Category Archives: humour

Proof copies of joy

Posted on February 23, 2022 by Mark Hayes

I don’t generally post a lot of pictures of things, well not my own at any rate. My medium is generally words. The exception to that is when I type set a book, which for complicated reasons to do with … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, blogging, book reviews, books, cthulhu, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, horror, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, Lovecraft, mythos, novels, Nyarlathotep, reads, sci-fi, steampunk | Tagged amreading, books, newbooks, newfiction, newreads, reads, sciencefiction, scifiscarbrough, steampunk, writers, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Dystopian Forrest’s and the Merrily Method

Posted on February 21, 2022 by Mark Hayes

I’m not a great believer in self-help books… I always find them a suspicious offering. I suspect the only selves ever really helped are the ones selling the books. Which is ultimately the point of them, to make money. It … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, druidry, fiction, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, supernatural, Uncategorized | Tagged amreading, books, distopian, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writers, writerslife, writingtips | 6 Comments

Return of the Hopeless Kickstarter

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Its no great secret to any regular reader that I have a certain love for the Island of Hopeless Maine. The fictional collaboration begun by of Nimue and Tom Brown. A collaboration that generously extends to others whom get to … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, books, Canadian steampunk, cthulhu, druidry, fantasy, fiction, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, pointless things of wonderfulness, rites, sci-fi, steampunk | Tagged amreading, amreadingscifi, books, hopeless, kickstarter, reads, steampunk, steampunk fantasy, writing | 1 Comment

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

Nostradamus Poe

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Mark Hayes

This blog is many things, most of them literary. Occasionally it touches on important subjects like depression, traction engine’s (though this is a new development and will probably be a passing phase), life in general, racism, sexism, other ism’s, and … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, big questions, horror, humour, indie, opinion, politics, reads, Uncategorized | Tagged amreading, classic reads, covid, politics, reads, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Books of the year

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Mark Hayes

It may be slightly early, as there is a fair chance I’ll read a couple more before the end of the year, but now seems as good a time as any to do my annual Passing Place Blog Books Of … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiefriday, indiewriter, sci-fi, steampunk, supernatural | Tagged amreading, books, goodreads, newbooks, newfiction, newreads, reads, steampunk, writer, writers, writerslife | 1 Comment

The Craft…

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Just to get the obvious apology out of the way, sorry, this post is not about the 1996 cult classic teenage witchcraft movie, it is instead about the craft of writing. Though that said there is a line that can … Continue reading →

Posted in #amwriting, amediting, amwriting, fiction, humour, indie writers, nanowrimo, quotes, writes, writing | Tagged nanowrimo, quotes, reads, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | Leave a comment

The Dyslexic Writing Process

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Over the years I have written a lot about writing, and different bits of the process. I’ve also written once or twice on the subject of dyslexia. This is not really a post about the latter and a lot about … Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amreading, amwriting, dyslexia, editing, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, reads, writes, writing | Tagged amwriting, books, dyslexia, dyslexic, reads, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 2 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 →