Category Archives: books

Creating books

Posted on December 12, 2023 by Mark Hayes

This is an updated article that I originally wrote in 2020 because the subject keeps coming back around, one way or another. Please bear in mind this is written with some humorous intent, but the advice contained within is meant … Continue reading →

Posted in books, editing, indie writers, indiewriter, self-publishing, writing | Tagged books, self-publishing, selfpub, writers, writerslife, writingtips | Leave a comment

Books of the year 2023 Edition

Posted on December 1, 2023 by Mark Hayes

As with last year this may be slightly early, as there is a fair chance I’ll read a couple more before the end of the year. (in fact I know I will as there are a couple I am reading … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, indie novels | Tagged amreading, books, horror, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk | 1 Comment

Hope is not eternal

Posted on November 3, 2023 by Mark Hayes

All things end, some with a whimper, some with a bang, some too early, some too late, but all things end. The default state of the universe is entropy, and no story is complete until the final line. And so … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, horror, novels, reads | Tagged amreading, books, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk | 1 Comment

Monomania et le gothique

Posted on October 30, 2023 by Mark Hayes

If a Gothic tale needs one thing to make it a truly Gothic tale, it needs an antagonist in the grip of a profound monomania. Obsessions and obsessional manias are among of the principle building blocks of gothic literature. Be … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, books, fantasy, Goth, horror, indie, indie novels, indie writers, novels, opinion, Poe, reads | Tagged amreading, fiction, gothic, newbook, reads, steampunk, writing | 4 Comments

Guy Forks by Will Nett

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Mark Hayes

There have been many Sir William Nettleton’s, the most infamous had his knighthood rescinded by the late queen in 1963 after the incident with the catholic call girls, the CoE bishop of Angleside and Elizabeth II cup final tickets the … Continue reading →

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Strange Influences

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Not everyone will be influenced by the same books. There are probably people in the world who don’t appreciate Wuthering Heights. There are people who fail to be drawn in to Fahrenheit 451. There may even be people in the … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, books, reads, writing | Tagged books, reads, writer, writers, writerslife, writing | 4 Comments

Breaking Reality in Gloucester by Nimue Brown

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Introduction by Mark Nimue Brown is one of my favourite authors and one of my favourite people. Despite this I invariably mispronounce her name, I’m a bit useless like that, I read a word and how it sounds in my … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, indie novels, indie writers, indieoctober, reads | Tagged amreading, books, guestposts, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writerslife | 1 Comment

Pagan feasting

Posted on October 5, 2023 by Mark Hayes

For want of a better definition I am a Quantum Pagan. Which is to say I have a workaday understanding of Quantum physics, and I believe both science and pagan spirituality to be in a quest for answers and the … Continue reading →

Posted in big questions, book reviews, books, pagan, reads | Tagged amreading, pagan, quantum pagan, reads, writerslife, writing | 3 Comments

The Kraken’s of Venice…

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Mark Hayes

A review of the Clockwork City by Shelley Adina

This is a delightful read, it keeps you turning pages, as it gently moves along, and then makes you turn them as things start to go badly for our two heroines. Because when things go bad, they go down hill quickly. And once that starts happening it hard to put the book down as you care about the characters, which is the real strength of the novel. It makes you care. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, steampunk, writing | Tagged amreading, books, newbooks, newreads, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writers, writerslife | 1 Comment

Strange wonders

Posted on July 25, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Tales of Sanctimonious cults, another of a strange tower that do not want to be seen. A story of madness and elder gods returning in the Tees valley, a tale of a magician appointed to the court of Victoria Sax-Coberg. The strange statement of a life repeating in waves of twenty-seven, a tale of a wyrd in the western deserts cira 1850, a story with Sigmond Freud in a rowing boat and finally Hannibal Smyth, who is his as reliably honest as ever, while carrying and aspidistra. Continue reading →