Gerson, Mark David 1954–

PERSONAL:

Born October 3, 1954, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; son of Sydney and Edith Gerson; children: Guinevere. Education: Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, B.Comm., 1975.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Albuquerque, NM.

CAREER:

Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, assistant director of public relations, 1976-81; writer and creative writing teacher, 1981—.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Discovery Award, Southwest Literary Center, 2006, for The MoonQuest.

WRITINGS:

The MoonQuest (fantasy novel), LightLines Media (Santa Fe, NM), 2007.

Also author of the blog Mark David Gerson's New Earth Chronicles.

SIDELIGHTS:

Mark David Gerson told CA: "It was March, 1994, and I was teaching a creative writing workshop in Toronto. As participants settled into writing, an odd-looking man in an even odder-looking coach pulled by two odd-colored horses rode onto my blank page—a blank page I hadn't even planned on filling, as I rarely write during these workshops. These characters would become the mysterious O'ric and his two mystical mares, Rykka and Ta'ar. And their tale would become the opening scene of the first draft of a novel that would reveal neither its story nor its title to me for many months.

"When I write, I write what I teach, which is that the story has a life and imperative of its own. My job as a writer is to listen, make myself available, and surrender to that story as fully as I can. That's how I wrote The MoonQuest, which is why the story emerged only as I wrote it. Outlining and plotting have never worked for me. Even though it's sometimes more stressful, I prefer to strap myself into the vehicle of my creative project and allow myself to be taken on a ride of surprise, wonder, and discovery.

"Most of The MoonQuest's first two drafts were written in rural Nova Scotia on Canada's Atlantic seaboard and, as it turned out, I penned each of the subsequent revisions in the ensuing eleven years in a different part of Canada or the United States. As I prepare to return to work on The StarQuest, the first of two planned sequels, I can't help but wonder if each of its drafts will also find its way onto the page in a different part of the world.

"My philosophy in all I teach and write is to empower individuals to break through all that blocks them, creatively and spiritually, and to live more authentic lives as a result. Although it was not part of any conscious plan, The MoonQuest, with its tale of the freeing of once-banned storytelling, fits perfectly into that mold as will, I imagine, its sequels."