Mark R. Trost

Mark R. Trost is an author, an essayist, an editor, a humorist, a communications consultant, a sage, and a smartass.

From 2007 - 2011 Mark R. Trost penned a popular literary blog that exceeded a million hits. He has written a novel: POST MARKED, gathered his work into an anthology: BEER, BUDDIES, BULLSHIT, WOMEN, SEX, & GOD, and collected his Facebook status updates in the book: SOCIAL STATUS.

Mark R. Trost believes the printed word is in evolution.

Mark R. Trost is an evolutionist; he redefines words.

With the advent of eBooks, literature has changed. Not since Gutenberg has the written word evolved with such extremity. Storytelling evolved from the pub, to the parlor, to the porch, to the paperback, and from the retold tale to the spoken call in the twentieth century. Now prose is propelled toward the blurted vowelless texted and the media messaged.

Prose is shedding its scope. Gone are the days of lengthy exposition and landscaped plots. The internet has transformed attention spans in extremes television remotes didn't. Sentenced thoughts and concepts evolved into taglines and images: blurbs and bursts.

A visual society. The panoramic novel with the plodded plot is as anachronistic as a kaleidoscope scrim flashing images behind Diana Ross & the Supremes. The scrim remains and the cross cuttings flash but the visuals mute the voices because the strobed static replaces the sound. Soon the lengthy and the loquacious will be spaced on a portioned shelf on the bottom near the librarian's knees.

Mark R. Trost is a revolutionist; he redefines the art form.

- POST MARKED is a contemporary novel restructured into an innovative form. It's a combination of essays: episodic narratives and cultural reflections. Each essay is a velocity wave from a male point of view. Each piece stands alone yet together form a mosaic of a man's life.

- BEER, BUDDIES, BULLSHIT, WOMEN, SEX, & GOD contains unique reflections on contemporary culture, the arts, food, sex, politics, theology, and modern relationships. At times Trost is comedic; at times he's didactic. Yet he's consistently raw, real, and revelatory.

- SOCIAL STATUS is a collection of Mark R. Trost's Facebook status updates. It's a journal. It's a chronicle. It's commentary on contemporary culture. It's humorous and it's human.

Mark R. Trost is an evolutionist and a revolutionist. He changes the way we read. He changes the way we engage. He changes the way we think.

His words have changed the art form.

Social Status

SOCIAL STATUS is a comedic collection of status updates from Facebook. It's a journal. It's a chronicle. It's commentary on contemporary culture. It's humorous and human.

SOCIAL STATUS is topical. It's brilliant. It's breezy. And although coupled with the advent of Facebook's Timeline - it's timeless.

On September 2, 2007 Mark R. Trost joined Facebook. He wanted to network. He needed to publicize and promote his writing. He encouraged his friends to sign on along with him. He urged. He pleaded. He prodded. They joined. Soon he had gathered a gregarious group. Facebook became their virtual water cooler. They clustered; they gabbed; they laughed. They used Facebook to share a smile or a silly sentiment.

Trost's professional work mirrored his life; his writing is emotionally intense. Facebook offered him the opportunity to back up and breathe. His friends offered fresh breaths of air when stress had stripped the air from Trost's lungs.

Trost began to write capricious status updates. He spurted the contents of his velocity waves across his wall. He typed anything that wafted across his thoughts. Every nonsensical notion and each heartfelt perception received equal billing beside his name. It was as if Albert Brooks and Atticus Finch shared a Facebook account.

As his friendships grew and their social circles expanded, their conversations added depth and degrees. Trost kept his friends updated about his life, his loves, his losses, his lunches, his beers, his buddies, & his bullshit.

SOCIAL STATUS is a free flowing comedic collection of Mark R. Trost's daily velocity waves. Enjoy the surf.

Mark R. Trost is an author, an essayist, an editor, a humorist, a communications consultant, a sage, and a smartass.

Beers, Buddies, Bullshit, Women, Sex, & God

Mark R. Trost is an author, an essayist, an editor, a humorist, a communications consultant, a sage, and a smartass.

From 2007 - 2011 Mark R. Trost penned a popular literary blog that exceeded a million hits. He has gathered his work into an anthology: BEER, BUDDIES, BULLSHIT, WOMEN, SEX, & GOD and a novel: POST MARKED.

BEER, BUDDIES, BULLSHIT, WOMEN, SEX, & GOD contains unique reflections on contemporary culture, the arts, food, sex, politics, theology, and modern relationships.

At times Trost is comedic; at times he's didactic. Yet he's consistently raw, real, and revelatory.

Post Marked

POST MARKED is not a work of fiction. POST MARKED is not a work of fact. POST MARKED is a work of friction.

Mark Mallon isn't the man he could have been. He's not living with loss; he's living as less. How will Mark thrive? He'll keep you posted.

Mark Mallon has a lot of friction in his life. He is an abrasive man and an inspired writer. His conscience chafes his pride. His testicles battle his testaments. His diabetes erodes his future. His wallet wrestles his art. He's found a woman who rubs him in all the right ways. He likes that.

Brady Cates is an intelligent woman and a passionate attorney. She craves sex, cigarettes, and Mark Mallon. She's found a man who challenges her in every way. She likes that.

POST MARKED is a contemporary novel restructured into an innovative form. It's a combination of essays: episodic narratives and cultural reflections. Each essay is a velocity wave from a male point of view. The narratives describe Mallon's struggles with his spiritual obligations, his diabetes, his career, his friendships, and his relationships with women. Mallon's reflections provide commentary on society and relationships. Each piece stands alone yet together form a mosaic of a man's life.

POST MARKED unzips the soul and heart of a man. Mallon sees the Synchronicity of Divinity and feels his obligation to Mark each moment. The novel speaks of men and their aches, their heartbreaks, their friendships, their fears, their loneliness, and their longings to belong somewhere and become something. It contains men's secrets, men's thoughts, and men's loves.

POST MARKED is a novel about buddies, beers, bullshit, women, writing, sex, and God.

POST MARKED is formatted so that anyone can open any page and begin to read. Yet there is a completely linear plot thread throughout. It’s a novel; it’s a script. It’s a scripted novel. It’s a novel script. It’s skeletal; it’s readable; it’s unique.

It redefines how we engage.