Author bio:
Mark A Ellis lives in Sheffield, England with his wife and two children. When not writing sci-fi he is usually reading it or climbing/cycling in the nearby Peak District. He is also a University Lecturer and holds a PhD in Responsible Leadership, a field in which he also publishes. Beyond the Treeline is his debut novel.
See the end of the interview for links to buy
Hi Mark, thanks for chatting. Your debut sci-fi thriller, the intriguingly named Beyond The Treeline, came out in February… can you tell us briefly what it’s about, and what kind of readers it might appeal to?
Sure. It’s set in the late 21st century, in a world wracked by climate change. But scientist Sean Freeman thinks he has the answer to all our problems – longevity. He knows, somehow, that long life breeds responsibility, for each other and the world.
Working with genius quantum physicist Jess, Sean is convinced he’s going to secure the future of humanity – and maybe find his soulmate in the process.
But there’s more to this miracle science than he knows – and is being allowed to know. Not least, there are others in the shadows who would see him fail, at any cost. When the answers come, and he learns of Earth’s true purpose, it will take him on a journey through space and time where he will be faced with the ultimate ethical dilemma.
Who will it appeal to? Well, it’s essentially a sci-fi thriller come adventure tale, although to be honest it’s more thriller than anything and has lots of twists and turns that will keep people guessing, and a jaw-dropping finale they are going to love.
Now a stupid but very modern follow up question: tell us why someone should read your book in just ten words.
It’s exciting; will make you re-think about humanity and Earth.
As well as the very fun thriller/scientist-on-the-run-from-mysterious-forces aspect to this, there are some remarkably deep and mind-bending sci-fi concepts on display here, which are hard to talk about without spoiling them frankly, but they will make reader’s minds explode – hopefully in a good way not a David Cronenberg Scanners way (Google that, young reader). What kind of sci-fi themes did you want to explore in this book, and why?
Great question and yes, high potential for spoilers. I wanted people to explore their future and our future, so the philosophical and ethical questions the book digs into as part of the story go way beyond the plot and hopefully push the reader to reflect on the real Earthly challenges we are faced with. Although now I say that it sounds like a textbook on philosophy, it’s not! But with the advent of AI and the fast pace of technology advancement the book dives into lots of the possibilities this will no doubt bring to us all, so I have stretched my imagination to pull together new and exciting concepts that may, may… become a reality. Time will tell.
There’s a lot going in this book… it’s a conspiracy thriller, a wild hard-sci-fi big concept book, a romance, and there’s even a space heist. Why was it important to you to combine the thrills with the cerebral, and how difficult did this make the writing process?
I wanted to make the whole story, the science, the characters, everything as real or plausible as possible. This makes it all very believable as a story as it’s as close to real science as I could make it and then makes leaps forward all based on real potential. So the reader will buy into it simply because it ‘could’ all really happen. They will see that. And making it thrills and spills and thought provoking… well I love that stuff, and I think there are others out there that do to.
This book feels very original while also following in a proud tradition of sci-fi thrillers with strange and ultimately galactic mind-bending concepts. What have been your sci-fi influences, and why do you feel like you belong in this genre?
I’ve been reading sci-fi for over 45 years and love it. I read just about everything Asimov wrote when I was a kid and went on to devour tons of other similar stuff. Iain M Banks was a favourite for a while, I think I have read everything he wrote, also Alistair Reynolds I think is great, along with people like Ursula K Le Guin. More recently I’ve read the Red Rising saga by Pierce Brown – this has had a big influence on Beyond the Treeline, not least as this is why it’s written in the first person, as it pulls the reader in close.
Tell me about your author journey… what spurred you to start writing?
I’ve started writing novels many times across my life, but never made it very far. But when I completed a PhD in 2020 I realised actually if I can do that, then surely I can write a novel. Little did I know at the time, but writing the novel was probably harder! But nine drafts and four years later and et voila!
Why did you choose self-publishing, and how have you found your first foray into the world?
Speed and control I would say are the reasons behind Indie Publishing. I did briefly try a few agents to go the trad route but then talking to other authors who had gone that way just told me tales of woe. You know, needing to approach over 100 agents or publishers and then waiting 6 months for them to come back and even longer to get a deal. It seemed to me with modern self-publishing options I would just get on with it, so I did.
And doing it? Well, it’s a lot of work to be honest, more than I realised, especially the marketing. But I’m in it now, so I just parcel away a chunk of time each week and get on with it. I could probably run a course on Indie Publishing now, I’ve learnt so much.
What one piece of advice would you give to self-pub authors wanting to follow in your footsteps?
Keep going. You will have setback after setback and learning points aplenty, but if you keep going you will get there and then you will be an Author.
What’s your day job and has that influenced your writing at all? Your bio also says that you have a PhD in responsible leadership, and I have no idea what that means, but I’m very keen to find out and if that influenced some of the meaty themes in the book!
I’m a Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, I teach and research in the Business School. Lots of this is around strategy, leadership and social enterprise, so my research is all about ethical business practice and responsible leadership. This is running organisations with the focus on the three Ps – planet, people and profit. Not just making money and going to live on a yacht. And yes, this has an influence on the book, the mantra for humanity to survive in Beyond the Treeline is being responsible, to each other and the planet, although important to mention that it’s not a call to arms for the eco-warriors, that is not me, but it does explore the real challenges we all face.
What lies in the future for author Mark A Ellis… sequels? New stories?
Yes, I am on with a follow up. Although this will stand alone too. It’s set 150 years into the future and guess what – yes, its all gone tits up for humanity.
Thanks for chatting Mark!
Find links to buy Beyond the Treeline and to all Mark’s socials on his linktree here
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