our individual internal memory tombola
that we revist from time to time.

A Poem A Day #609: Dinosaurs had feathers

Mark Hastings Podcast, Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , ,
“Dinosaurs had feathers” by Mark Hastings was taken from Mark’s poetry collection ‘The Comeback Kid’ which was published in 2023 by Zeloo Media. Check out more of Mark’s poetry online @ http://MarkThePoet.Me – all poems © Mark Hastings ● Buy Me a coffee @ https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MarkThePoet ● Check out the merch store on Redbubble: https://rdbl.co/3xWa4Rw

My Poem “Threads”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , 
I have always been
a natural detective at heart...
I have always been
appreciative of details -
like the hidden messages
that artists like to weave
within the tapestry of their particular art...
I have always been
an observer of the cosmos...
I have always been of the opinion
that because the universe is so big,
so varied, so full of things
that have happened and will happen
that we will never know,
there is no question that
there is no greater mystery
than that of the endless frontier of space.

Not everything is meant to be known;
however, some people will
always want to know as much
as they can about something
that peaks their curiosity...
not everyone can be known
for who and what they are,
nor for what they represent;
however, everybody can become
naturally synonymous with
certain things and with being a certain way
that, over time, people can become
accidentally famous, or even infamous,
simply by being themselves
and doing what they love to do
so effortlessly.

To some people, everything
is about all appearances...
to some people, actions
echo louder than words...
to some people, when they
make their mark upon the world,
it can be hard for them to differentiate
between what they think of themselves
and what opinion other people have of them...
to some people, when they find out
that the world, the universe,
the reality outside their mind
is different than they thought it was
they find themselves reformulating
their idea of what they know
about themselves, as well as about others,
as they follow the clues left behind
of the remaining, ever-present, threads.

My Poem “Puzzle Pieces”

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , 
Every day I see puzzle pieces strewn around me -
which is fine because I have
always loved a good mystery...
every day my interest is peaked
with fascination by questions -
those I perceive and read
emanating from people, places,
experiences, circumstances,
and situations, like a nectar to a bee...
every day I find myself following
the breadcrumbs left behind
by everyone who may not wish
to have the truth about something
laid bare for all to see...
every day I take a leap and I allow
my instincts to drive the thoughts
of my mind at full speed...
every day I look and I always see something
that intrigues me and invigorates my curiosity...
every day I unlock internal doors to inner places,
like a locksmith of multiple keys -
but sometimes when I do
I find myself in rooms filled with
the things of people that sometimes
feel out of place and out of context,
like a mismatch of fragments
that you sometimes find interlaced within a dream...
every day I decode one decrypted message,
and the next I see a gap within a tapestry
and I have to find out what and where
to find the missing puzzle pieces.

My Poem “Houdini”

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Everybody loves magic…
everybody lives to be bedazzled…
everybody who sees a magician
or an illusionist perform
an illusion or a magic trick
often cannot believe what
they have just witnessed…
everybody lives to see
something that they have
never seen before –
even those who have been
around the world and have experienced
things that are indescribable find
themselves, at one time or another
during their lives, captivated
by the gift of someone able to show
an audience of one, or one of a thousand,
something unbelievable,
something borderline supernatural,
something that looks so simple
but is in reality complicated
on so many levels, and something
that is a part of a tradition
that is not just exclusive
to humanity, that has also been
observed in the animal kingdom:
the art and the act of surprise,
of wonder, and of defying expectations.

Stories and mythologies
from all around the world
are filled with tales of characters
that have certain unexplainable skills…
legends have for centuries been written
about wizards and magicians who became
synonymous and memorable
because of who they were
and what they were believed to have done…
characters like “Merlin”, who is always
closely associated with the legendary
King Arthur have become mythical
in their own right because of the mystery
of who they were that still follows them
and cloaks them like a veil.

In this day and age,
just as back the medieval days
of kings, knights, swords in stones,
and ladies in lakes, people
are still drawn to experiences
that cannot be explained
without some sense of loss as a result…
even those people who ask how a magic trick
is done do not really want to know
because it is the not knowing of an audience
that is one of the most essential parts
that makes a magician want to keep doing
the same trick and the same routine
over and over again.

We need magic in the world
now more than ever,
because it is by being ensorcelled
by a gifted magician that we can
let our imagination run free…
thank god for magic and thank god
for magicians – who are wizards
in their own right – who some of us
know of, or may have grown up with,
like Derren Brown, Paul Daniels,
David Blaine, Penn and Teller,
David Copperfield, who learned from,
and who followed in the footsteps of,
one of the greatest and one of
the most spellbinding magicians
of all time: the one, the only,
Harry Houdini.

My Poem ‘As it comes’

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Every day when the sun rises,
every day when we greet
the brand new day in our own way,
every day when the thought of something
in particular hypnotizes –
every day, no matter what dark clouds
may hover above our heads,
it is important for each and every one of us
to hold our heads up-high
and say to ourselves that we will get through
whatever we face and make the best of our lives,
come what may.

If there were no mysteries
then there would be no questions;
if there were no questions
then there would be no potential for adventure;
if there were no adventure
then there would be no wonderful
experiences and life-lessons;
if there were no new experiences to be had
and new lessons to be learned
then our lives would not be as they are –
our lives would be a life in a day,
and there would not be a constant time-machine
that allows us all for limited times a day
to jump from the present to the past
and from the past to the future, et cetera…

Everything changes in life –
it should, and it must;
everything came from something –
we, the Earth, the stars, the galaxy,
all came from the stuff of stars and cosmic dust;
everything and everybody starts small
and then grows towards the light of their potential;
everything only happens once –
the universe does not repeat itself often,
and no matter the similarities that can be found,
even throughout nature,
one thing I know for sure
is that the world we know
and the world behind the invisible curtain
that surrounds us all can only be the way it is
because of those who are exceptional
but who do not realize that they are special.

Begin and end your day with a smile;
try not to worry too much about what you can’t control;
if and when you can be yourself and show your inner-love;
life is a test filled with many trials;
do what you do best with all your heart and all your soul;
keep going, keep positive, keep smiling,
keep living your life –
and no matter what happens,
don’t be afraid to take a running-jump
and don’t just take life as it comes.

My Poem ‘Forensic’

Mark Hastings Poetry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mystery, like love,
in my opinion,
is the most potent drug
known to man,
and also the only one
capable of delivering
someone to the deepest of states
of pure intoxication;
mystery haunts the mind
and walks the Earth silently
until the time is right
for its voice to be heard;
mystery makes detectives of us all –
however, the greatest of mysteries
have long-since remained unsolved
and their secrets live on
in the prism of history,
just as the intrigue of their story
will continue to inspire and enthrall
many for all eternity.

There seems to be a constant struggle
between order and disorder;
there are times in life
when something happens
and the only response you can give is: why?;
there are some people who are incapable
of staying on the right side of the law;
there must be something in the genes, I think,
that motivates and compels someone
to commit any crime.

Every whisper contains a seed of truth
that is only a minute part of a much larger story;
every detail of every-thing is evidence
of a structure of moments that goes deep,
as well as towers high;
everybody leaves a trace
that can be followed forward in time,
as well as back;
everywhere there are things
that some people can so easily miss and not see;
everyone is gravity-bound by something
that they live because of and are made whole by;
every instant and every moment
we leave something behind us
that we do not realize,
because time goes by so fast.

A state of being is psychological;
a state of reproducing is biological;
a state of acting without thinking is instinctual;
everybody trips, everyone falls;
everybody utters words of inspiration
from time to time over their lips;
everyone at one time or another
hears an empowering call;
every mystery has an answer;
every magician and illusionist
has their signature magic-trick;
every unknown gives someone a reason to wonder;
every puzzle can be solved
if you look for the coincidences
that are not just coincidences –
because in reality all things are clues
in the fascinating world of forensics.