[2] His writing career began in 1990 when his first published short story Six Dead Boys in a Very Dark World won Fear magazine's Best New Author award.

Mark has been described as 'a contemporary bard – a post-industrial Taliesin whose visionary novels are crammed with remixed mythologies, oneiric set pieces, potent symbols, unsettling imagery and an engaging fusion of genre elements.

The author's ambition is sustained by his invention: his work is distinguished by breakneck but brilliantly controlled plots, meticulous research, deft characterisation and a crisp, accessible prose style.

But a year later the best-selling adventure writer Wilbur Smith, who established the award, contacted Chadbourn and asked if he would like to collaborate on a novel, as mentioned on both authors' websites.

Plus numerous short stories including the award-winning "Whisper Lane" in BFS – A Celebration anthology in 2006, and "Who Slays the Gyant, Wounds the Beast" in The Solaris Book of New Fantasy (UK) December 2007