Category Archives: opinion

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

Self-publishing: A Guidebook for the Tourist#3: Unlimited Questions..

Posted on February 4, 2017 by Mark Hayes

“There are a whole lot of people out there in internet-land trying to help you become a self-publishing genius. The vast majority of them have one thing in common. They are trying to make money out of you.” But this … Continue reading →

Posted in opinion, self-publishing, writes | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Letting the other half govern (finally)

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Mark Hayes

Back in 2013, on my previous blog, I wrote a post called ‘Women in politics, politics in decline’. It contained a lot of facts and figures, mainly because it started out before that as part of an essay for the … Continue reading →

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Worth more in scrabble…

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Mark Hayes

“England and America are two countries separated by the same language!” attributed to George Bernard Shaw, or possibly Oscar Wilde, or purely apocryphal, as its one of thsoe quotes no one is entirely sure about even the QI elves aparantly…. U … Continue reading →

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Self-Publishing Stigma

Posted on January 11, 2017 by Mark Hayes

I did an interview in November last year, just after the release of Passing Place, in which I got asked this question:   “Would you say there is a stigma to being self-published?“ Of all the questions I was asked, … Continue reading →

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Year of the Dead

Posted on December 28, 2016 by Mark Hayes

We have lost a lot of loved and respected famous people in the last year. Individuals who’s passing has affected us, brought tears, sadness and that strange form of grief we feel for people who we have never known personally … Continue reading →

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A Biography of Depression

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Mark Hayes

There is this pit which,  I believe, we all walk around the edge of at some time in our lives. Though the lucky among us may never notice they are doing so, the worst they may experience is a cold shiver … Continue reading →

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dyslexia

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Mark Hayes

This is an unapologetic rant which started on facebook when someone pointed out an error I had made spelling popularism. I have placed it here only because having ranted I realised it was perhaps something I felt I needed to … Continue reading →

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Alan Turing

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Mark Hayes

As a nation, the British were lucky in the second world war to have Alan Turing. His genius directly shortened the war by two, possibly three years, and in doing so saved millions. Further to this, we know the Nazis were … Continue reading →

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Brexit and racism

Posted on June 29, 2016 by Mark Hayes

‘Its Okay to be a racist again’ At least that’s the impression the world seems to have all of a sudden. It’s a worrying trend, towards hate, isolationism and xenophobia that has been brewing all year on both sides of … Continue reading →

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