Gina Rae Mitchell

Always Gray in Winter by Mark J. Engels | Book Review ~ Updated Re-release Available Now

Always Gray in Winter has been updated, edited, and improved. It is now part of book 2 of the Forest Exiles Saga: Werecats Convergent!

Be sure you check out the author interview at the bottom of this post.

Please visit my reviews of

Book One, Werecats Emergent

Book Two, Werecats Convergent

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An interview with Mark J. Engels, author of  The Forest Exiles Saga

Boyhood interests in trains and electronics fostered Mark’s career as an electrical engineer, designing and commissioning signal and communications systems for railroads and rail transit agencies across the United States. Along the way, Mark indulged his writing desire by authoring articles for rail and transit industry trade magazines. Coupled with Mark’s long-time membership in anime, manga and anthropomorphic fandoms, he took up writing genre fiction. Growing up in Michigan, never far from his beloved Great Lakes, Mark and his wife today make their home in Wisconsin with their son and a dog who naps beside him as he writes.

How long have you been writing?

On and off for over twenty years now. Until 2013, all of that had been one form or another of anime/manga fanfiction, including novel-length work. Though I’d only set down to put proverbial pen to paper if something really grabbed me, a story idea came to me demanding to be told.

What inspired you to write in this genre?

Over thirty years now in various anime, manga, and anthropomorphic fandoms. My way of giving back: creating content for others to enjoy after having enjoyed so much by others for so long.

In which genre does your life story belong?

Uhm…” slice of life,” I guess? Although a movie like Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises might be applicable too–I grew up loving trains and electronics every bit as much as Jiro Horikoshi loved airplanes. So, not surprisingly perhaps, I make my living today as an electrical engineer specializing in the design, construction, testing and maintenance of railroad and rail transit signal & communications systems.

Do you have a set writing schedule?

I make it a point to do something “writing-related” every day, which involves a lot more than just word count. For example, reading and reviewing other books, research, beta reading, editing (from my own betas feedback), marketing/promotion, etc. The time the book is gonna take is the time the book is gonna take, because I’m continually learning and improving as I go. So the only set schedule I keep is to do something every night for an hour or two after my son goes to bed and before my wife and I drop off.

Do you need silence to write, or can you work in any environment?

I can work in most any environment if I have silence, which I usually afford myself by wearing earplugs. Whenever I’m writing, thoughts are racing through my head about plot and characterization and dialogue and…and…and… I can’t forge them into something that makes sense (especially to me) unless and until I can focus. Silence is necessary for that, and if it’s not around me I produce it. I also get angsty whenever I’m interrupted, which is why I usually wait until the evenings.

If you could set up your perfect writing scenario, what would it involve?

My wife and son taking off somewhere for the weekend, leaving me and the dog home alone with a freezerful of frozen pizza.

What is your most unusual writing quirk?

If I couldn’t type, I wouldn’t be a writer! My penmanship is dreadful and my block lettering not much better. No way would I be one of these writers who write out everything in longhand on a yellow pad. I doubt I’d even do much better on a typewriter. Because I end up cut/copy/pasting a lot even as create a first draft.

Were you an avid reader growing up?

My mother enrolled me in the Weekly Readers’ Book Club. From there I would not only come to love classics like The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Dear Mr. Henshaw, I also adored The Adventures of a Two-Minute Werewolf. Scholastic Book Fairs were always my favorite time in grade school, at one such I picked up Mrs. Frisby & the Rats of NIMH. These and others inspired me nearly forty years later to write paranormal sci-fi thrillers featuring the modern-day remnant of an ancient clan of werecats.

If you could form the ultimate writers’ group, which authors past or present would you invite to
join you?

Steven A. Gallacci, Stan Sakai, Hiroyuki Morioka, Sheryl Nantus, Brian Jacques, Robert C.
O’Brien, Gene DeWeese, Reed Waller/Kate Worley, Ken Akamatsu, Yukito Kishiro, Kenichi
Sonoda, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, Brett A. Brooks, David Michael Williams.

Do you snack while writing and if so, what is your favorite snack?

Yes. Chex cereal. I like them all and appreciate their crunchiness. And the fact that they won’t
make a mess of my keyboard like, say, cheese doodles. (Don’t ask me how I know this, I JUST
DO.)

Who has influenced your writing the most?

The manga-ka among my “ultimate writers’ group” above. They’re the main reason my books’ protagonist is a young woman. (Who happens to also be a werecat.)

Is there anything you would like my readers to know about you and your book?

These are the books I had in my heart to write, the books I had in my heart to read and couldn’t find. Thank you for letting them into yours.