After the sixth or seventh time I asked, ‘Hey, could we have this installed?’ the engineer told Miki, ‘Hey, it’s fiction right?’ But I really did research each one of the modification and still believe they are all within the realm of the possible, maybe not practical, but possible.” I remember distinctly wanting make sure that the improvements I was writing would be feasible in real life. They not only agreed but Miki chased down answers and specs for me throughout the project. “When I contacted them I had very few bona-fides other than a short story and a grandiose idea for a book. “First let me express my gratitude to Steve, Pete, Miki and all the wonderful folks at Marathon for allowing me to include one of their creations in my book,” said Mark. From family members to travel companions to the folks at Marathon Coach, anyone can die by the apocalyptic flu or by the monsters it creates. to attend their family reunion in Washington State when a deadly flu epidemic becomes deadlier still. The Brant family finds themselves en route from all corners of the U.S. Mainly set in the Pacific Northwest, Mark sets the break-neck pace of the book by the end of page one. He currently splits his time between “West (by God) Virginia” and Surfside Beach, S.C. Finishing college at the age of 36, went into business and then into publishing, before settling in as an information systems specialist.

He eventually found himself enrolled in a Wisconsin college, only to drop out after meeting the love of his life, his future wife. After leaving the Coast Guard, he worked security, first guarding MX nuclear missiles, and then later a nuclear power plant in California.

During this first career, he was an Admiral’s driver in San Francisco, a deckhand on a 378-foot cutter in the Bering Sea and an aviation electrician in North Carolina, Texas and Southern Florida. Born in Washington and raised in California, he joined the Coast Guard soon after high school. The author describes himself as a bit of a vagabond. Within the first 60 days of its release, Mark’s book rose to number five on Amazon’s best seller list for its sub-genre and sold over 2,500 copies. The “Family Reunion: An Apocalypse Family Novel” is now a hit on Amazon as well as the halls of Marathon. When he said he had a few technical questions, we were unable to resist talking coaches, especially within the confines of something this interesting, so he was immediately put through to marketing, who connected him with the best in engineering, design and production. Obviously a vivacious man and rising star, he told us about a book he was working on, a zombie apocalypse book to be exact.

Family Reunion by P. Mark DeBryan