Category Archives: steampunk

The Sad Cthulhu World Tour 2022 is over…

Posted on November 22, 2022 by darrack1

On the bookshelf of books ‘Wot I’ve Wrote’ sits Sad Cthulhu, usually… But on those occasions, when I venture out into the cruel cold world to sell books at events, he comes with me. Clearly this is merely an affectation … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, cthulhu, fantasy, horror, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, mythos, sci-fi, steampunk | Tagged books, cthulhu, Lovecraft, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writers, writing | Leave a comment

Yule is coming…

Posted on November 16, 2022 by darrack1

Its that time of the year again, the nights are drawing in, there is a chill in the air, entities from beyond what we foolishly believe to be reality are seeping through the cracks… Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, books, cthulhu, fantasy, indie novels, indie writers, Lovecraft, reads, sci-fi, steampunk | Tagged amreadingscifi, books, horror, indiebooks, Lovecraft, newreads, reads, sciencefiction, scifi, steampunk, steampunk fantasy, yule | Leave a comment

Return of the Revenge of the creature from the Friday Reviews

Posted on October 21, 2022 by darrack1

Ardent followers of this fine ongoing series of ever more obscure ramblings of the paranoid conglomerate of emotional baggage that collectively refers to itself as Mark Hayes, will be aware I have a regular feature on a Friday where I do a few quick reviews of several books all in one go. If your definition of regular is once in a blue moon, probably twice a year at best, and frankly not always on a Friday Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, grathic novels, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, reads, steampunk, supernatural | Tagged amreading, bookblog, bookreview, books, goodreads, graphic novels, reading, reads, steampunk, writers | Leave a comment

The Complete Misadventures of Hannibal Smyth

Posted on October 11, 2022 by darrack1

No one who ever dreamed of being a writer dreamed of the day their book was available on Kindle..
When you have the writers dream, you dream of writing and then holding your work in hardback, and any writer who tells you different is a liar. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, fantasy, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, opinion, Passing Place, pointless things of wonderfulness, publication, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writers, writerslife, writing | 1 Comment

Is Steampunk Elitist? A guest Post by Mat McCall

Posted on October 1, 2022 by darrack1

“Why do Steampunks always dress up as wealthy Neo-Victorians? What about the workers and the poor, why don’t Steamers dress up like them?” Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, books, fiction, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie novels, opinion, quotes, rant, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, guestposts, opinion, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Talking books…

Posted on September 27, 2022 by darrack1

“Are they available in audio…?” I get asked for the fifth time that day. At which point I start to explain, in my usual fluid, utterly self-confident, and in no way panic-stricken way that unfortunately they are not… I’ll go … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, fantasy, fiction, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, indie writers, novels, opinion, publication, rant, self-publishing, steampunk | Tagged amreading, books, indiereads, newreads, read, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 6 Comments

A bit of genealogy and the Dutch

Posted on September 2, 2022 by darrack1

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 darrack1

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

The one in five

Posted on August 22, 2022 by darrack1

This is slightly disingenuous, slightly, but on average one word in every five I write makes it to the printed page. It disingenuous because that figure is probably higher in the case of my novels, and maybe a tad lower … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, fiction, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, opinion, sci-fi, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, amreadingscifi, bookblog, bookreview, books, reading, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writers, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Cable Street Remembered

Posted on August 9, 2022 by darrack1

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 →