In the fairytale kingdom of Empyrean, time has moved on. The princesses of once upon a time, like Snow White and Cinderella, have grown old and become great queens. Now, their kingdom is in danger. A Forgotten Evil has returned. In a small village by the sea, two sisters, Zandria and Olena, begin a dangerous journey for Zandria to claim her birthright as a queen. Along their journey, they meet some unique friends and terrifying enemies while trying to survive places like the Dead Forest and escape troll-infested castles. Will they make it to the Crystal Castle in time to save Empyrean or will the sisters lose each other forever? One thing is certain, before their journey ends, Zandria will learn what it means to be The Fourth Queen.
A Kansas Native, Mark currently resides in Florida with his wife and four children. Since moving to Florida, he has pursued a lifelong aspiration of becoming a published author. He believes he has always been a writer and strived to follow in the footsteps of his namesake, Mark Twain.
His education started early as his father was a newspaper writer, editor and photographer for both the Kansas City Star and Kansan. Formal development started in high school writing classes at Sumner Academy where he completed the International Baccalaureate program. Additional teaching came from both Kansas City Kansas Community College and the University of Kansas. It was at KU where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Film. Informally, he was educated by the writings of C.S. Lewis, Lloyd Alexander and as he matured, Tolkien. His interest in fantasy did not end on the page as some of his favorite movies include The Dark Crystal, Excalibur, and Star Wars.
Professional experience dates back to the 1990's. Mark has co-written four screenplays, two of which were produced as ultra-low budget direct-to-DVD features by East of Hollywood Productions. Through his relationship with East of Hollywood, Mark also became co-creator of an educational and entertaining children's program. That show used the talents of a local radio personality and a group of child actors to update classic fairytales and fables. Each of the episodes brought a twist to the familiar stories and conveyed a positive message.
On his own, Mark has completed five other novels, a screenplay, three digital short story series and several other short stories. The first three books of his Empyrical Tales have been published by Comfort Publishing, LLC out of North Carolina. Book I: The Fourth Queen, Book II: The Lost Queen and Book III: The Secret Queen are available in print and eBook. Trestle Press published his adaptation of the Christian movie Daniel's Lot, filmed in and around Mount Dora. With Trestle, Mark also heads a spiritual, introspective series called Mark Miller's One and a children's eBook series about to elementary school students that become international spies called Small World Global Protection Agency. This series teaches culture and geography in an exciting way. Mark has another all-ages, faith-based fantasy series that he is co-writing with his nine year old daughter. It is called Sons of the King and is available only on eBook. In addition to his own writing, Mark is currently lending his talents to a faith-based movie production company Lazarus Films.
He believes being a father of four makes him uniquely qualified to write The Empyrical Tales, an eight story series that comes from our collected myths and fairytales. He hopes his writing sends a positive message with strong role models and a beneficial moral element. And every day is an adventure with his children as they continue to teach him as well. His two young daughters unknowingly provided the models that helped create the main character sisters in The Fourth Queen. Many of their phrases and behaviors are shared with their fictional counterparts.
