I wear a couple of different hats. I am perusing my Phd, write mass-market technical books, and am now venturing into self-published fiction. When I was young, like a lot of people, I wanted to be a writer. I had these grand visions of huge lines at book signings with people telling me how their book changed their life. When I finished my undergrad so many years ago, (University of Waterloo '93) I moved to Toronto with the idea I was going to write novels and live in a city. I had two very self-indulgent poorly-constructed novels written and knew I could do better.

Months past and I had not written much of anything and the cupboard was getting bare so I went to work. A number of very strange, wonderful ad heart-breaking things happened and now I am in Bloomington, Indiana.

I publish in academic journals and present at academic conferences. This is both my job and my passion. I have an endless need to figure things out, particularly around media and deception.  Reputation and name branding are very important in the academic field so I use the name Mark W.Bell.

While working on my PhD my wife and I wrote Second Life for Dummies and then I was asked to write a book about using free tools to make websites and so Build a Website for Free was published in 2009 and sold very well. It is an near indescribable feeling of walking into any book store and finding a book with your name on it in the shelves. So many people in the self-publishing area lack that and wish they all could have it. Showing my son where my book is in a book store is a high point!

So why self-publish the detective fiction and young adult literature I am planning? I have publishing contacts with several companies and a quality near-finished product. I should be contacting agents and submitting query letters. But that is not where the action is. The self-publishing arena powered by nook and kindle, distributed through social media and an endless well of creativity is extremely exciting. I can't wait to see where this great adventure leads.