Contact
If you would like to contact me or receive new book alerts, please email mark@athanate.com
Please read my privacy policy: https://henwick.wordpress.com/privacy-policy/
I answer all emails directly from my named Gmail address, which is different from the contact address above, so you may need to check your spam folder if you have a service that puts all unrecognised emails there. I don’t put my named email address up here because this page gets scanned by web spiders and I get enough spam as it is.
If you’re on Facebook, you can get information about my writing on two different pages. You can LIKE or FOLLOW either of these to get posts on your feed.
https://www.facebook.com/TheBiteBackSeries/
concentrates on my books, but also writing and reading generally, and related subjects. I might recommend other books to read, or shows to watch. There might be the odd bit of philosophy.
The majority of my posts on the Bite Back page are copied to my personal page, link below, and I’m happy to be Facebook friends with readers. In addition to the Bite Back posts, I will comment on news and current affairs, politics, media, entertainment, philosophy; just about anything and everything. I have friends from a wide range of opinions. I value debate. You do not need to agree with me (or anyone else) to be welcome. Please keep it civil. I also post photographs of England, including small, out-of-the-way churches and other old buildings, rivers and canals, landscape and plants, scenes from holidays, research, cycling or flying trips, and basically anything that catches my eye.
https://www.facebook.com/mark.henwick
Mark Henwick 
I have never commented on an authors website before or even on Amazon reviews. However, SoH being your first novel I felt compelled to let everyone know how much I liked it. I am a readaholic and have bought cheap ebooks on Amazon from first authors and most of them I never finished. I was very much into SoH and can’t wait to read HT and am looking forward to your next book too. Keep up the good work, Mark. What a fabulous start to your career.
Thank you Kathy, for your lovely comment. I hope you enjoy HT!
Just finished both of your books and …….I can’t wait for the next book! I LOVED both SOH and HT. GREAT story, great plots,great characters, (LOVE Alex by the way xxx). Please keep writing. When is the next Amber book out PLEASE?
Thank you Claire!
I’m working on 3 projects at the moment: a prequel, Bian’s Tale book 1 (3 chapters in the blog, more to come) and Bite Back 3. These are scheduled to come out in the middle of the year, though I may hold back a little on Bian’s Tale to ensure Bite Back 3 is on time.
The next couple of Amber books will deal with the Were and the Adepts.
Thank you Claire!
I’m working on 3 projects at the moment: a prequel, Bian’s Tale book 1 (3 chapters in the blog, more to come) and Bite Back 3. These are scheduled to come out in the middle of the year, though I may hold back a little on Bian’s Tale to ensure Bite Back 3 is on time.
The next couple of Amber books will deal with the Were and the Adepts.
Hello I enjoyed your first two books immensely and am looking forward to your next publication. Will you participate in Amazon’s presale program, assuming you can here?
Thanks Denise! By presale program, do you mean Vine, where, as I understand it you get an ARC in return for a review?
I haven’t set anything up formally.
I’m a readaholic – thank you, Kathy Pancake, for this phrase – an extremely expensive addiction if you are stuck with the German book market. And it’s getting boring with time, ’cause there is so much mainstream floating around … Then I started to feed my addiction and kindle with new authors… and I found your Bite Back Series and I could’nt put it down. I look forward for book 3, 4, 5 …
Greetings from Germany,
Harper
Many thanks, Harper.
Yes, feeding a reading addiction can be painful economically! My attic is a library full of books collected over many years. We have nightmares that one day the library will come downstairs, straight through the ceiling. 🙂
I read mostly on the Kindle now.
I’m glad Bite Back is working for you, and I expect most of the series will be long books, so I hope you find them good value as well as good reading.
Freundlich gruessen
Mark
The longer the better :)) In between I’ll bridge the gap with Raw Deal …
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Harper
Hi Mark – after reading the first Bite Back book, I immediately downloaded the 2nd. Read that one and went searching for more. You make the characters come alive in a very real way and make your readers hungry for more. Keep writing! By the way, I’m a 60 year old woman – surprise, surprise, so be assured this series appeals to a wide audience….and I’m passing on my new favorite author to any one that will listen to me!
Hi Nancy – thank you for the positive feedback, which I use as writing fuel 🙂
I’ve no clear information on the age range of readers, but I’ve certainly spoken (by email/FB) with several ladies who mention grandchildren, and a couple of guys who are retired. I’m delighted to be reaching out widely and I think the books are for those who are young at heart! I suspect, given that Amber is 30, that I may have lost some of the potential readers who are in their teens, but that’s okay. I never expected everyone to like the story.
I’m working hard on Wild Card and hope I’ll continue to meet your expectations.
Thanks also for the recommendations!
Mark.
Hi Mark – in my opinion you haven’t lost potential readers, you’ve won those who are desperately seeking for adult novels and I don’t mean in a ‘Shades of Grey’ kind of way.
I’m of Ambers age and I’m sick of this ‘young adult’, ‘pseudo adult’ kind of SH… 😉 (plaese excuse my sometimes potty mouth).
I don’t want to shut off my brain while reading a book, I want to be challenged … so take your time to make Wild Card a real challenge 🙂
After all, anticipation is half the fun :))
Harper
(Germany)
Mark,
I find myself checking your website/blog frequently (every time I finish a book…okay…nearly daily as I am also a readaholic). I am eagerly waiting on news about Wild Card. I’m hoping to see a posting from you soon.
Your books are one of the few that I have read more than once. I have never been this engaged with a series as I am with The Bite Back series and with the characters and “world” you have crafted so well. Frankly, this is the first time I’ve bothered to post on an author’s site, but I wanted to commend you on your great work.
Denise earlier mentioned about preordering. I’m wondering not about an ARC, but in regards to putting your book details up on Amazon ahead of the publishing date and allow for preorders. Your books are one of the few I’d be willing to preorder like this.
You’re doing great! Keep up the hard work. It’s paying off in a wonderful creation.
Michael
Thank you Michael!
I really enjoy getting this energy-boosting feedback.
I’ll keep reporting progress on the FB page and/or blog. The prompts I’m using at the moment are when I exchange major sections with my editor. She’s now got Part 3, so an update will appear on the blog soon. (I say she has Part 3, but have to admit the very last scene of this section is still here on my computer getting the sequence fine-tuned.)
Amazon (last time I looked) would not let me put a pre-order form up. I guess they’ve been burned by indies before. I’ll keep checking when I can. (A fan put up an advance notification on Goodreads, which was nice of them.)
I’m delighted to hear of people reading my books more than once. My editor commented to me about something she’d missed on the first reading of Part 1 of Wild Card, and asked if I was being too subtle. I told her that was in deliberately for the re-readers 🙂
Wild Card has taken over my life at the moment, and I’m reasonably confident of a release in mid-December. I’m at that horrible stage when I don’t know whether it’s the best or worst of my books so far 🙂
Thanks again, to you (and everyone here) for your feedback, positive vibes and patience!
Mark
Hi Mark,
reading your reply to Michael I asked myself, if there is a chance for an audio version of your Bite Back Series.
I would enjoy listening to Amber and re-listening and … 🙂
Regards
Harper
I promise I will look into it Harper.
As with choosing the model for the cover, choosing the voice for the audio book will be the really difficult thing.
I’ll have a look as soon as I’ve got Wild Card released. I’ll use the blog to keep you up to date and I will find some way that people who read the blog can vote on the best voice.
Amber has a mid-western accent. Her pitch is contralto, the tone is slightly rough or breathy (remember she’s been a sergeant and done a lot of yelling 🙂 )
As with the visuals, it’ll be a matter of how close we can get to the right voice.
How long? I’ve no idea, but I understand Debra Dunbar has done this process for her books, and I will ask her.
The audio book system is like the print on demand, and audio books are a fair bit more expensive…
Thanks
Mark
I was lucky and found you over the holidays..and THANK GOD! I was tired of re-reading..I am also a readaholic and can’t stand it when I don’t have a book to read, lol! I was able to read all 4 in sequence and now I have to wait..OMG!! I know the series is really going to start moving now and can’t wait!
Will the next book be out next Christmas, please say we don’t have to wait so long!!
You were the BEST xmas present this year! I look forward to more of your great ‘world’ and adventures!
Have a wonderful;, safe and more successful New Year!
Vicky in Tampa, Fl
Thanks Vicky! I’m always curious to know how people found the series…
As you’ll see from previous blog posts I should be able to write a couple of books a year, and I *hope* to do better this year. Certainly nothing quite as complex or long as Wild Card 🙂
I have enjoyed your first three books and I was wondering if they were available anywhere other than Amazon, I have not been able to find them anywhere else and would very much like to read them in ebook format, but for personal reasons dislike Amazon. Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you Michael.
At the moment, the books are only available on Amazon and Kobo.
( https://store.kobobooks.com/search?Query=henwick )
I intend, when my writing schedule gets a little less full (cue hysterical laughter), to get them on iBooks as well.
Hope you continue to enjoy them.
I just found the Bite back series just a few day’s ago and i have finished all three books. In fact i am posting on here just after finishing Wild Card, I love the series i think it is amazing and i hope we will get more. I personally only listen to audio books and have to say that Julia Motyka does a fantastic job reading plus strong writing,great characters Amber of course as are main as well as other’s many of them in fact Bian and Jenny Kingslund, Alex,David again there are many other’s with varies roles but i love them all and the relationship that Amber creates with each of them as friends,semi family and more.
I won’t say more so i don’t spoil relations with each or such but over all i think this is a high for my Urban fantasy/Paranormal fantasy list. I would love to say more on things i approved of or just how much so but i may spoil thing’s so to anyone reading this if your looking for a series totally get this. If Mark Henwick see’s this thank you so much for the books and i hope to see more.
Thank you Stephen!
If you look around this website, or the Bite Back Facebook page, you will see I often say that feedback is writer’s fuel for me. I love hearing from readers and it always helps me with the next book.
Thanks also for the feedback on Julia Motyka. She’s in the recording studio with book 4, Cool Hand, right now.
Obviously, I love positive responses like yours more than negative responses, but all are welcome, as long as there is a reason given for the reaction.
I see that for you, it’s the relationships and interactions between characters that gives the series its appeal, and I’m very pleased. I have put a great deal of effort into making the cast ‘real’, and I’m happy that this has worked for you.
Thanks again!
This was posted on a closed discussion group for the Jane Yellowrock series by Faith Hunter. Please forgive the long post, if it had been an open group I’d have just sent a link.
Get your own d*** characters Part 2
The search algorithms for Audible and Amazon kept suggesting Mark Henwick’s “Bite Back” Urban Fantasy series for the last 6 months or so. And I kept taking a quick look, and then ignoring the recommendation because it looked like a knock off of the JY series.
First person narrative, the POV character is female, tall 5 ft 10 inches, 30ish. Mixed race Arapaho and Irish. Former special forces does guns, hand to hand, and did a lot of interesting things including hostage rescue. Has been a police officer and is now a PI. The urban fantasy setting includes vampires both nice and nasty, werewolves, werewolf pack politics were cougars, magic users, shamans and spirit dragons. Oh and there’s a skinwalker or two thrown into the mix just to liven things up. And of course there’s a love triangle with a male were wolf and a female human. The setting is Denver Colorado, and if the story had been set anywhere in the south I’d probably still be ignoring Amazon/Audible.
Gave it a try over the Labor Day weekend, and got a lovely surprise. Amber the POV character was off doing some special ops thing for the military, when her squad is attacked by vampires. She’s the sole survivor–had her throat torn out but managed to kill the vampire. She, her dead squad mates, and lots of vampire bodies are recovered by the military. That’s when her troubles really start. The military now has proof that vampires exist, and has come up with a blood test to monitor infection. Which Amber has.
Without going into more detail, imagine what someone who is a straightforward as Jane being thrust into the middle of vampire politics while having to deal with becoming a vampire herself.
Story arcs include internal vampire politics as factions fight over. if, how ,and when to let humans know they exist. Which Feds know what is going on, the army does, but hasn’t seen fit to tell folks like the FBI. The messed up family arc is also present. The sex action is a bit heavier than JY, but is not the main focus of the story.
The JY books are Urban Fantasy, but have a lot of mystery in the writing with the narrative having a lyrical style. The Bite Back series seems to be showing more action/thriller influences and the writing is stark , and the focus is on the action. 5 books plus and couple of novellas so far. Here’s a link to the first book in the series. Four of the books are up on Audible. Nice narration. I’d love to hear what other people think.
https://www.amazon.com/Sleight-Hand-Bite-Back…/…/ref=sr_1_2…
http://www.audible.com/…/Sleight-of-Hand-Audiobook/B00RN9S8…
Bite Back Series Audiobooks | UNABRIDGED Series | Audible.com
Download the Bite Back series and transfer the audio books to your iPod or MP3 player. Get the Audible Audio Editions of the Bite Back series from the Audi…
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Wow! Thank you, Lee. This kind of word-of-mouth I can take!
I research my writing, and Jane Yellowrock was on my list to get a feel for what the UF reading public liked, so there are undoubtedly some influences in Bite Back.
I’m very glad you took the chance and got a pleasant surprise. I hope my writing continues to make the grade.
I’m researching at the moment – the next couple of days I’m in the area that the Confederation’s three senior packs are located – Big Horn, Wind River and Bozeman.
The writing project for my research trip is to finish a sequel to the Biting Cold novella to binds that storyline into Bite Back. I’m nearly done. After that, I’ll be finishing Bian’s Tale, book 1, which has a draft sample here:
(and which I’ve been promising to do forever!). Then I’ll move on to Bite Back 6.
Thanks again for the wonderful support!
Mark, we’ve patently waited now a year for the next chapter in Amber’s life. What gives? Are you afraid that the interest has fallen off and no one is any longer following her? I know you’re obsessed with numbers, but screw the numbers and address your core fans. When will we see the next chapter in Amber’s life?
Lucky my name is not GRR Martin.
Yes, the falling numbers are depressing, but not so depressing I’m considering abandoning writing Bite Back.
Bian’s Tale book 1 is due next, and it turns out to be harder writing this than I ever thought. I do not want to abandon it for a second time (first time was to get Wild Card out).
I’m writing Bite Back 6, probably called Inside Straight, at the same time and I’m about 25%.
Bian’s Tale should come out in the fall and BB6 by the end of the year.
I’m continuing to write side stories, including the ones that have appeared on this blog. These are not interfering with the progress of the major projects and they do pull in new core readers.
This is something I have to ask…why is it when authors take the time to create a world and slowly build a following…..ethey all of a sudden have to write something else? It’s hard to stay loyal to a series when you have to wait OVER a year because honestly you start forgetting little things and that’s how interest wind. That’s just my 2 cents but I always wanted to know the answer to my previous question…any enlightenment would be appriciated!
It’s an interesting and vital question, but the wording (for me at least) makes an assumption that is incorrect.
My following didn’t build slowly – it exploded with Sleight of Hand. Everything since then has been a gradual but increasing loss. Under those circumstances, it’s difficult to know what else to do other than spread the net wider and hope to catch more readers. Raw Deal was an experiment to see if giving a prequel away would capture more readers. The Biting Cold and Enzili appeared in anthologies primarily to try and get cross-over from the other authors in that anthology. All 3 worked moderately. The serialised New York story on the blog has been an experiment to see if that approach works (that’s in addition to being a product of my ‘development’ time where I try different methods and writing styles to keep everything fresh and hopefully improving).
I imagine many writers are trying the same sort of marketing tactics. I know many are in the same boat as me.
Bian’s Tale, as well as being a great story that lots of readers have asked for, is similarly a marketing tactic – in this case to try and widen my appeal to younger readers as well by starting with a younger protagonist.
The other point to note about a book a year – many writers do manage that. Most writers’ books in Urban Fantasy come in at 100,000 words or less. My shortest major book to date is Sleight of Hand, which was 120,000. Wild Card was 180,000. It’s up to readers to decide whether my characters, plot, pacing, world-building etc. are as good as or better than others, but what I’m trying to do is be that 20% better in everything. It all takes time.
The majority of runaway successes in fantasy series – Harrison, Vaughn, Hobbs, Martin, Briggs, Butcher, Aaronovitch – they don’t write a book a year. Where an author has stuck to a timetable (for example Bishop’s Others series), I find the quality lowers as the series goes on. I *hope* my quality is going up.
I don’t know whether this has answered your question, or lost me another reader, but I hope it has given you some insight as to how it looks from my side.
Yes, you Did! Thx so much! Can’t wait for the next book!
Mark, going on a couple of years now should I quit waiting for more Amber?
Hi Stephen
Bite Back will continue until the series arc is complete. I wish I could put out books every six months, but I can’t. April 2018 will be 2 years from the publishing date of Angel Stakes, and I anticipate book 6, Inside Straight, will arrive about 3 months after that.
Have you read Change of Regime? Not Amber, but includes Skylur.
Also, Biting Cold and Winter’s Kiss introduces characters who will feature in book 6.
We’re all too busy re-reading all of the bite back series to comment on bians tale 😀
Lol. Thank you Angela. I love you all. 🙂
I will be kickstarting Bite Back 6 (‘Inside Straight’?) in January. I’ve written a couple of scenes, have a few (including the final) sketched out, got the core plot, and the story is now fighting to get out.
Bian’s Tale 1 – Saigon – The Havrest of Lies is so nearly there.
I’m glad to see Bian’s tale is finished, I hope your are offering a pre order? Also, I am patiently awaiting book 6. Thank you for all the fun tales so far, and all your future tales. 🙂
Hi Larry
Thanks for the feedback. The Harvest of Lies is undergoing some minor edits, and I haven’t got a cover that I’m happy with yet. I’m estimating it will be available by the end of the month, but I can’t control the schedule for cover art, so I’m not putting it up for pre-order or release until I’m sure.
BB6 is coming along well! 🙂
Finished Harvest of Lies. Well worth the wait. Thank you!
Thank you very much for the feedback, Larry!
I’m itching to get on with The Words of the Dead, but BB6 comes first.