Like Lewis Carrol's famous Cat, Mark Adderley was born in Cheshire, England. His early influences included C. S. Lewis, Rosemary Sutcliffe, Enid Blyton, and adventure books of various kinds, and his teacher once wrote on his report card, “He should go in for being an author,” advice that stuck with him. Later on, he read such authors as J. R. R. Tolkien, William Shakespeare, T. H. White, Sir Thomas Malory, and others.

Mark studied for some years at the University of Wales, where he became interested in medieval literature, particularly the legend of King Arthur. But it was in graduate school that he met a clever and beautiful American woman, whom he moved to the United States to marry.

In 1999, Mark received a PhD in Medieval and Renaissance Literature from the University of South Florida. He has spent some time teaching writing and literature in America, and now lives in Gastonia, North Carolina. He is the author of a number of novels about King Arthur for adults, and originally wrote the McCracken books for his younger two children.