Category Archives: indie writers

What’s in a Name

Posted on October 5, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Before I begin, let me offer some advice to writers looking to self publish for the first time. A simple piece of advice, and one I wish someone had offered me a little over 11 years ago when I published my first novel. Go on to the big river company site, and/or the farm storage for blue bloods site, and type the word Author followed by your name. Continue reading →

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Nailing my colours to the mast

Posted on August 10, 2026 by Mark Hayes

This is a rant, I make no apologise for this. If you don’t wish to read a rant then you should just stop here, but it is, I feel, an important rant. I also stand by ever word. Originally this … Continue reading →

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Cosy dragons and haunted beds

Posted on July 9, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Now, to be fair, while I may read a lot of old dead white men, they are far from the only things I read. Some genre’s however I read less than others, not really for any major reason, I just don’t really seek them out. However on occasion a different subgenre crosses my path and for one reason or another I feel compelled to read them.

As is often the case these books are not written by old middle class white men, the authors are all alive as well, which makes a nice change. Continue reading →

Posted in book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, indie novels, indie writers, Uncategorized | Tagged book reviews, book-review, books, fantasy, reads, romance, urbanfantasy | Leave a comment

Oh… you’re just self-published?

Posted on April 15, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Oh… your self published, that’s wonderful, tell me about your book… Continue reading →

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

Maybe, just maybe…

Posted on April 7, 2026 by Mark Hayes

A storm is brewing in the mid Atlantic and the airship Maybe’s Daughter is caught up in the middle of it. Benjamin West is hanging from a cargo net after someone tried to kill him. Eliza Tu-Pa-KA is trying to save the airship, unaware of West’s plight. Meanwhile in a realm beyond the mortal world, the soul of a dead man faces a stark choice.

Hopefully Perkins will put the kettle on before it all goes too far… Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, books, fantasy, Hannibal Smyth, indie novels, indie writers, novels, sci-fi, steampunk | Tagged books, creative-writing, fiction, reads, steampunk, writerslife, writing, writing-tips | Leave a comment

Not Committing Ritualised Murder

Posted on April 6, 2026 by Mark Hayes

The first bit of news is of a Free anthology. Yes FREE, on kindle and Smashwords and other places. Now normally the moment I talk about a free book I develop a nervous tick because no book is free, it all costs the writers, editors and publishers those most vital of resources, time and energy. Giving books away for free feels like a betrayal of the artist and a betrayal of the art… It is part of the malaise of the industry, because no one truly values that which is free*. However in this case the free anthology was created specifically to be free. It was also, ahem, my idea… Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, books, fantasy, fiction, Harvey Duckman, horror, indie novels, indie writers, rites, sci-fi, writing | Tagged books, fantasy, fiction, reads, sciencefiction, short stories, steampunk, urban fantasy, writing | Leave a comment

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 | 1 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 →