Author Page of Mark Baker

Historical / Biographical Fiction | WWI & Maritime History

A story of courage, survival, and the quiet weight carried home.
I write historically grounded fiction inspired by real lives—especially the lives that rarely made it into history books. My current work is a WWI-era novel based on my grandfather, Frank Baker: a Canadian artilleryman who fought at Vimy Ridge and returned home to build a life in Nova Scotia while carrying the invisible wounds of war.

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The Story Behind the Story

This book began as a deeply personal journey, a search for the story of my grandfather, Frank Baker. I started with official records of the 65th and 20th Battery Artillery Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, hoping to trace his footsteps through the First World War. What I found were only scattered fragments: names in faded ledgers, brief mentions in hospital notes, and lists of distant battle sites. More often, there were only blank spaces, silent gaps where memory should have been. The Western Front swallowed not just lives, but the stories and voices of those who served.

I was struck by how much of Frank’s story had vanished. I couldn’t let that be the end. I didn’t want his life to become just another blank space in the pages of history. So, when the facts faded, I turned to imagination and empathy, striving to bridge the gap between what is known and what might have been. The details in these pages are drawn from war records, medical files, and the documented battles he passed through. But in the silences, I tried to reach back in time, not to alter history, but to offer my grandfather a voice and presence to tell a story of what he may have experienced during the War.

Frank Baker may never appear in history books as a hero, but to my family and me, he always was. His quiet strength, resilience, and the life he built after the war shaped us in ways that still echo through generations. Out of respect for privacy, I have changed his last name and the names of many in the Baker family.

This book is a tribute to my grandfather, and to every soldier whose story has gone untold or whose memory has faded with time. While some details in these pages are imagined, the love and admiration that inspired them are deeply real. This is my humble attempt to honour a legacy that runs deeper than any official record, a legacy of courage, compassion, and quiet heroism that deserves to be remembered.

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Book Previews and Excerpts

Nearby batteries woke in a chain reaction, each gun barking to life like some massive, coordinated animal. The ridge shivered beneath their feet. Birds fled the treeline in a black, startled cloud. Frank felt the familiar shift inside himself—the strange settling, the way fear and purpose fused into something hard enough to function.

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Appearance at the Indie Author Pop-Up Shop at TriCon in Halifax in May!

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Author Biography

Mark Baker is a Canadian writer whose work blends historical accuracy with compelling narrative storytelling. His focus lies in exploring the human side of war—courage, trauma, resilience, and the quiet heroism found in ordinary lives pushed into extraordinary circumstances.

Mark’s writing journey began with a personal mission: to honour the life of his grandfather, Frank Baker, a soldier from Woodstock, New Brunswick who served with the Canadian artillery during the First World War. Frank fought at Vimy Ridge, endured the brutality of trench warfare, and returned home carrying the invisible wounds of conflict, wounds he rarely spoke of. As Mark grew older, he realized that Frank’s story, like those of so many Canadian soldiers, risked fading into silence. Writing a WWI-era novel based on his life became both an act of remembrance and a way to give voice to the generations who carried their trauma quietly.

To bring authenticity to his work, Mark invests deeply in historical research. His interests include the evolution of Canadian artillery tactics, daily life in the trenches of France, the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and the psychological toll of war now understood as PTSD. He also studies early 20th‑century Maritime life, rural Nova Scotia culture, and the horse‑driven industries that shaped communities like Shubenacadie and East Hants. These elements serve as the foundation for his storytelling, grounding his fiction in truthful, lived experiences.

Outside of writing, Mark works professionally as an Occupational Health & Safety Coordinator, a role that reflects his dedication to protecting people and creating safer environments. His career in OHS has strengthened his understanding of risk, responsibility, and human vulnerability perspectives that naturally inform the emotional depth of his characters.

Family remains at the heart of Mark’s work. Frank’s legacy, the stories passed down through generations, and the quiet pride of Maritime families all play a role in shaping his voice as an author. Through his writing, Mark aims not only to preserve history but to connect readers with the personal sacrifices that built the world we inherit today.