Dead Jokes

Mark Brennan was born and raised in the Greater Cleveland, Ohio area. Unfortunately, he has been a die-hard Cleveland sports fan ever since. Somehow, he managed to graduate from Richmond Heights High School, and then stumbled into an adventure as a U.S. Marine for five years. He spent almost the entire time in Jacksonville, North Carolina, which is not as commendable as serving in combat, but just as grueling.After a (surprising) honorable discharge, Mark moved to Richmond, Virginia, to become a construction worker, and eventually attended Virginia Commonwealth University to pursue a Bachelor's degree in English. There, he over-analyzed literary works and accrued absurd amounts of parking fines and student loan debt; but he also sharpened his critical thinking and writing skills a bit.Since an English degree is relatively useless, and becoming an inner-city high school English teacher turned out to be as lucrative as the priesthood, Mark then considered attaining a law degree. This was a difficult path with two toddler Irish twins, so he got a job as a bankruptcy paralegal--right after the 2008 financial crisis--which paid dividends. This career path enabled him to move on to a major financial institution years later, in the Raleigh, North Carolina region, where he currently lives.He began his first story at age 12, on a Smith-Corona electronic typewriter his mom gave him for Christmas. Many stories would be "begun" thereafter, but rarely, if ever, finished. Nevertheless, he persisted. The love of writing and weaving a narrative followed him throughout the years, until he learned how to outline a story and embarked on a journey to publish a novel independently. Then, as if the Universe commanded it, he wrote The One and Only Fat Chance--the first of many stories in the works at the time of its publication.The rest is history: Mark Brennan went on to win endless literary awards and earn billions of dollars in royalties, selfie fees, and autograph surcharges. The Church of Mark Brennan was formed in 2024, paying homage to his many contributions to mankind.