Category Archives: indie writers

The Publishing Iceberg

Posted on December 11, 2025 by Mark Hayes

Or of all the typos in the world why did you have to walk into mine… Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, indie writers, indiewriter, publication, self-publishing, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged books, fiction, publishing, self-publishing, steampunk, writer, writerslife, writing, writingtips | Leave a comment

3 Turns Widdleshin’s: For she is Devine

Posted on October 9, 2025 by Mark Hayes

Whom ‘She’ is, is a matter for your conjecture. She could be ‘The Sibel’ of ancient Rome. She could just be a woman who claims that is the case to add mystic to her illegal den of vice and corrupted youth. A dark forbidding goth club named for an ancient standing stone. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, fantasy, Harvey Duckman, horror, indie writers, Poe, reads | Tagged books, reads, sciencefiction, urbanfantasy, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Monsters in the to-read pile

Posted on October 2, 2025 by Mark Hayes

I have little doubt one day the police will break in my house after i have been ‘missing’ for several weeks to discover my body, under this pile of books.
There are worse ways to go. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, Harvey Duckman, horror, indie novels, indie writers, reads, supernatural, urban fantasy | Tagged amreading, book-review, bookreviews, books, fantasy, fiction, ghosts, Harvey Duckman, horror, reads, supernatural, urban fantasy | 1 Comment

Turning Widdershins

Posted on September 29, 2025 by Mark Hayes

Three turns windleshin’s

Around the Lochfa’ston

Three turns windleshin’s

an’ call the other’s names Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, fiction, Harvey Duckman, indie writers, pagan, reads, sci-fi, Uncategorized | Tagged amreading, books, fantasy, fiction, Harvey Duckman, poetry, reads, urban fantasy, writing | Leave a comment

New Book, Conventions, and an update

Posted on July 4, 2025 by Mark Hayes

Occasionally, just occasionally, everything all comes at once. Which is why I have an ear infection, am currently deaf on my left side, feel like curling up in a dark room under a blanket, just as I have the busiest … Continue reading →

Posted in fantasy, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie writers, steampunk | Tagged alternative history, books, fantasy, fiction, read, reads, steampunk, steampunk fantasy, writing | Leave a comment

Justice for Pluto

Posted on April 10, 2025 by Mark Hayes

There are in fact seven dwarf planets (though three are listed as ‘possible dwarf planets’) among the many other Trans-Neptunian Objects that have been identified. Two of them even have moons. The main reason Pluto is recognized as a planet is because it was discovered first. Eris, Haumea, Makemake, Quaoar, Orcus, Sedna, and Gonggong all could lay equal claim to planethood.

The most plausible reason why the other TNO Dwarf-planets are not recognized as planets is I suspect because learning all nine planets in order is already too much for some people before you add another seven dwarf’s. Given Disney’s recent issues with that number of dwarfs this may prove wise… Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, Harvey Duckman, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, reads, sci-fi, Uncategorized | Tagged amreading, book-review, books, fiction, newbooks, poetry, reading, reads, sciencefiction, scifi, writers, writing | Leave a comment

Research and the novel

Posted on April 5, 2025 by Mark Hayes

Research is one of the most important aspects of the fiction writers toolbox, I am aware this may seem counterintuitive, after all its fiction. We just make it up don’t we? Well yes. But when ‘just making things up’ research is often far more important than you might imagine. Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amwriting, books, fantasy, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, supernatural, urban fantasy, writes, writing | Tagged book-review, books, fiction, historical-fiction, sciencefiction, steampunk, urban fantasy, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | Leave a comment

Retail Theory, the downs, and why she hates everything…

Posted on April 4, 2025 by Mark Hayes

Retail is a strange place. I am aware I speak as a man who is less than fond of shopping, and who has never worked in a shop, but I have long been aware for those who do, retail is a strange place. Just how strange… Well that’s where Maggie Weber’s book comes in. Continue reading →

Posted in book reviews, books, humour, indie writers, indiewriter, reads | Tagged amreading, book reviews, book-review, bookreview, books, fiction, reads, romance | Leave a comment

Miscast in petticoats

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Mark Hayes

Lucifer Mandrake, Arcanist to the court of St James, by appointment of Queen Victoria Saxe-Coburg, is not having his best day. Someone has been resurrecting dead peers of the realm. The House of Lords is now inhabited by the undead. Sooner or later, someone is bound to notice. Well probably. Is this just a plot to derail The Witchcraft Bill? Or is it something more insidious, such as a plan to remove Victoria as head of state and replace her with the King of Hanover? Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, indie, indie novels, indie writers, novels, rites, sci-fi, steampunk, supernatural, Uncategorized | Tagged amreading, books, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk | Leave a comment

The Bookshop Dichotomy

Posted on March 25, 2025 by Mark Hayes

I love a bookshop. Be that bookshop a large Waterstones or some other major chain, or a small independent book store, a dusty little second hand books shop, or a huge second hand book shop in a disused railway station. … Continue reading →