Mark Newbold (pictured on the right with Paul Squire) was born in Edgbaston near Birmingham, England. He moved to Burntwood and then Lichfield, Staffordshire where he works full-time for his family firm New-Park Meats and part-time for Venture Portraits. He previously worked for Tesco's and in a toyshop, which was the closest thing to a perfect job he's ever going to get.

Marks interest in science fiction began in 1978 with the UK release of Star Wars. With an uncle who had a keen interest in sci-fi and fantasy, Mark soon began to broaden his horizons - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy being a particular favourite. As the years passed he became a fan of the Star Trek films and their later series, but in 1981 a screenplay for a cine film with school friends that has since been lost was the Star Wars bug that really bit hard.

Among Marks favourite movies are the Blues Brothers, Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Star Trek's 2, 4 and First Contact. Unsurprisingly, Star Wars - A New Hope, the Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and Attack of the Clones appear high up the list.

1982 was the year Mark wrote his first Star Wars story. Titled Quest for Freedom it was the first story in a trilogy that was written over the following two years. And incidentally, Mark is hugely proud of the story, despite the fact that Han Solo appeared in the first draft with not a trace of Carbonite on him, and Luke and Leia were lovers (maybe it was very early slash fiction).

In 1984 Mark and his family moved to Lichfield and after befriending Jonathan Hicks they began Newbold-Hicks Productions, a primarily comedy-based cassette making concern which soon grew to include their own Star Trek series, Beyond the Final Frontier, and vitally Star Wars. From 1984 to 1989 NHP made dozens of stories of differing genres, and many of the most vital Star Wars stories in the Chronology were first made. And in 1988 the RPG era began, which expanded upon the now established worlds, characters and situations of the Setnin Sector.

Mark now owns his own house in Lichfield, along with a large sci-fi collection, 120 DVD's and two Bass guitars.  He has been in nine bands - The Staffordshire Men, Late Shift, Satan's Egg Sandwich, Sweetbread, Wonderbug, Not The Mamma, Velvet Glam Mine, Wham Bam Glam (pictured above) and Stranglehold. He also sings karaoke on a Thursday night and rocks like a hurricane.

Which is nice...