Where Writers Write: Mark A Rayner

Welcome to another installment of TNBBC's Where Writers Write!

Where Writers Write is a weekly series that will feature a different author every Wednesday as they showcase their writing spaces using short form essay, photos, and/or video. As a lover of books and all of the hard work that goes into creating them, I thought it would be fun to see where the authors roll up their sleeves and make the magic happen. 

This is Mark A Rayner. 

Mark has explored many storytelling media; the theatre, radio, print, and of course, the web.  He's had several plays produced, more than two dozen short stories published, and he has written three novels:  THE AMADEUS NET (ENC Press, 2005),  MARVELLOUS HAIRY (Crossing Chaos Enigmatic Ink, 2009), and THE FRIDGULARITY (Monkeyjoy Press, 2012).

His own tale is currently set in his hometown of London, Ontario (Canada).  He also works as a freelance writer and web consultant, and he teaches at The University of Western Ontario, in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies.

Where Mark A Rayner Writes

Dear readers,

Anytime you enter into one of my fictional worlds, you are, in essence, having a close encounter with my mind. Sometimes stuff happens in there that even I don’t understand. I try to make sure that none of it is too scary, and if I’m writing humor, I try to ensure that it’s funny. (Or at least that I find it funny.)

So this is my way of saying that the real writing happens in my head, not in a specific physical space. But if I was going to pick a place where a lot of my projects begin, it would be the beach.

Actually, that’s not entirely true either. Usually the absolute beginning of most of my stories come to me in my sleep, while I’m dreaming. But those are just intimations of stories. The story writing happens out on the strand where I can do a bit of walking and let those vaporous notions turn into ideas. My favourite beach is just north of the Pinery Provincial Park, on Lake Huron, in Ontario.

Here’s a picture of the beach:

Here’s an artier picture of seats looking out at the lake. Sometimes it helps to sit and stare at the water:

Here is a beach chair where I have contemplated humans turning into monkeys, or fridges taking over the Internet:

And in the interests of full disclosure, here's a resulting manuscript on my desk (I believe this is of The Fridgularity, my new book, which a satire of the technological singularity):

Next week, Fiona Maazel shows off her writing space, don't miss it!