Hi, I'm Mark Bradbury, a transplanted New Englander, thriving amongst the palm trees, the endless summer and the strange creatures that share my space here in the southernmost state of Florida. I've been here for almost twenty years, and yes, you can get used to it if you stop complaining about the heat and start enjoying it. I traded my snow shovel and winter boots for a fishing rod and sandals, and I've never looked back.
Something else I discovered about Florida was the fact that thousands of people come here every year, hoping to start a new life. A life less complicated, and certainly void of much of the stress of life in the Northeast. I not only started a new life when I got here, but I've continued to take on new challenges, quite often, in fact, and I've enjoyed them all.
In 2008 I got involved with a local fishing magazine called Coastal Angler Magazine. At the time, it was a regional publication covering the central east coast of Florida. I bought a franchise, and launched the beginning of a fantasy I had since college, writing articles, and for my own magazine, no less! I went on to writing travel and entertainment stories for both my regional insert and also for the National section of our monthly magazine. Coastal Angler Magazine grew to be one of the largest outdoor magazines in the country, and I got to wear a lot of hats, but my favorite job of all was writing.
Once the bug bit me there was no stopping me. I'd write anything; fishing stories, travel pieces, recipes, restaurant reviews, it didn't really matter. Two years ago I sat down in front of my computer and started to write a book that had been bouncing around in my head for at least ten years.
I had settled in a part of Florida called the Treasure Coast, a reference to a group of Spanish galleons that shipwrecked along the shallow reefs of the coastline nearby. The fleet was called the "1715 Plate Fleet." The ships had all wrecked during a ferocious hurricane that came up on them while they were on the way to bring King Felipe' of Spain a treasure so vast it's been said to be the richest horde ever assembled. That got my attention!
I also have had the opportunity to travel in the Yucatan section of Mexico, an area that was home to one of the ancient world's great civilizations, the Mayas. It's hard not to be overwhelmed by the creations of a supposedly savage tribe living in the jungles of Central America hundreds of years ago.
After a couple of rewrites, I'm about to have my first book published as an eBook. Friends of mine had started a digital publishing company called Little Pond Publishing, and they invited me to join their team a couple months ago. We're a digital publisher, and our job is to convert printed text into several different digital formats, the culmination being to publish eBooks on all of the major online booksellers. So, if you've got a story to tell....
My book, Serpent's Curse, is a combination of my fascination with and love for both treasure hunting and the incredible Mayas. I've taken pages from my own explorations in Mexico and mixed them in with some real events to come up with an adventure I hope people will enjoy.
But be warned; it's not for the weak at heart. It's not a love story, and it's not warm and fuzzy. Starting with the bloody sacrifice of a young Mayan prince, continuing with gruesome events surrounding the eighteenth century Spanish explorations in the Yucatan in search of gold and silver, and emerging as a modern-day horror story, Serpent's Curse may make you feel differently about swimming in strange places, or give you a little chill the next time you see a snake in your garden. Enjoy!
Look for Serpent's Curse on iTunes, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com very soon. I truly hope you'll like reading it as much as I did writing it.
