Mark Carlos McGinty is a descendant of Cuban cigar makers whose work has appeared in Maybourne Magazine, Cigar City Magazine and La Gaceta. He grew up on ropa vieja, Cuban sandwiches, café con leche, and fresh-squeezed OJ from his grandfather’s tree in West Tampa. His favorite cigar is the Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 8-5-8.
Mark spent 7 years writing The Cigar Maker. Most of that time was spent researching the history of Cuba, Tampa, and the cigar industry during the period of 1850 - 1910. During that time he ate a lot of Cuban food and smoked way too many cigars.
Mark’s first novel Elvis and the Blue Moon Conspiracy (Beaver’s Pond Press, 2003) won an Eric Hoffer Book Award Honorable Mention for General Fiction. He graduated from Stetson University in DeLand, Florida and got his Master’s degree from Xavier University in Cincinnati. Mark lives in Minneapolis with his wife and daughter.
