Category Archives: indie

The Rabbit Hole

Posted on July 5, 2023 by Mark Hayes

So I am down the rabbit hole, admit The Matter of France, Italian Epic Poems, adrift in the pedalo of an idea, that may become a thing… Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, big questions, books, dreamlands, fiction, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, music, rant, reads, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, dark tower, darkages, music, Orlando, reads, Roland, sciencefiction, writer, writing | 1 Comment

Craig Hallam asked me to tell him what I thought of the ending, in that nervous not entirely sure of himself manner of his. The answer to that is simple, I loved it. It is what I expected it would be at the time, masterful. The ending his hero deserved. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fiction, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, reads, steampunk | Tagged amreading, bookreview, books, plup, reads, scifi, steampunk, writing | 1 Comment

Quantum Pagan

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Mark Hayes

If there is a god, god is not the ant. God is not forest, or even the multitude of forests. God doesn’t exist on the scale of the infinite. Traditional religion is looking in the wrong place. God isn’t in the infinite, god is in the quantum. Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, big questions, Goth, indie, pagan, rites, steampunk, supernatural | Tagged cyber, Goth, pagan, quantum, quantum pagan, sciencefiction, steampunk, techno-pagan, thoughts, writer | 7 Comments

What is Steampunk? A Guest post by Matt McCall

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Mat McCall, a bulldozer of joyous exuberance and invested enthusiasm who manages to drag unsuspecting people into a whirlwind of frivolity. I love this man… He has some thoughts on ‘What is Steampunk’ he is something of an expert on the matter, though he would never claim to be. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, indie writers, IndieApril, reads, retro book reviews, sci-fi, steampunk, Uncategorized, writes | Tagged books, guestposts, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writerslife, writing | 1 Comment

Writing Groups, a guest blog by Liz Tuckwell

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Mark Hayes

For Mark’s annual Indie Month, I thought I’d write something about my experience of writing groups. Writing is a solitary pursuit, but writers like to get together to discuss their craft and occasionally have a good moan about writing and publishing. Continue reading →

Posted in #amwriting, amreading, amwriting, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie novels, indie writers, IndieApril, indiewriter, writes, writing | Tagged harveyduckman, reads, sciencefiction, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 4 Comments

Now That’s What I Call Rubric: Guest Post by Will Nett

Posted on April 5, 2023 by Mark Hayes

He’s squatting in his underwear with arms raised after a night of prodding and bullying our heroic author into finishing the 3-foot high tome, much the same way that modern day blog editors do now. Apparently written entirely in one evening, the author was of course largely undistracted by Love Island, social media and the goings on across the road at no. 91. Aside from the romantic ideal of an isolated monk hounded into action by a belligerent sprite such as Satan… Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, humour, indie, indie writers, IndieApril, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, reads, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, guestposts, reads, stockholme, travel, writer, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Unblocking the Dam: Guest Post by Kate Baucherel

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Kate Baucherel, fellow Harvy Duckman author, expert in anything with the words cyber or crypto in fount of them, black belt in some form of violent sport or other and occasional drinker of Guinness, with some interesting thoughts. I think this sort of thing should be encouraged… Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, indie, indie writers, indiewriter, opinion, reads, sci-fi, writing | Tagged amwritingscifi, books, sciencefiction, scifiscarbrough, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingcommunity, writingtips | Leave a comment

Steampunk Fiction, what is it?

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Anyone who knows anything about the Steampunk subculture will generally answer the question “What is steampunk?” with words to the effect of “Whatever you want it to be..!”

This is of course an absurdly unhelpful answer. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, Canadian steampunk, fiction, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, opinion, reads, steampunk, writing | Tagged books, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 6 Comments

More words to music…

Posted on March 22, 2023 by Mark Hayes

When I write, I write to music. I have in fairness mentioned this before, but these posts seem surprisingly popular for what amounts to Mark’s favourite obscure bands and musicians, so what the hell here is another little collection of … Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, humour, indie, indiewriter, music, music, reads, writing, writing music | Tagged amwriting, amwritingsteampunk, music, writerslife, writing, writing music, writingcommunity | 2 Comments

Dear Edgar

Posted on February 23, 2023 by Mark Hayes

About a year ago I published a book that started out as a series of blogs in which I read the complete works of HP Lovecraft. A project I started as ‘filler’ posts for the blog. I’d expected the project … Continue reading →