Author Archives: Mark Hayes

Unknown's avatar

About Mark Hayes

Writer A messy, complicated sort of entity. Quantum Pagan. Occasional weregoth Knows where his spoon is, do you? #author #steampunk http://linktr.ee/mark_hayes

The Complete Misadventures of Hannibal Smyth

Posted on October 11, 2022 by Mark Hayes

No one who ever dreamed of being a writer dreamed of the day their book was available on Kindle..
When you have the writers dream, you dream of writing and then holding your work in hardback, and any writer who tells you different is a liar. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, fantasy, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, opinion, Passing Place, pointless things of wonderfulness, publication, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Another gimlet, please, Ivor. A Guest post from Will Nett

Posted on October 6, 2022 by Mark Hayes

William Nettleton is a fine name. Still a ‘Sir’ in front of it and it brings up images of a big game hunter in the 1800’s with an elephant gun nestled under one arm , smoking a pipe of suspicious … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, goodnews, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, opinion, reads | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Drink Up Me Harveys, Yo-Ho – Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 11

Posted on October 3, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Originally posted on Ben Sawyer:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Harvey-Duckman-Presents-Collection-Steampunk-ebook/dp/B0BGYG8ZK3/ A classic edition of Harvey Duckman Presents is rising from the briny depths once more with a new look. In the long-forgotten before times of 2020, a plan was hatched to concoct a pirates-themed…

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Is Steampunk Elitist? A guest Post by Mat McCall

Posted on October 1, 2022 by Mark Hayes

“Why do Steampunks always dress up as wealthy Neo-Victorians? What about the workers and the poor, why don’t Steamers dress up like them?” Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, books, fiction, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie novels, opinion, quotes, rant, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I’m not good, but who is.

Posted on September 28, 2022 by Mark Hayes

When I was a kid at Pudsey park on the outskirts of Leeds, just across from the abandoned Traction Engine steam roller, in the main play ground there was a Helter-Skelter. It was a proper Helter-Skelter, a huge wooden construction. … Continue reading →

Posted in big questions, depression, dystopia, insomnia, mental-health, opinion | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Talking books…

Posted on September 27, 2022 by Mark Hayes

“Are they available in audio…?” I get asked for the fifth time that day. At which point I start to explain, in my usual fluid, utterly self-confident, and in no way panic-stricken way that unfortunately they are not… I’ll go … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, fantasy, fiction, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, indie writers, novels, opinion, publication, rant, self-publishing, steampunk | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

A bit of genealogy and the Dutch

Posted on September 2, 2022 by Mark Hayes

I don’t know what my paternal Granddad did for a living. I’ve never known. It never occurred to me to ask my dad what his dad did for a crust. Genealogy has never really been much of a thing for … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, big questions, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, pirates, reads, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Numerology and Gargoyles

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Mark Hayes

In the dim distant past, in a more innocent time, before the great pandemic, I was invited to write a story for a new anthology. This was in the Autumn of 2018, before the final draft of the first Hannibal … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, cthulhu, fiction, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, horror, indie, IndieApril, indiewriter, novels, Passing Place, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The one in five

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Mark Hayes

This is slightly disingenuous, slightly, but on average one word in every five I write makes it to the printed page. It disingenuous because that figure is probably higher in the case of my novels, and maybe a tad lower … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, fiction, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, opinion, sci-fi, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Darker Ages

Posted on August 18, 2022 by Mark Hayes

There is an industry around romanticised paganism, its nothing new, it has been going on for decades, indeed more than decades, the Victorians were romanticising Britian’s past two centuries back. But there has been a particular raft of ‘cuddly’ paganism … Continue reading →

Posted in druidry, fantasy, fiction, horror, indie novels, indie writers, pagan, rites, supernatural, Uncategorized, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments