An Interview with Author Mark R. Conte

Marilyn: Tell me something about yourself.

Mark: I am a graduate of the Florida State University creative writing program. I have been published in 47 publications, including Yankee, Crazy Horse, Potomac Review, Apalachee Quarterly, and Poetry International under two different names.

I have a poetry book, Walking on Water, Cross Cultural, 1986 and a novella, Delilah, Oak Tree Press, Kindle, 2009. I also have three other novels, In the Arms of Strangers, Gaius, Five Days to Eternity and Of Flesh and Stone.

I won Honorable Mention in the PEN awards for short fiction and first prize for poetry from Barbwire Theatre.

I was appointed Master Poet by the Florida Arts Council in 1976, and was director of the FSU Poet Series. I am a member of the Authors Guild and Academy of American Poets.

Marilyn: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Mark: When I was eight years old, old Italian women would come over to my house at 8 PM every Saturday and I would tell them a new story every week.

Marilyn: Tell us something about your latest book.

Mark: Delilah is a story of an Italian family where the tradition is to buy a live lamb on the morning of Good Friday, fatten it up all day Friday and Saturday, then slaughter it and have it for Easter dinner. However, this Easter, the three Italian children and the Irish girl next door devise a plan to save the lamb, Delilah.

Marilyn: What inspired the idea for this story?

Mark: This was actually my family tradition.

Marilyn: Where can my readers find this book?

Mark: Kindle, Oak Tree Press

Marilyn: Is there anything else you'd like my readers to know?

Mark: I have a new novel I am sending out to publishers, A Rage in Heaven. It is a mainstream/historical and the last third of the book details the fight for women's rights when women had no rights and what happened to one of their leaders.

Marilyn: Thank you, Mark. It was nice to learn something about you and your books.


-