Category Archives: Hannibal Smyth

Piano Player or Pianist…

Posted on June 15, 2018 by Mark Hayes

Sam, he who was famously, but never actually, asked to ‘Play it again,‘ was the piano player in Rick’s bar in Casablanca. To my mind, that is whom he is, ‘The Piano Player’, he has never been ‘The Pianist’. That … Continue reading →

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Rambling through a full edit…

Posted on June 14, 2018 by Mark Hayes

Stephen King explains in On Writing that his approach to second drafts and editing involves reducing the word count of a novel by a good ten per cent. Having read my fair share of Mr Kings novels, one hates to … Continue reading →

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NaNoWriMo: Or how to first draft…

Posted on October 6, 2017 by Mark Hayes

With November less than a month away, and in the mildly self-aggrandizing of attempting to offer some advice to budding writers… This is the story of how I managed to write my first novel. It is also the story of how … Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, insomnia, nanowrimo, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, self-publishing, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Oswald Bastable: The Original Steampunk Trilogy

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Mark Hayes

H.G.Wells and Jules Verne share the honour of being amongst the father’s Science Fiction, and retrospectively the fathers of Steampunk. There is little doubt the Verne and Wells influence on Steampunk is huge, though their tales are set in a … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, Hannibal Smyth, novels, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, reads, retro book reviews, sci-fi, steampunk | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Write What You Want

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Mark Hayes

As happens probably too often, on social media I found myself ranting a little over a shared post. Though in this case for once, it was not a post about politics, racism, dyslexia, homophobia or anything else on the worthy, or … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, big questions, cider lane, editing, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, opinion, reads, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment