ark Terry, who finds it kind of strange to be writing about himself in the third person, is a fulltime freelance writer, editor and novelist. He likes it quite a bit, even if this "glamorous" lifestyle involves spending hours in his basement office staring at a computer screen. He lives in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan with his wife and two sons. Although his mind is often filled with murder and mayhem, to the world he is a mild-mannered, slightly distracted suburban dad. Between karate and his fiction, he has many imaginary friends who he beats, tortures and kills on a regular basis. When he's not otherwise earning his bread and butter off the written word, he walks his dog Frodo, hangs with his wife and sons, and studies Sanchin Ryu karate. He's also a gym rat and avid mountain biker. Anybody who knew him "back then" might scoff, but it's true, he's a Powerhouse junkie and born-again biker. He also likes jazz, rock, classical music, reading, vacations, beaches, and Disney World. And for now, Mark thinks it would be better to shift to the first person. I admit to a probably unhealthy interest in biological and chemical terrorism and warfare. Conveniently, I often write about emerging biotechnology and the funding of bioterrorism research. I have a four-book deal with my publisher, Midnight Ink, to write thriller novels featuring Department of Homeland Security troubleshooter Dr. Derek Stillwater, an expert in biological and chemical terrorism and warfare. The first of those books, THE DEVIL'S PITCHFORK is now available, along with its sequel, THE SERPENT'S KISS. I earned my B.Sc. in Microbiology & Public Health in 1986 from Michigan State University, worked briefly in infectious disease research, then bounced over to clinical cytogenetics, occasionally performing cancer research there, though mostly I performed tissue and cell culturing or analyzing chromosomes. I probably also spent a lot of time bitching about the job and wishing I were home writing. Not once since moving to fulltime writing have I spent any time bitching about the job and wishing I was at the hospital analyzing chromosomes. My first paid publication was an essay called "Blue Heaven" in TRAVERSE Magazine in 1993, and I've never really looked back. My work regularly appears in The Oakland Press, Genomics & Proteomics, Podiatry Management, Bankrate.com and a lot of other magazines and trade journals. I also write for pharmaceutical companies, business analysis firms and health systems. (And pretty much anybody who will pay me, although I draw the line at kiddy porn, political speeches and ransom notes. You've got to have standards, after all). Read a Q&A here. Read a recent interview!