Mark Russell Bell

 

Mark Russell Bell is the author of Testament (1997), a nonfiction case study presented in a Q&A format.

After researching 'talking poltergeists,' the author learned about a contemporary Oklahoma family experiencing the phenomena when he read a Fortean Times magazine article. His unexpurgated interview with the family is featured in Testament. The family was seen on television in the November 1995 ABC special "Ghosts, Mediums, Psychics: Put To The Test" and this footage also aired in the summer of 1996 on "20/20." Among the authentic phenomena filmed for the special was a dining room chair moved by an unseen presence.

Bell was a child when he first experienced several unexplained occurrences that may have contributed to his interest in the paranormal.

After majoring in cinema at USC, he worked as a talent agent before becoming staff writer in the publicity department of Paramount Pictures and contributing to the campaigns for such films as "Braveheart," "Fatal Attraction," "Forrest Gump," "Ghost," "The Godfather, Part III," "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," and the "Star Trek" series. Freelance writing assignments included feature articles about European film directors for The Hollywood Reporter.

In 2004 he began work on a new autobiographical book. He hopes to hear from publishers interested in reading the manuscript. His email address ismarkrussellbell@earthlink.net.

Visit Mark online at http://www.testament.org

 

 

PageOneLit.com:  Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life?  Who were your earliest influences and why? 

Mark Russell Bell:  I’ve always lived in Los Angeles County.  My twin brother Mike and I were born in Culver City.  We were five years old when our parents divorced and we moved with our mother to Pasadena in the San Gabriel Valley.  I’m currently residing in the San Fernando Valley.   

My earliest influences were schoolteachers who helped to cultivate my interest in a wide variety of subjects.  I remember becoming aware that writing was easy for me during a creative writing exercise in the fifth grade.  Winning national writing awards in high school enabled me to study cinema at the University of Southern California.  While I was a student at USC, I remember attending an advance screening of “Star Wars” in 1977.

  

PageOneLit.com:  Why do you write? 

Mark Russell Bell:  I knew what I’d experienced would be spiritually illuminating for others.

 

PageOneLit.com:  Briefly describe your book Testament.

Mark Russell Bell:  Testament is a nonfiction book with a Q&A interview/journal transcript format.  After researching ‘talking poltergeists' throughout history, I was surprised to learn that a contemporary American family was experiencing similar events.

 In a small rural town in Oklahoma I witnessed the materialization of objects and heard utterances by unseen beings.  Upon returning to Los Angeles, I was more than surprised to discover phenomena continuing to manifest around me.  As I began transcribing the interview tapes, I realized the greater implications of what on the surface was a succession of events long associated with the ‘paranormal’ and decided to continue interviewing people.

 

 

PageOneLit.com:  Discuss your personal experiences/perspectives/beliefs in UFO’s – Do you feel that the United States Government has covered up information on UFOs and possible life from other planets? 

Mark Russell Bell:  I’ve interviewed people with diverse experiences relating to UFOs and otherworldly visitors.  I’ve also read some compelling yet relatively obscure books on the subject such as Truman Bethurum’s Aboard A Flying Saucer (1954).  If people in positions of authority in the government participate in such cover-ups then they need to read my book.

 

 

PageOneLit.com:  How old were you when you began an interest in UFOs?  How did your interest begin?

Mark Russell Bell:  The subject always intrigued me as a teenager.  I enjoyed reading science fiction and fantasy novels as well as nonfiction paperbacks about unexplained phenomena.  Some of the incidents reported were so fantastic that I had no idea whether they were true or even partially true.  It wasn’t until the events chronicled in Testament that I perceived how there could be a basis for many occurrences often categorized as ‘paranormal.’ 

 

 

 

PageOneLit.com:  Testament is uniquely written in a transcription – Explain why you chose this method to write the book?

Mark Russell Bell:  I decided the case would best be related through verbatim transcripts of my interviews and audio journals presented in chronological order.  I didn’t want the book to be presented as being “by Mark Russell Bell” because it wasn’t ‘written’ by me – the spoken words recorded on microcassettes were merely typed. 

 

 

PageOneLit.com:  What do you hope readers will say after reading Testament?

Mark Russell Bell:  I hope they’ll say whatever they honestly think.

 

 PageOneLit.com:  What did you learn from writing Testament?

Mark Russell Bell:  My experiences and research revealed that all living things are continuously interacting with an intermediary Superconsciousness or Spiritual Force that may be recognized through circumstances often described as coincidences and synchronicity, intuition and telepathy, prophetic dreams and visions, mediumship and trance channeling, as well as events sometimes associated with hauntings, ‘talking poltergeist’ phenomena, and ‘electronic voice phenomena.’

 

 PageOneLit.com:  What’s next?

Mark Russell Bell:  Since the summer of 2004 I’ve been working on a new book that I’m calling My Unexpected Path of Spiritual Discovery. 

  

 

PageOneLit.com:  What was the last book you read?

Mark Russell Bell:  In 2008 I’ve continued finding fascinating books about mediumship, including In Pursuit of Physical Mediumship by Robin P. Foy, Life After Death – Living Proof by Tom Harrison, On The Side Of Angels – Gordon Higginson’s Authorised Life Story compiled by Jean Bassett, Second Sight by Sharon Neill, and most recently I read Innocent Voices In My Ear by Doris Stokes.

 

 

PageOneLit.com:  Do you have any hobbies?  What are they?  How do they enhance your writing?

Mark Russell Bell:  I used to paint occasionally but my most recent effort was taking too much time away from my work on the new book so I don’t plan to devote further time to this hobby.  Being a guest on radio shows has sometimes helped me to begin articulating some of the important insights derived from my research.  My most recent interviews were on “Now That’s Weird” (London) and “Speaking of Strange” (North Carolina).