While earning a degree in the sciences, author/educator/musician Mark Weakland played drums and percussion with scores of Pittsburgh-based bands. He then went on to earn multiple teacher certifications and a master’s degree in education. Mark expresses his creative side through music and writing. He is the author of eighteen non-fiction children’s books. Upcoming books, written as collaborations between Warner Brothers, Sports Illustrated Kids, and Capstone Press, include a set of Scooby-Doo (and mathematics) books, a set of Wile E. Coyote (and physics) books, and a set of hockey (shapes and patterns) books. Other kid projects include an award-winning audio book, a poetry collection, and Jack Attack, his first YA novel. Mark’s books have received outstanding reviews from Booklist and Library Media Connection and won multiple awards, such as the 2012 Green Award for Sustainable Children’s Literature and the 2011 Eureka Nonfiction Children’s Book Award. His academic book for teachers and administrators, Super Core! Supercharging Your Basal Reading Program with More Reading, Writing, and Word Work, will be published by the International Reading Association in January of 2014. As a musician and songwriter, Mark has written and recorded music for both kids and grown-ups. His songs have won Parents' Choice and Children's Web awards and finished as finalists in The John Lennon Songwriting and USA Songwriting contests. Performing on drums, guitar, and vocals, Mark still records and plays with various artists and bands in Western Pennsylvania.

I write. I teach. I teach writing. I write about teaching. I read about writing and write about reading and teach about both when not dealing with the paperwork being a high school educator demands in our current political clime. I'm National Board Certified in my discipline (English). I've won awards, published constantly since 1989, and just wrapped up a two-year tenure as the editor and designer of Pine Whispers (the newsletter for the North Carolina Poetry Society). I make time for reflection, which comes in handy with all of the hats I wear. I also buy, sell and collect pop culture items ... from books and comics, to lunch boxes and action figures. And if you've read this far, please accept my humble thanks.