Former Marion County tourism director releases first fiction novel

The former executive director of the Marion Area Convention and Visitors Bureau has released his first work of fiction. Author Mark Holbrook's novel is called The Haven: A Light in the Darkness.

According to a press release issued announcing the novel's release, Holbrook said that most Christian "End Times" fiction begins with the Rapture and tells the stories of those left behind. The Haven series diverts from that format, beginning almost two years before the Rapture and chronicles the stories of several Christians struggling to cope with an increasingly secular and anti-Christian world.

Main characters Mitch and Mary Harrison, along with their friends, struggle to survive in a world quickly falling apart. Government restrictions, moral decay, and food shortages make it difficult for them and their ten friends to survive and carry out their calling to help others. Doing so requires taking risks and stepping out in faith. But their work is worth all the risk as families in the area are on the verge of starving without help.

"As the world accelerates toward global government with all of the implications that come with it, The Haven twelve courageously continue to follow Jesus’ call to love your neighbor as yourself. Even when one of those neighbors causes the loss of one of them," Holbrook said.

The Haven is available in paperback and E-book formats through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other outlets. The first in a three-part series, Holbrook says of the work, “The Haven is unique in that it explores our troubled times through the lens of everyday people and how they perceive events and struggle with how to respond to them. I hope this book will help readers to look through the darkness of a world in despair to see the light of hope.”

Holbrook spent twenty years in the television and radio news business before switching careers to oversee the marketing efforts of Ohio’s state Historical Society. He also acted as the Civil War historian for the organization. He was executive director of the Marion Area Convention and Visitors Bureau from 2016 to 2022.

Always interested in sharing stories of the past, Holbrook has appeared in three films, Ambrose Bierce: Civil War Stories (2006), The Light of Freedom (2013), and Wings of the Wind (2015). He is also a long-time member of the Ohio Humanities speakers bureau. He has also appeared in an episodes of Mysteries at the Museum (2014) and Columbus Neighborhoods (2016).

With experience as a news reporter, anchor, radio host, and public speaker, Holbrook continues to help people and organizations better themselves through his consulting firm History is Personal. Holbrook’s previous writing efforts include freelance projects for tourism organizations and as the editor of the book The Buckeye Vanguard: The 49th Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

Holbrook and his wife live on a farm in Marengo, Ohio.  More information about Holbrook as well as his blog is on his webpage. Visit www.historyispersonal.com for details.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Former Marion County tourism director releases first fiction novel