Category Archives: reads

Dear Edgar #4 Loss of Breath

I shall not explain how he proposed to treated women in whom he diagnosed as afflicted with similar afflictions, including ‘nymphomania’ which is to say any woman who enjoyed any kind of sexual agency in her own right outside of the marriage bed, because frankly you don’t want to know. Just let me state it was horrendous. Continue reading

Posted in amreading, book reviews, Dear Edgar, fiction, goodreads, horror, Lovecraft, Poe, quotes, reads, retro book reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Eating the Livers of my Lovers: A guest post by Nimue Brown

The full title of this blog is ‘Eating the livers of my lovers and other poems I now have to write because Mark gave me a title’ Which was a writing prompt I gave to the ever wonderful Nimue Brown when she asked the world to do so. Having supplied this title I abdicate all responsibility thence*. The rest is all Nimue… Continue reading

Posted in amreading, amwriting, blogging, books, druidry, fiction, IndieApril, indiewriter, pagan, reads | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Steampunk Fiction, what is it?

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 , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

More words to music…

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 , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dear Edgar #2 The Duc de L’Omelette

I find it hard to sympathise with anyone who puts a towel on their head to eat a bird that’s been force feed and drown in brandy. Continue reading

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Auguries

A storm was coming, dark things on the horizon, a great gnashing of teeth, dogs and cats doing unnatural things together. That sort of thing, nothing specific, just general ominous stuff. But whatever was brewing it wasn’t the Earl Gray… Continue reading

Posted in amwriting, books, dreamlands, fantasy, fiction, horror, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, Lovecraft, novels, reads, rites, steampunk, supernatural, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The rules of write #2

I’m not a great fan of talking about characters in terms of ‘her/his truth’. Though it is a concept I understand, my problem with the concept is it is by nature restrictive. Which is to say that the concept states that I, a white upper working class British man in his early fifties, should not write about the experience of an African American soldier born in the early 1900’s in the southern states of the US, because I can not know, or speak for, that characters ‘truth…’ Continue reading

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Words in Darkness

I am fond of the dark, of laying on my bed, naked to the world, staring into the void. I could be staring up at anything. Staring up at endless worlds of possibility. The dance of the infinite. The realm … Continue reading

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Piano Man, A Guest Post by Will Nett

Like most authors, I’ll do almost anything to avoid writing. Buying a piano a couple of years ago seemed as good an idea as any. I’d always fancied having a crack at it, but would not have gone out of my way to find one, so when a friend was selling one, and another had a van in which to deliver it, I was first in line. Continue reading

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The rules of writing… #1

This is a bit of a rant I know. This is also just my opinion, yours might differ… But if you think any writer should only write that which they personally experience due to their gender, sexuality and skin colour, then yours is an opinion I don’t give much of a damn about, because I believe you are fundamentally wrong Continue reading

Posted in #amwriting, amreading, amwriting, big questions, humanrights, indiewriter, opinion, quotes, rant, reads, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments