Mark Van Aken Williams grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. His maternal grandfather, William J. Van Aken, was the mayor of Shaker Heights for four decades. His paternal grandfather was Clyde E. Williams, the second director of Battelle. Innovation, education, and travel provided a firm foundation.

Williams received a Master of Education and a Bachelor of Arts from Cleveland State University. He attended Hawken School.

Williams has enjoyed traveling throughout the world: including salmon fishing in Alaska, visiting Mayan ruins in the Yucatan Peninsula, deep sea fishing in Costa Rica and attending an International Rainforest Workshop on the Amazon River in Peru.

When not traveling or writing, Williams enjoys cooking for friends and family and following soccer (especially British), as well as baseball and football. His favorite sport is deep sea fishing.

Williams is the author of The Prophet of Sorrow (Lucky Press, LLC 2010), a finalist (historical fiction category) in the following awards: 2010 Book of the Year Awards (Foreword); 2010 International Book Awards; National Best Books 2010 Awards. He is also the author of Circus by Moonlight: Poems 1997-2007 (Lucky Press, LLC 2009). Currently, Williams is working on a detective novel.

Visit his blog at Shakes Shivers and Dithers.

© 2006 by Mark Van Aken Williams. All rights reserved. The material on this website is protected by International and US Copyright.