A Chat with Mark Newbold

Mark Newbold has been at the forefront of the Star Wars fandom for many decades now. Like many of my chatees, I first met Mark on the Star Wars blogs back in 2006. Since then, I have watched him assume the title of hardest working journalist in the world of fan sites, churning out hundreds of articles a month for all manner of publications, and promoting constant positivity through his multiple websites. Truly a force to be reckoned with.

Hi Mark, how’s it going?

It’s going good, crazy busy as always, but that’s my default setting and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

A running theme throughout many of the chats I’m planning is the fact that I met most of my chatees through the Star Wars Hyperspace blog in 2006 – you are no exception. However, in those days I knew you as Jan Lomona. What was all that about?

Well, first off I love being referred to as a chatee, as being chatty is something I’m well known for! Those blogs were amazing, so many good people on there and as you say, many of them are still knocking around online today.

Jan Lomona is my fanfic character, I’ve been writing about Jan since 1982 when I wrote my first short story Quest for Freedom, and over the past 40+ years he’s been in about 100 short stories and a 1998 novel called ‘Jan Lomona and the Sirens of Amagad’. He’s a free trader and a former governor of Ecaps City on his home world of A-desando in the Setnin sector (a bustling region of the Sedapard Cluster which sits high above the south-east Mid Rim). He’s seven feet tall, independently wealthy and smuggles for the thrill of it. Weirdly, there’s even an action figure of Jan that looks nothing like him – name only – but still, he’s out there in a box set if you know where to look. I could talk about Jan Lomona all day!

In those early days, you were already contributing to various publications, including local media and even Star Wars Insider. How did you break into these markets, and do you remember your first article?

I do, I’d written for Model and Collectors Mart (later renamed TV and Film Memorabilia magazine) in 2005, but my first Insider article was in issue 90, back in September of 2006. It was a very brief article about the Artoos, which was a fan film competition that used Hasbro figures to make short movies. I went down to the NEC for the day to cover the event after interviewing the then Insider editor Frank Parisi for my old site Lightsabre, and asking if I could contribute. He said I should pitch a few ideas, the Artoos article was one of them and the rest is history. 18 years later I’m approaching 200 contributions to the main magazine and its various specials.

During this time, you were the editor on lightsabre.co.uk, a fan-site that left no stone unturned in its quest to deliver Star Wars news. How did this site come about, and can you give me an idea about how much work it was for you and the team?

That site was all-encompassing. When Louis Turfrey and I (a fellow Star wars Blogs guy) changed the sites name from Wirezone to Lightsabre in June of ’99 the site was intended to be an online RPG resource guide to the Setnin sector, and over time it became a fanfic site full of stories and guides, but by 2000 I started doing interviews and by 2005 it was as much a news site as a fanfic site. Back then the work was mostly offline, writing the stories and prepping the guides, whereas these days on Fantha Tracks it’s mostly spent in the back end writing directly to the site. There were four of us writing the stories (myself, Jonathan Hicks, Louis and Paul Squire) and I edited the site, oversaw the chronology and organised the guides.

I loved that site. I still own the URL, so one day when I have 5 minutes I’ll start getting the content back up and out there for folks to read, as it’s been 14 years since Lightsabre ended and the stories all came offline.

You’re having the ultimate toasty breakfast. What type of bread have you toasted, and what are you spreading on it?

Oooh, can’t beat Tiger Bread, and because that bread is so darn delicious, I’d simply spread loads of slightly salted Lurpak on it! Either that or a nice multigrain with butter and lime marmalade.

Lime marmalade, now you’re talking!

I’m always curious about how folks like yourself manage to fulfill their passions while having to deal with the ‘real world’. Did you have an ongoing career that paid the bills, and how were you able to juggle the different responsibilities?

I do have a ‘real job’, I’m a self-employed stock taker which means I do a LOT of miles all around England and Wales counting stock in warehouses and shops. I’ve done it for 13 years, it’s flexible (my wife had to retire from work after having stage 4 breast cancer back in 2010) and I enjoy the job and the people I work with, which is definitely a bonus. There are often long days, some awkward clients (like any job) but it pays enough for myself and Ruth to live how we want, have holidays and enjoy life, which at the end of the day is what it’s all about.

So are you any closer to being able to financially support yourself through your writing and broadcasting?

The writing is supplemental to the ‘real job’, but some months it pays more than others. (that’s the thing about being self-employed, you never work or earn the same from month to month) I’d say it’s 70/30 stocktaking vs writing, and I’m fine with that. If I was sat behind a desk all day I’d never get any exercise or cardio and I’d turn into Chet from Weird Science.

As your star continues to ascend, I’ve started seeing more and more photos of you hobnobbing with the glitterati of the saga – actors, filmmakers, artists. Any interactions where you’ve had to pinch yourself? Any holy grails that you are still willing to span a chasm for?

I was lucky enough to get myself and Ruth into the after party for The Force Awakens back in 2015, thanks to the generosity of my late friend Craig Spivey. Standing at the bar next to Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac and Simon Pegg was special, as was chatting with Gareth Edwards for 15 minutes (who was convinced he knew me from somewhere). I got some great pictures with J.J Abrams and Simon Pegg, and Ruth got a kiss from Dermot O’Leary, so all round it was a great night!

I have been lucky, and when I think about it, I have met a lot of folks. I’m not an autograph guy, and I’m lousy at asking for selfies, but the one time I desperately wish I had was when I spent 45 minutes in Ben Burtt's office at Skywalker Ranch in 2013 just chatting about his career, as he digitised the sound effects from The Empire Strikes Back. What a gent he is. He handed me the original (and I mean, THE original) print of the very first Star Wars trailer from 1976 and wouldn’t let me put it down until I guessed what it was, and all the while I’m looking at the little wooden carved TIE fighter pilot who spins out of the crashed TIE in the Empire Strikes Back asteroid chase and up at the plane from Attack of the Hawkmen, the Young Indy episode he directed. Just amazing.

You are celebrating new writing milestones on an annual basis and remain in constant demand for podcasts and broadcasts. Your main site, Fantha Tracks, is deservedly well respected and has branched out into a radio show and other satellite sites. You are attending premieres and signings, and this is all based on your years of passion and dedication to the saga. So, what is the ultimate goal for Mark Newbold?

Keep doing what I’m doing, and never take it for granted. There are times when it’s nuts and there are too many plates to spin, and sometimes I look back and think ‘did I really do that?’ Other times it’s quiet, so that’s when I knuckle down and do the donkey work of writing and prepping articles and podcasts.

I often get asked by friends who run pods or sites how they can get to do interviews or go to premieres and screenings. I don’t think there’s a magic formula – you’ve got to grind it out. I’ve been doing sites since 1995 and podcasts since 2005, and I’m no more talented or knowledgeable than the next Star Wars fan, I’ve just been doing it a long time and I’m prepared to put the hours in (case in point, it’s 1.56am as I write this reply).

My biggest goal is to write or co-write a book, and while nothing has quite landed yet (there have been a number of ‘near misses’) that’s my white whale / monkey on my back / insert cliche. I’m always working up a pitch of some kind, so I hope the stars align and one of them is the right idea at the right time. That or a publisher takes a chance on me and brings me into an existing project. The thought of having something permanent and tangible like a book would be the thrill of a lifetime, and even though I’m approaching my mid 50’s it’s a goal I’m still striving for.

Also being punctual, polite and interested goes a long way. Some folks think they’re owed something by Star Wars – the fact that anyone past the age of 15 is still into a thing designed for 10-year-olds is a gift most don’t appreciate.

Imagine it’s a gloomy day. What comfort flick are you putting on the tv, and what are you eating while you watch it?

Shaun of the Dead, and I’m eating a cornetto.

Perfect! Lastly, what can I expect to see from you in the near future? Any exciting projects on the horizon?

I have just started two projects that I’d love to talk more about (but I can’t) and both are hugely fulfilling in very different ways.

As for Fantha Tracks, we have a big team and I’m always trying to involve them in different things, as well as the events we attend as a team. Celebration Japan is coming in fast, and while we’re not having a table and I’m currently not involved in the podcast stage which I’ve overseen at four previous Celebrations, I’m very much looking forward to that. There’s always something that needs writing, designing, editing, prepping and planning, and like I said at the stat of our chat, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Thank you so much, Mark!

No, thank you, we’ve been online pals for the best part of 20 years and you’ve been a constant in my online experience for all those years, so thanks for asking me to be a part of this.

You can find Mark’s work at https://www.fanthatracks.com/ and on social media at https://www.facebook.com/fanthatracks/, https://twitter.com/fanthatracks/, and https://www.instagram.com/fanthatracks