Category Archives: steampunk

What is Steampunk? A Guest post by Matt McCall

Posted on April 20, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Mat McCall, a bulldozer of joyous exuberance and invested enthusiasm who manages to drag unsuspecting people into a whirlwind of frivolity. I love this man… He has some thoughts on ‘What is Steampunk’ he is something of an expert on the matter, though he would never claim to be. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, indie writers, IndieApril, reads, retro book reviews, sci-fi, steampunk, Uncategorized, writes | Tagged books, guestposts, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writerslife, writing | 1 Comment

Steampunk Fiction, what is it?

Posted on March 23, 2023 by Mark Hayes

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 books, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 6 Comments

Auguries

Posted on February 8, 2023 by Mark Hayes

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 amwriting, amwritingscifi, amwritingsteampunk, books, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writers, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

The Sad Cthulhu World Tour 2022 is over…

Posted on November 22, 2022 by Mark Hayes

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 Mark Hayes

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 Mark Hayes

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 Mark Hayes

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 Mark Hayes

“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 Mark Hayes

“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 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 →