About the author:

Mark Whalen was born in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, during WW II, on an Army Air Corp. base called Maxwell Field. His father being a mobile military flight instructor at the time, he lived in about ten states before he was a year old, finally returning to the birthplace of his parents, Detroit, Michigan, to live for the next fifteen years.

Mark and his family moved to the Phoenix, Arizona area in the early 1960s, where he landed his first speaking television role in what was at the time the number one television show in the land, "Have Gun--Will Travel". After marrying, he moved on to the Los Angeles, California area, where he pursued his acting career, training with actor Bruce Dern, and The Master, Lee Strasberg, at The Strasberg Theater Institute in Hollywood. Mark proved to be a good actor, but lousy at getting work. He was never seen in another professional acting role again.

In 1973, Mark became a Stage Hypnotist, after mastering the skills of a professional clinical hypno-therapist. He saw clients during the day at Hypnosis Motivation Institute, where he became a Charter Member of the American Hypnosis Association, and joined the AFL-CIO affiliated Hypnotist Union. At night he performed at clubs, college campuses, fraternity houses, and private parties.

In the early Eighties, Mark took up stand-up comedy, landing in the Guinness Book of Records and was featured on the Entertainment Tonight television show, by hosting the (then) longest continuous stand-up performance. Among the celebrity performers were Robin Williams, George Carlin, Jay Leno and Sam Kinison. For about ten years he "hobbied" at the craft, appearing on several Los Angeles and two national television shows. However, by the early Nineties, he decided that writing was his true calling.

Currently, Mark is marketing his Pulitzer Prize nominated book, "How to Quit Smoking Without Willpower or Struggle" through his publishing company, PresMark Publishing Co., on web site http://www.QuitSmoking4Ever.com. PresMark Publishing is currently working to find a distribution network in retail markets for the book, which is also on audio CD and in eBook format.

Mark has been writing books, screenplays, poetry, and short stories strictly for a hobby for over twenty-five years. About half of his stories are detailed true to life events from his past. The rest are pure fiction. Some say it is hard to tell one from the other.

Currently, he is working on a screenplay titled, "The Stand-Up"; as well as a coffee table book titled, "How I Met Bob Dylan"; and the second in the "How to...Without Willpower..." series titled, "How to Lose Weight Without Willpower or Struggle".

He also enjoys playing his Ovation and Goya folk guitars and singing.

Mark currently resides in Pahrump, Nevada (a small "country" community due west of Las Vegas and very near the California border) with his wife of thirty years, her Aunt Maddie, and their six Shih Tzu dogs, Onyx, Kahlua, Snuffles, Scotty, Red and Mighty Mouse.

Mark's daughter, Michelle, and grandson, Preston (The "Pres" in PresMark), live in the San Diego, California area. His sister, Claudia and her husband, Norm, have built a home in Pahrump also, where they live in very active retirement.