Category Archives: fantasy

A message from The Sanctimonious Order of the Willing Sacrifice

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Mark Hayes

We, The Sanctimonious Order of the Willing Sacrifice, must regrettably start this annual meeting by apologising, but once again, for the tenth year running, we have failed to secure a year king. While there are of course be those who … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, cthulhu, dreamlands, druidry, fantasy, fiction, goodnews, goodreads, horror, humour, indie, indie writers, indiewriter, mythos, opinion, pagan, pointless things of wonderfulness, rant, reads, rites, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, druids, fantasy, fiction, newreads, pagan, reads, writer, writers | 4 Comments

The Other Elves…

Posted on December 13, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Lord of the Rings, was perhaps the greatest mythological whitewashing job ever undertaken. The works of Old Grandpapa Tolkien drew heavily on Nordic, Germanic and to a lesser extent Celtic mythology, though it changed a great deal in doing so. … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, druidry, Europe, fantasy, fiction, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, mythos, novels, reads, Uncategorized | Tagged amreading, books, darkages, fantasy, indiebooks, reads | 5 Comments

Five years of Passing Place

Posted on November 29, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Five years ago my personal favourite of my novels, and the one I will grudgingly admit to being most proud of Passing Place was release. I say grudgingly because all my novels are little slithers of my soul and, excepting … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, big questions, book reviews, books, Esqwiths, fantasy, fiction, goodnews, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, horror, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, opinion, Passing Place, publication, reads, sci-fi, self-publishing, steampunk, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, fantasy, newreads, novels, reads, sciencefiction, speculative fiction, steampunk, urban fantasy, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 1 Comment

Returning to the Passing Place

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Mark Hayes

One of the odd questions one gets asked when one is stood around at an event by a display of books you have written is ‘which would you recommend?’ I have strong feelings for all my novels, for a variety … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, Esqwiths, fantasy, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, Passing Place, reads, sci-fi, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, reads, sciencefiction, scifi, steampunk, urbanfantasy, writer, writers, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Occasional reviews: Holly Trinity and the Ghost of York

Posted on November 4, 2021 by Mark Hayes

As a son of the shire, I have spend many a day and night in the streets, snickers, and alleys of York. It is an old city, it was old before the Vikings got there, it was old before the … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, goodnews, Harvey Duckman, horror, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiefriday, indiewriter, novels, reads, sci-fi, supernatural | Tagged amreading, books, fantasy, ghosts, horror, reads, scifi, supernatural, writing | 2 Comments

Dandelions on Mars

Posted on August 31, 2021 by Mark Hayes

I had a moment of genuine glee while reading last night as a spaceship from the planet mars crashed into Surrey’s Horsell common in 1857… The astute and well read among you may be able to guess why, but to … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, Canadian steampunk, errol the bookcase dragon, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, reads, retro book reviews, sci-fi, steampunk | Tagged amreading, bookreviews, books, fantasy, newreads, reads, steampunk, steampunk fantasy, writer, writers, writing | 7 Comments

It’s just not Cricket… and other matters of research

Posted on August 27, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Research is an important aspect of the fiction writers tool box. That may seem counterintuitive, after all its fiction, we just make it up don’t we? But actually when ‘just making things up’ research can become more important than you … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, editing, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, Harvey Duckman, humour, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, reads, steampunk, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, newbooks, newfiction, newreads, reads, steampunk, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 4 Comments

From small acorns…

Posted on August 26, 2021 by Mark Hayes

The English language in its never ending colonial expansionism co-opted many years ago. A word that was originally Turkish, though it had deeper roots in Persian and Arabic. Like so many words of other languages who’s vowels my mother tongue … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, big questions, book reviews, books, booksale, cthulhu, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, horror, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, Lovecraft, novels, opinion, Passing Place, pirateday, pirates, publication, reads, rites, sci-fi, steampunk, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, amwritingscifi, anthologies, books, harveyduckman, horror, reads, sciencefiction, scifi, scifiscarbrough, shortstories, steampunk, writer, writers, writerslife, writing | 2 Comments

It’s been a while…

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Hi, its been a while… Of cause, you may not of noticed, but the Passing Place has been on something of a hiatus. Real life has been throwing curve balls and writing blog posts has been thrown somewhere down the … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, blogging, editing, fantasy, fiction, goodnews, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, horror, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiefriday, indiewriter, novels, reads, sci-fi, self-publishing, the elf kings thingy, writes, writing | Tagged #steampunk, amreading, amwritingsteampunk, authors, books, reads, steampunk, steampunk fantasy, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | Leave a comment

Chapter titles

Posted on May 14, 2021 by Mark Hayes

I have a thing about chapter titles. I’m always a little disappointed when an author doesn’t use them, though just numbering chapters is very much the norm these days. The naming of chapters harks back to the days when many … Continue reading →