Category Archives: book reviews

Pirates of Harvey 2

Posted on September 12, 2020 by Mark Hayes

Avast M’hearties Pirate Day be a’coming. So batten down y’hatches. Splice the main sails. Steer with the wind, and damn y’eyes, for that callow cove Captain Duckman will keel haul the lot of y’ if y’nay pay him some mind… … Continue reading →

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Cheesecake, Avarice & Boots

Posted on September 7, 2020 by Mark Hayes

For reasons, mostly due to my son spending the week in hospital (he is back home now but I was worried for a while), I released a new book with somewhat less fanfare than usual and somewhat earlier than planned… … Continue reading →

Posted in #amwriting, amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, booksale, Canadian steampunk, depression, editing, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, horror, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, Lovecraft, novels, Passing Place, pointless things of wonderfulness, reads, sci-fi, self-publishing, steampunk, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged amwritingscifi, amwritingsteampunk, book, bookblog, bookcovers, bookloversday, bookreview, books, indiebooks, kindle, kindleunlimited, newbooks, reads, short stories, steampunk, steampunk fantasy, stories, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtip | Leave a comment

The romance of smugglers…

Posted on September 3, 2020 by Mark Hayes

Smugglers of the 17th/18th century, like highwaymen, have always had a romantic air about them. There is something about remote windswept beach’s, moonlit seas, and of course gentlemen with a rough kind of honour to them that just appeals to … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, booksale, fiction, Harvey Duckman, horror, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, opinion, reads, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged bookblog, bookloversday, bookreview, books, indie publishing, indiebooks, indienovels, indiewriter, reads, reviews | 1 Comment

The Complexity of a review…

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Mark Hayes

A little over six years now I had a odd dream, woke up in a cold sweat, scribbled some rather idiosyncratic notes, and then tried fleetingly to get back to sleep. After an hour of staring at the ceiling, as … Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amreading, amwriting, blogging, book reviews, books, cider lane, editing, fiction, goodreads, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, nanowrimo, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, reads, self-publishing, writes, writing | Tagged blogs, book, bookblog, bookreview, books, reads, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingcommunity, writingtip, writingtips | Leave a comment

A dichotomy of cheesecake and boots

Posted on July 24, 2020 by Mark Hayes

As you lovely readers may be aware I am in the middle of writing the third Hannibal Smyth novel ‘A Squid on the shoulder’, which is, I am told, eagerly awaited. But in writing the third Hannibal novel I have … Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, Canadian steampunk, fantasy, fiction, goodnews, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, Passing Place, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, supernatural, wow, writes, writing | Tagged #scifi, bookblog, books, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, steampunk fantasy, stories, writer, writers, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

A cast of several: Henrietta ‘Spanners’ Clarkhurst

Posted on July 4, 2020 by Mark Hayes

For reasons… I’ve been playing around with character cameos for Instagram… Which admittedly is partly procrastination. As I am making them anyway, I’ve decided you, dear readers, may enjoy seeing them, with a little background on the characters featured. Todays … Continue reading →

Posted in a cast of several, amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, Uncategorized, writes, writing | Tagged #scifi, bookblog, books, harveyduckman, humour, indie, indie publishing, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, stories | Leave a comment

Mid-summer Harvey

Posted on June 16, 2020 by Mark Hayes

Midsummer’s day is almost upon us. The annual festivities of the longest day will be some what tempered I suspect, certainly I do not normally celebrate it by sitting in my back garden. generally it is a day spent in … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, goodnews, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, horror, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, pagan, Passing Place, pointless things of wonderfulness, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged #scifi, anthologies, book, books, fantasy, fiction, horror, humour, indie, indiebooks, indienovels, indiewriter, sciencefiction, short stories, shortstories, steampunk | Leave a comment

Truth in fiction

Posted on June 2, 2020 by Mark Hayes

Good fiction, good science fiction in particular, explores truth. In the case of good science fiction it often explores an uncomfortable truth by taking a concept and building upon it an extreme example of where that truth might lead. Really … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fiction, goodreads, indie, indie novels, indie writers, novels, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, politics, reads, rights, sci-fi, writing | Tagged #scifi, bookreview, books, indie publishing, indienovels, indiewriter, newreads, psycology, reads, reviews, sciencefiction | 5 Comments

A Tantalising Titillation of Tantamount

Posted on April 30, 2020 by Mark Hayes

Introduction by Mark Todays Indieapril post is an exert from the truly wonderful ‘Tales from Tantamount’ the fictional (we assume and hope in many ways) record of the town of Tantamount By Meredith Debonnaire. This exert is from the original … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, indie, indie novels, indie writers, IndieApril, indiewriter, mythos, novels, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged humanity, humour, indie publishing, IndieApril, indiebooks, indienovels, indiewriter, reading, reads | 1 Comment

Speculating on Emi…

Posted on April 12, 2020 by Mark Hayes

There is nothing wrong with reading something that is predictable, trite, the average fare, boy meets girl, boy hates girl, girl hates boy, boy argues with girl over a foolish misunderstanding, boy goes and does something foolish, girl realises she … Continue reading →