Category Archives: fantasy

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

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 →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, indie, indie novels, indie writers, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, fantasy, newbooks, newfiction, newreads, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, steampunk fantasy | 1 Comment

Tentacles

Posted on June 30, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Regular readers will be aware I review indie books when I read them. Or at least do if I love the books. If I don’t I keep quiet about it, because if I don’t like something it doesn’t mean others … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, blogging, book reviews, books, cthulhu, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, horror, indie, indie novels, indie writers, IndieApril, indiefriday, indiewriter, Lovecraft, mythos, novels, opinion, pirates, reads, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, amreadinghorror, bookblog, bookloversday, bookreview, books, call of cthulhu, cthulhu, horror, Lovecraft, lovecraftian, mythos, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Dinosaur wisdom

Posted on June 22, 2022 by Mark Hayes

When you grow up, people stop asking you what your favourite dinosaur is. They don’t even care. This is perhaps the most heart breaking, horrific, and depressing things you can realise as an adult… Okay that maybe an exaggeration, but … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, dyslexia, errol the bookcase dragon, fantasy, fiction, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, mental-health, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, rights, writing | Tagged amreading, fun, humour, life, lifehack, patreon, reads, steampunk, steampunk fantasy, writerslife, writing | 1 Comment

Passing Affirmations…

Posted on April 12, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Around three years ago in 2019, which was another age, I was convinced by a force of nature known as C.G Hatton to take my books, stand behind a stall in Scarborough at a Sci-fi convention and pretend that I … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, booksale, depression, fantasy, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, Passing Place, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, Passing Place, reads, sciencefiction, scifiscarbrough, steampunk, writers, writerslife, writing | 3 Comments

Quick reviews (relatively speaking)

Posted on April 4, 2022 by Mark Hayes

March, as you may have noticed, was a busy month for me. A new novel, a new non-fiction books as well, the 9th Harvey, the ide’s, and everything else… Thus I’m a tad behind on general blog related stuff and … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, pointless things of wonderfulness, reads, steampunk, writes | Tagged bookreview, books, goodreads, humour, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, steampunk fantasy, urbanfantasy, writerslife | 1 Comment

A Semblance of Hope

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Mark Hayes

This may be a familiar experience, it may not, but I often find myself intrigued by the idea of ‘another perspective’. Everything I write, everything I read, everything I watch, the world it self and every aspect of life in … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fantasy, grathic novels, horror, indie novels, indie writers, indiefriday, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, art, books, hopeless, horror, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, tentacles, writing | 4 Comments

The many squids of Sci-fi-Scarborough

Posted on March 3, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Having sorted out my accommodation for the forth coming SciFiScarbrough event I needed to make a little flyer for the two new releases I’ll have on the table that weekend. A weekend I am looking forward to after the last … Continue reading →

Posted in fantasy, fiction, Goth, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie novels, indie writers, IndieApril, Lovecraft, Nyarlathotep, sci-fi | Tagged amreading, books, fiction, horror, newbooks, newreads, reads, sciencefiction, scifiscarbrough, steampunk, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

A Squid on the Shoulder

Posted on February 28, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Queen Victoria is in the 200th year of her reign, and her Glorious British Empire faces a grievous threat due to the Machiavellian machinations of that most notorious instigator of insurrections Herbert George Wells. No longer an agent of The … Continue reading →