Category Archives: politics

Cable Street Remembered

Posted on August 9, 2022 by Mark Hayes

A former Tax official who’s millionaire wife avoids tax and his opponent ‘Pound-shop Thatcher’ are attempting to get the votes of a constituency of 0.2% of the British people. So they are both coming out with increasingly extreme right wing … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, rant, reads, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged fashists, politics, reads, steampunk, torys, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Mandolins and the 0.2 percent

Posted on July 23, 2022 by Mark Hayes

For complicated reasons, this is a bit of a rant. If you are offended by rants about politics, you may want to read other, more entertaining posts, like the last one I posted with fictional rules for tea duelling earlier … Continue reading →

Posted in big questions, blogging, depression, humanrights, humour, pointless things of wonderfulness, politics, rant | Tagged humour, mentalhealth, music, politics, rights | Leave a comment

Levelling down…

Posted on May 24, 2022 by Mark Hayes

I don’t do political posts very often. There are a number of reason for this, one of which this is a writing blog, not a political activism blog. I write escapist fiction, there are other places you can go to … Continue reading →

Posted in big questions, humanrights, politics, rant, rights | Tagged foodbanks, humanrights, politics, rants, reads, Trussell trust | Leave a comment

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

Never trust a politician with a beard, he’s hiding something

Posted on October 29, 2020 by Mark Hayes

Its October, the leaves are falling, the witches are abroad, and I’ve opened the blog up to guest writers again. Yes its Indie October. Throughout October some old favourites among my guests will be returning along with some new voices. … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, big questions, books, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indieoctober, indiewriter, pointless things of wonderfulness, politics, rant, reads, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, beards, indiebooks, indieoctober, indiereads, indiewriter, politics, reads, writer, writerslife, writing, writingcommunity | 1 Comment

The value of the craft…

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Mark Hayes

How do you value the results of your craft? It’s one of those questions that’s always hard to answer, and harder to answer as a writer than, to give a random example, as a carpenter. So how does a carpenter … Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amreading, amwriting, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, opinion, politics, reads, self-publishing, writes, writing | Tagged bookblog, books, indie publishing, indiebooks, indiewriter, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingcommunity, writingtips | Leave a comment

Steampunk issues

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Mark Hayes

Given current events I feel, rightly or wrongly, the need to have a conversation I have meant to have for a while. A conversation about Steampunk, a genre, subculture and in some cases lifestyle choice with which I have a … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, Canadian steampunk, fiction, Hannibal Smyth, humanrights, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, opinion, politics, rant, reads, rights, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged humanity, indiewriter, opinion, politics, reads, steampunk, steampunk fantasy, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingcommunity | 1 Comment

Truth in fiction

Posted on June 2, 2020 by Mark Hayes

Good fiction, good science fiction in particular, explores truth. In the case of good science fiction it often explores an uncomfortable truth by taking a concept and building upon it an extreme example of where that truth might lead. Really … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fiction, goodreads, indie, indie novels, indie writers, novels, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, politics, reads, rights, sci-fi, writing | Tagged #scifi, bookreview, books, indie publishing, indienovels, indiewriter, newreads, psycology, reads, reviews, sciencefiction | 5 Comments

Strange connections

Posted on April 20, 2020 by Mark Hayes

No Science Fiction writer ever changed the world… Or… perhaps they did, as a wonder through some strange connections on the internet will tell you… Star Trek: Voyager was not the best Star Trek franchise show ever, and was struggling … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, blogging, humour, IndieApril, opinion, politics, reads, sci-fi, writes, writing | Tagged #scifi, amreadingscifi, amwritingscifi, humour, politics, reads, sciencefiction, scifiscarbrough, strange connections, writer, writerslife, writing, writingcommunity, writingtips | 1 Comment

Arts and Capitalism and Self employment – a rant

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Mark Hayes

Originally posted on Meredith Debonnaire:
I don’t usually do politics on here in a big way, but I don’t know how not to right now. Almost everyone in my immediate family works in the arts. My dad is a musician…