Mark Barrowcliffe (born 14 July 1964), also known as M.D. Lachlan and Mark Alder, is an English writer. He was born in

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

and studied at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

. After graduating, Barrowcliffe worked as a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

before penning his first novel, '' Girlfriend 44''. He then made a name for himself writing " lad lit". He currently lives and writes in Brighton, East Sussex, and

South Cambridgeshire South Cambridgeshire is a local government district of Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 162,119 at the 2021 census. It was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of Chesterton Rural District and South Cambridgeshire Rural District. ...

. Barrowcliffe wrote under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

"M.D. Lachlan" for the Wolfsangel series, which began with ''

Wolfsangel (, translation "wolf's hook") or () is a heraldic charge from Germany and eastern France, which was inspired by medieval European wolf traps that consisted of a Z-shaped metal hook (called the ''Wolfsangel'', or the ''Crampon'' in French) th ...

'' in 2010 and continued to '' Lord of Slaughter'' in 2012. A fourth novel in the series, " Valkyrie's Song", is in progress. He was drawn to fantasy after penning '' The Elfish Gene''. In 2013, Barrowcliffe began a new series, 'The Banners of Blood', under another pseudonym "Mark Alder", with the first book titled ''Son of the Morning''.

Early life

Barrowcliffe felt that, as he was growing up, he kept his distance from girls and "cool kids", and he turned his attention to the role-playing game

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...

. His experiences as a child are detailed in his book ''The Elfish Gene''.

Bibliography

The Wolfsangel series

*''

'' (2010, as M.D. Lachlan) *''

Fenrir Fenrir (Old Norse: ; "fen-dweller")Orchard (1997:42). or Fenrisúlfr (O.N.: ; "Fenrir's wolf", often translated "Fenris-wolf"),Simek (2007:81). also referred to as Hróðvitnir (O.N.: ; "fame-wolf")Simek (2007:160). and Vánagandr (O.N.: ; " ...

'' (2011, as M.D. Lachlan) *'' Lord of Slaughter'' (2012, as M.D. Lachlan) *'' Valkyrie's Song'' (2015, as M.D. Lachlan) *'' The Night Lies Bleeding'' (2018, as M.D. Lachlan)

The Banners of Blood series

*''Son of the Morning'' (2014, as Mark Alder) *''Son of the Night'' (2017, as Mark Alder)

Stand-alone works

*'' Girlfriend 44'' (2000) *'' Infidelity for First-Time Fathers'' (2002) *'' Lucky Dog'' (2004) *'' The Elfish Gene'' (2007) *'' Mr. Wrong'' (2008)

Adaptations of his works

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...

has secured the film rights for Barrowcliffe's novel ''Girlfriend 44'', and ''Infidelity for First-Time Fathers'' is in development with 2929 Entertainment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrowcliffe, Mark 21st-century English novelists English memoirists 1964 births Living people English male novelists 21st-century English male writers English male non-fiction writers