Category Archives: reads

A bit of genealogy and the Dutch

Posted on September 2, 2022 by Mark Hayes

I don’t know what my paternal Granddad did for a living. I’ve never known. It never occurred to me to ask my dad what his dad did for a crust. Genealogy has never really been much of a thing for … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, big questions, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, pirates, reads, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, amreadingscifi, books, newbooks, newfiction, newreads, reads, steampunk, writers, writerslife, writing | 1 Comment

Numerology and Gargoyles

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Mark Hayes

In the dim distant past, in a more innocent time, before the great pandemic, I was invited to write a story for a new anthology. This was in the Autumn of 2018, before the final draft of the first Hannibal … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, cthulhu, fiction, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, horror, indie, IndieApril, indiewriter, novels, Passing Place, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, fantasy, newbooks, newfiction, newreads, reads, sciencefiction, scifi, steampunk, steampunk fantasy, writer, writers, writerslife, writing | 2 Comments

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

Valuing the craft

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Mark Hayes

This is about the third time I have published this particular blog. I feel it remains relevant, indeed is more relevant with every revision of it. It is just an opinion, and just mine, it does however feel as important … Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, big questions, books, indie writers, IndieApril, indiefriday, indiewriter, reads, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, amwriting, amwritingscifi, amwritingsteampunk, bookblog, books, reads, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | Leave a comment

Irrational typesetting hatreds

Posted on July 15, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Bad typesetting irritates me, though that is an understatement. I should make a point of saying typesetting is a subjective matter. There is no such things as the ‘right way’ to typeset a book, and just because I consider something … Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amreading, amwriting, indie, indie writers, indiewriter, reads, writes, writing | Tagged amediting, dyslexia, editing, mentalhealth, self-publishing, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 2 Comments

Whitby, Witchcraft, and Goth-boots

Posted on July 14, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Whitby, the north Yorkshire coastal town that’s half fishing village, half haven for everything alternative, strange and draped in black crushed velvet. The once quite little harbour below a cliff top abbey first gained a reputation as something more than … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, pagan, reads, rites, sci-fi, writes | Tagged amreading, reads, sciencefiction, supernatural, urban fantasy, urbanfantasy, writers, writerslife, writing | 6 Comments

Witchcraft and Aether

Posted on July 14, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Sometimes when you start to read a book you get the feeling you have read it before. To be fair in my house there is always a good chance I have read it before, as I reread old books all … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, indie, indie novels, indie writers, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, fantasy, newbooks, newfiction, newreads, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, steampunk fantasy | 1 Comment

Tentacles

Posted on June 30, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Regular readers will be aware I review indie books when I read them. Or at least do if I love the books. If I don’t I keep quiet about it, because if I don’t like something it doesn’t mean others … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, blogging, book reviews, books, cthulhu, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, horror, indie, indie novels, indie writers, IndieApril, indiefriday, indiewriter, Lovecraft, mythos, novels, opinion, pirates, reads, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, amreadinghorror, bookblog, bookloversday, bookreview, books, call of cthulhu, cthulhu, horror, Lovecraft, lovecraftian, mythos, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Apocalypso…

Posted on June 20, 2022 by Mark Hayes

Occasionally when you write you are asked if you would like to write something specific for an extended project. Something outside the realms of the norm. Such invites are always gratifying, sometimes lead to other things, and tend to be … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, horror, indie, indie novels, indie writers, Nyarlathotep, reads, writes | Tagged amreading, apocalypse, art, books, photography, Post Apocalypse School of Teesside, reads, writer, writing | 1 Comment

The problem with Eddings

Posted on June 5, 2022 by Mark Hayes

As is often the case my nightstand is looking slightly dishevelled with the number of books currently sprue across it in random piles. This is because, as well as been an eclectic reader in taste, I read eclectically. My life … Continue reading →