Mark David Albertson likes to tell people that he was born and raised in Texas, which is true if you look at an 1845 map of the Republic of Texas, which at that time incorporated what was to become his hometown of Los Alamos, New Mexico. Los Alamos, known as “The Atomic City,” was the birthplace of the atomic bomb. Tucked in the mountains of northern New Mexico, Mark grew up in a secured city with gates, armed guards and mountain patrols in the surrounding mountains.
Although Los Alamos was a wonderful place to grow up, Mark longed for adventure. He joined the Navy after graduating from high school, and set off for the adventure only a sailor could have. In his time in the navy he became a radioman, and visited 19 countries. Mark left the navy with an idea for a novel, based in part upon his experiences and those of his shipmates. Little did he know that it would take forty-two years to accomplish this goal.
Following his discharge from the navy, Mark moved to San Antonio, Texas, where he went to college and served in the Texas Air National Guard as a police staff sergeant. Upon graduating from college, Mark attended law school at St. Mary’s University. Following his law school graduation, he moved to Washington State, where he lived for the next thirty-four years.
Mark’s career and the raising of three children took precedent over novels but not his writing. Mark wrote dozens of articles, two law books and collaborated on several more over his career, and on the side built a successful private investigation practice and a speaking practice. Mark spoke to dozens of organizations and gave over a thousand seminars and speeches.
When the 2000’s came Mark suffered a series of painful events. His 24 year marriage ended in 2005, he was diagnosed with a rare cancer with little hope of surviving, and became involved in a twelve year relationship with a person who was mentally ill and abusive. In 2017 he decided to leave his career and extract himself from the dysfunctional relationship and learn to live a life he had chosen, which he did. It turned out to be the best choice of his life as he met a wonderful, kind and loving life partner and wife, who encouraged him to finish the book that had been in his head for all those years. They moved from Washington, bought a small ranch (Mark says “It’s 90 acres shy of 100”) in the Hill Country of Texas, and both Mark and his beloved sweetie began writing professionally.
Mark’s first book, Steaming, was the completion of a 42 year goal, and was followed closely by his second book, Spying in 2021. His third book, Stalking, is due to be on the shelves in 2023.
