-
The Twist Podcast 323: Arrival of the Androids, Fonthill Castle Fun Facts, and Courtney Bryan Talks AI (Interview Part 2)
Mark and Rick are back with a packed episode. First we pull back the curtain on something new coming to The Twist, our Android News Edition, a dedicated midweek (for now) show where Mark and Rick’s android selves plug into entertainment, food trends, politics, and culture.
Then, step inside one of Pennsylvania’s most extraordinary and eccentric landmarks: Fonthill Castle. Built by archaeologist and tile-maker Henry Chapman Mercer in the early 20th century, this concrete marvel in Doylestown is a labyrinth of rooms, passageways, and tiles, and it’s full of secrets worth knowing before you visit (or even if you never do).
Finally, Rick continues his conversation with Courtney Bryan in Part 2 of their fascinating interview.
-
On the Map: Hidden Staircases and Spooky Portraits at Fonthill Castle, Doylestown, PA
On the Map: Fonthill Castle, Doylestown, PA
Our friend Kathi Hill was here for her annual two-nighter. On Sunday we went to Fonthill Castle in Doylestown, a large imposing castle you can see from the road that we’ve passed a zillion times and never gone to. It’s a must! It’s the kind of place that makes you want to book two nights in an upstairs bedroom, light a candle, and write something a horror story by the light of the moon. Built in the early twentieth century by Henry Mercer — archaeologist, Arts and Crafts visionary, and the obsessive genius behind the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works next door — it’s a concrete labyrinth of rooms, hidden staircases, and ceilings encrusted with thousands of his own handmade tiles pulled from the kilns just steps away. The gothic atmosphere is not manufactured. It grew here, out of one man’s magnificent strangeness. He was also a lifelong bachelor, which adds a little fill-in-the-blanks to it all.
We walked through it on a guided tour and I and immediately started thinking about the horror stories I could write there. The ceilings are all low, the rooms are small, and everything is concrete. If you’re anywhere near Bucks County, put it on your list.
Tours run regularly and can be booked through the Mercer Museum website at mercermuseum.org. Fonthill Castle and the Tile Works are both on site.
-
New Home, Same Great Content
In case you’re wondering, I’m leaving Bluehost after more than 15 years using them to host my websites. To make a long story brief, the sites became so slow I couldn’t take it anymore. No advice or suggestions needed: I tried everything. Coupled with the price tag, I said let’s move.
I like Hostinger, where you’re reading this, and I’m ready to make a move. All my sites will be on here, as dedicated pages (Your Write Path, MadeMark Publishing, and Vivid Press.)
This may take a little while, but not too long – I’m among the more tech-savvy people I know, and moving everything over here shouldn’t take more than a couple weeks, if that. There’s a lot of work to do “behind the curtain,” so to speak, with redirects, emails and all that, but it will get done seamlessly and quickly. So welcome to where “all things are of the substance of dreams.”
Mark
-
Lost in Time, Found Again: Vivid Press Brings Three Forgotten Classics Back to Life
FROM THE VIVID PRESS CATALOG
Lost in Time, Found Again: Vivid Press Brings Three Forgotten Classics Back to Life
A Marriage Below Zero, The Willows, and Carmilla — newly available in Vivid Press Editions
Some books were ahead of their time. Some were buried by it. And some were simply waiting for readers who were ready for them. At Vivid Press, we believe certain stories deserve a second life — not as museum pieces, but as living texts that speak directly to who we are now. That conviction is behind our newest Vivid Press Editions: three works of extraordinary power that have been overlooked, undervalued, or quietly allowed to slip into obscurity.
We are proud to announce that A Marriage Below Zero, The Willows, and Carmilla are now available in Vivid Press Editions — beautifully republished and ready to find the audiences they always deserved.
Alan Dale’s 1889 novel was scandalous when it appeared — and then it largely vanished. Written by a woman under a male pen name, A Marriage Below Zero is a sharp, darkly comic indictment of a marriage between a woman and a closeted gay man, told from the wife’s increasingly desperate point of view. It is a story about denial, social performance, and the loneliness of being the person in the room who sees clearly what everyone else refuses to acknowledge.
What makes this novel remarkable is not just its subject matter — which was virtually unspoken in mainstream fiction of the era — but its voice. The narrator is observant, wry, and wounded in equal measure. She is not a victim so much as a woman trapped by the conventions of a world that offers her no honest language for what she’s experiencing. Over a century later, the novel reads with startling freshness. The Vivid Press Edition presents the full original text with a new introduction placing the work in its literary and cultural context.
-
Mark McNease’s Fearsome Fiction Podcast 83: Night Flight to Murder Town – A Marshall James Thriller (Chapters 16 through 18)
Welcome to Mark McNease’s Fearsome Fiction Podcast and another three chapters of Night Flight to Murder Town: A Marshall James Thriller.
Marshall James arrives in New York and gets his first look at Muscles, the gym where he’ll be working, courtesy of Trent. He’s told the previous manager had to go away and has not been seen since. The new one, Leland, can’t quite hide his interest in Marshall. And Trent makes it clear, without raising his voice, that everyone in the room knows exactly where the lines are.
New York is a city that demands a verdict, and Marshall’s is immediate. He loves it, against his better judgment. But love doesn’t mean safety. Trapped in Trent’s luxury apartment with a man whose pager never stops buzzing and whose overseas calls carry the unmistakable sound of crime, Marshall knows he needs to run. He just needs money first, and a map.
Meanwhile, back in the future, Marshall and his husband Boo arrive at a bed and breakfast in Lambertville. Their host Kyle Callahan jokes that their room is the “murder suite” and it’s been been good for business. Marshall will soon learn the truth of it, as they explore the river town they just might move to.
-
The Twist Podcast 322: Annual Spring Issue, New Letters from Jo, and Rick Interviews Courtney Bryan (Part 1)
Welcome to The Twist Podcast, Episode 322. Spring has officially arrived, and Mark and Rick are celebrating the season with a jam-packed episode. We kick things off with some springtime conversation — what’s blooming, what’s buzzing, and what’s got us looking forward to warmer days ahead.
Then it’s time for the Twist Hit List, our own humble ‘must’ list, covering TV, films, books, food, and culture. Listener favorite Jo is back with a new Letter from Jo, with her trademark wisdom and humor. And in this week’s featured interview Rick talks with Courtney Bryan for Part One of a wide-ranging conversation about artificial intelligence.
All that and more on this week’s The Twist. Subscribe, share, and join the conversation.
THIS WEEK’S SURVEY
Another spring is here. What to you want to do first?
Get more active without the sweaters and thermals
Garden, plant, walk in the grass, open the windows
Clean out and start fresh (figuratively if not literally)
Nothing — I like my routine as it is
Wait impatiently for summer
Something else (please say what in the comments) -
Flemington Book Fest Headed This Way Again – Memorial Day Weekend
I’ll be at the MadeMark Publishing table this year at Act2Book’s annual Flemington Summer Book Fest & Collossal Book Sale.
Authors, books, people, fun. We’re hoping for good weather, but if not, the rain date is Monday the 25th. – Mark
-
Kim Cook and Mark McNease Book Event at Soupcon / Bucks on Bridge Sunday, May 3
Join authors Kim Cook and Mark McNease for an engaging afternoon of signing, reading and celebrating the power of story in all its forms.
Mark McNease, novelist, publisher, podcaster, and workshop instructor, writes across mystery, speculative fiction and humor, creating character-driven stories that explore identity, resilience, and the beautifully complicated ways we move through the world.
Kim Cook, author of I Am My Father’s Child: A True Story of Mystery, History, Betrayal, and Forgiveness, brings readers into a deeply personal memoir of family, memory, and belonging. Through reflections on her father’s quiet wisdom and the pivotal moments that shape a life, she invites us to consider our own histories, where laughter, loss, and forgiveness intertwine.
About ‘Blank Page to Bookshelf: From First Sentence to First Sale’
In Blank Page to Bookshelf: Fiction Writing, Character Creation, and Self-Publishing with KDP, author and workshop instructor Mark McNease distills years of experience into one clear, practical guide for writers ready to move from idea to finished book.
Designed for writers at any stage, this step-by-step handbook walks you through the entire process—from developing story ideas and creating compelling characters to revising with purpose and confidently publishing on KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).
About ‘I Am My Father’s Child: A True Story of Mystery, History, Betrayal, and Forgiveness’
In every life, there are moments that shimmer just beneath the surface of memory—encounters, decisions, and turning points that, at the time, felt ordinary but would come to shape the very fabric of who we are. This book is a journey into such moments: the recollections of a daughter navigating the joys and sorrows of family, the unpredictability of change, and the search for belonging across places and decades.Woven through these pages are the voices of those I have loved and learned from, especially my father, whose gentle wisdom guided me through the tumult and beauty of growing up. As I open these doors to my past, I invite you to step inside, to witnessthe laughter and grief, the certainty and doubt, and perhaps find echoes of your own story along the way.
-
The Twist Podcast 321: Fabulous Foot Massages, Philly Fun Times, and Rick Talks to Guns to Gardens
Welcome to The Twist Podcast, Episode 321. Join co-hosts Mark and Rick as we adjust to the time change, check out Mark’s trip to Philadelphia, hear Rick’s interview with Guns to Gardens, and find out what listeners spend on their pets.
-
Mark McNease’s Fearsome Fiction Podcast 82: Night Flight to Murder Town – A Marshall James Thriller (Chapters 13 thru 15)
Welcome back to Fearsome Fiction, and to Night Flight to Murder Town: A Marshall James Thriller.
When we last left Marshall, he was stepping into a world he wasn’t sure he could step back out of. Now in New York City he’s about to find out just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Chapter Thirteen drops Marshall into Trent’s world with all its chrome and white leather and carefully curated secrets. The apartment on the Upper East Side tells you everything you need to know about how far Trent has come, and how far he’s willing to go to stay there.Chapter Fourteen takes us downtown to the Village in all its complicated glory. The AIDS crisis hangs over everything like bad weather. The neighborhood is changing, the gays are moving north to Chelsea, and the yuppies are moving in behind them. Trent walks him through his little empire , a bar called Tipsy’s, a gym called Muscles, and the growing sense that whoever Trent is laundering money for is not someone you want to disappoint.
Chapter Fifteen brings us forward in time to Lambertville, New Jersey where Marshall and Boo arrive at Passion House Bed and Breakfast. A man named Kyle Callahan tends flowers on the porch. His handyman Justin helps. His husband Danny waits inside. It appears a new day may be at hand.
