Author Archives: Mark Hayes

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

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 amreading, books, darkages, druidry, fantasy, folklore, newreads, pagan, reads, supernatural | 2 Comments

The Joy of Random Things

Posted on August 11, 2022 by Mark Hayes

There is something to be said for a low budget B movie that tried it best to rise above the constraints of budget, hockey writing, less than talented actors and more plot holes than plot to have holes in. Actually … Continue reading →

Posted in cthulhu, horror, humour, mythos, sci-fi, supernatural, Uncategorized | Tagged b movies, bad Bmovies, cthulhu, Lovecraft, movies, reads, writerslife | Leave a comment

Cable Street Remembered

Posted on August 9, 2022 by Mark Hayes

A former Tax official who’s millionaire wife avoids tax and his opponent ‘Pound-shop Thatcher’ are attempting to get the votes of a constituency of 0.2% of the British people. So they are both coming out with increasingly extreme right wing … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, rant, reads, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged fashists, politics, reads, steampunk, torys, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Valuing the craft

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Mark Hayes

This is about the third time I have published this particular blog. I feel it remains relevant, indeed is more relevant with every revision of it. It is just an opinion, and just mine, it does however feel as important … Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, big questions, books, indie writers, IndieApril, indiefriday, indiewriter, reads, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, amwriting, amwritingscifi, amwritingsteampunk, bookblog, books, reads, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | Leave a comment

Mandolins and the 0.2 percent

Posted on July 23, 2022 by Mark Hayes

For complicated reasons, this is a bit of a rant. If you are offended by rants about politics, you may want to read other, more entertaining posts, like the last one I posted with fictional rules for tea duelling earlier … Continue reading →

Posted in big questions, blogging, depression, humanrights, humour, pointless things of wonderfulness, politics, rant | Tagged humour, mentalhealth, music, politics, rights | Leave a comment

Yorkshire Professional Tea Duellists Union Rules

Posted on July 20, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Being here in the rules for undertaking of Tea Duelling under the YPTDU rules for professional and semi profession divisions, short form, full rule book available upon request. 1/ Only Tetley, English breakfast, Yorkshire or a reasonable Earl Grey, with … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, pointless things of wonderfulness, rights, steampunk, writing | Tagged reads, sciencefiction, silly, steampunk, tea duels, writing | 1 Comment

Survivors cover.

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Originally posted on The Hopeless Vendetta:
Hello again people! (and others) It’s a strange and interesting time for us. We are finishing up the final volume of the Hopeless, Maine graphic novel series and this is the conclusion of something…

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Irrational typesetting hatreds

Posted on July 15, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Bad typesetting irritates me, though that is an understatement. I should make a point of saying typesetting is a subjective matter. There is no such things as the ‘right way’ to typeset a book, and just because I consider something … Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amreading, amwriting, indie, indie writers, indiewriter, reads, writes, writing | Tagged amediting, dyslexia, editing, mentalhealth, self-publishing, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 2 Comments

Whitby, Witchcraft, and Goth-boots

Posted on July 14, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Whitby, the north Yorkshire coastal town that’s half fishing village, half haven for everything alternative, strange and draped in black crushed velvet. The once quite little harbour below a cliff top abbey first gained a reputation as something more than … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, pagan, reads, rites, sci-fi, writes | Tagged amreading, reads, sciencefiction, supernatural, urban fantasy, urbanfantasy, writers, writerslife, writing | 6 Comments

Witchcraft and Aether

Posted on July 14, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Sometimes when you start to read a book you get the feeling you have read it before. To be fair in my house there is always a good chance I have read it before, as I reread old books all … Continue reading →