Mark Adderley was born in the railway town of Crewe, England. Like many of his contemporaries, he grew up eagerly reading the novels of C. S. Lewis and Rosemary Sutcliff and, later, Ian Fleming and J. R. R. Tolkien. It wasn’t until he was studying at Cartrefle College in Wales, however, that he discovered the passion for the Arthurian legend that has now lasted almost a quarter of a century.
During his studies in Wales, Mark also met an American woman, Adrianne, whom he married. Moving to America, he got, in not very rapid succession, four children and a PhD in medieval literature from the University of South Florida. He has lived in Florida, Georgia, Montana, and Missouri, and now teaches humanities and writing at Wyoming Catholic College in Lander, Wyoming. He has been writing for most of his life, but The Hawk and the Wolf is his first published novel.
"I've been writing since I was about eight years old. In fourth grade, however, Mrs. Parker (who had started the years as Miss Waterson, and changed her name much to the chagrin of every male pupil in her class) wrote on my report card, 'He should go in for being an author.' Later on—it would be about sixth grade—I asked my parents for a typewriter for Christmas. In school, of course, we were asked to tell the class about our Christmas presents. When I revealed to my class that I had got a typewriter, they laughed, though they were rapidly stilled by another teacher, Mr. Brown. Later still, Mr. Beach (poor, suffering soul) read my manuscripts, and didn't tell me what rubbish I had written, but was very patient in his comments.
"It seems that a plethora of teachers have inspired me to write, among them Mrs. Parker, Mr. Brown, Mr. Morley, Mr. Beach, and Mrs. Roberts. I'd like to propose a toast to the lot of them, wherever they are." |
