Category Archives: writes

Alternate History Fantasy and Historical Fantasy: Indie-October guest post from Liz Tuckwell

Posted on October 2, 2019 by Mark Hayes

Thanks to Mark Hayes for generously offering me the opportunity to write an article/have a rant about a topic on his blog. This one may be a little pedantic but is dear to my heart. As well all know, fantasy … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, fantasy, fiction, Harvey Duckman, indie novels, indie writers, indieoctober, indiewriter, opinion, reads, retro book reviews, writes, writing | Tagged indie publishing, indiebooks, indieoctober, reading, reads, writer, writers, writing | Leave a comment

The Joy of Thursday Nights: Indie-October guest post from Amy Wilson

Posted on October 1, 2019 by Mark Hayes

I was absolutely not looking for a writing group. I had nothing against writing groups, I was sure that they were wonderful for some people. It’s just that I didn’t think I would be one of them. I had … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, fantasy, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie writers, indieoctober, indiewriter, opinion, reads, sci-fi, writes, writing | Tagged indieoctober, indiewriter, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtip | 1 Comment

Blurbing: Reduxed

Posted on September 26, 2019 by Mark Hayes

Way back in December last year, a month or so before ‘A Spider In the Eye’ was released I made a post about blurbing. The art of writing a blurb for the back of a paperback. I was having a … Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amwriting, books, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged indie, indie publishing, indiebooks, indienovels, indiewriter, steampunk, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 1 Comment

Something wicked this way comes…

Posted on September 19, 2019 by Mark Hayes

Hi, the blogs been very quite so far this month, as I have had quiet a lot on between real world work and some exciting writing stuff I am not quiet ready to reveal just yet… Here though is a … Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amwriting, books, Canadian steampunk, editing, fiction, goodnews, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, humour, indie, indie novels, IndieApril, indiewriter, insomnia, novels, Passing Place, pointless things of wonderfulness, sci-fi, self-publishing, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, #scifi, amediting, amwritingscifi, amwritingsteampunk, indie, indie publishing, indiebooks, indiewriter, sciencefiction, scifiscarbrough, steampunk, steampunk fantasy | Leave a comment

The Occasional Bout of Self Publicity…

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Mark Hayes

COMING SOON No really it is , I know I said it would be out in late June, then I said early July, I may have even said ‘definitely by august’ but it is genuinely close now… It in the … Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, books, Canadian steampunk, editing, fiction, goodnews, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, indiewriter, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, publication, sci-fi, self-publishing, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, #scifi, #selfpub, amwritingscifi, sciencefiction, scifiscarbrough, self-publishing, selfdoubt, steampunk, steampunk fantasy, stories | Leave a comment

Editing Wisdom…

Posted on August 21, 2019 by Mark Hayes

Soon I will be on with the final, final edit of ‘From Russia With Tassels.’ Once I get a working copy back from my editor. As such editing is a different skill set to normal writing I have been doing … Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amwriting, editing, goodreads, humour, indie, indie novels, indiewriter, quotes, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, amediting, amreadingscifi, amwritingscifi, amwritingsteampunk, authors, humour, indie, indiewriter, quotes, writer, writers, writing | Leave a comment

The Good, The Bad, And the Just Plain Ugly: Amazon Reviews…

Posted on July 17, 2019 by Mark Hayes

Amazon reviews, like it or not, are the lifeblood of the indie author. There is sadly no way of getting away from this. It is also why there is so much grief caused by them, and the occasional bout of … Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, book reviews, goodreads, indie, indie novels, IndieApril, indiewriter, self-publishing, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged indie, indie publishing, indiebooks, indiewriter, reviews, self-publishing, writer, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtip, writingtips | 1 Comment

Alternating covers…

Posted on July 4, 2019 by Mark Hayes

This is not a cover reveal. It’s a, not decided which cover to go with, reveal of the options I have before me at the moment… My original plan was that after book one I would have two characters pictured … Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, books, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, IndieApril, indiewriter, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, publication, sci-fi, self-publishing, steampunk, Uncategorized, writes, writing | Tagged covers, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie publishing, indiebooks, steampunk, steampunk fantasy | Leave a comment

A Very English Apology…

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Mark Hayes

No matter where they are in the world, an Englishman’s body language is always saying the same thing… ‘We’re so sorry we colonised your country in our imperial majesty, the empire was a terrible thing, glorious of course, so very, … Continue reading →

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Smugglers of Sussex…

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Mark Hayes

According to 19th century Sussex dialect slang, a bumblebee is a Dumbledore, don’t tell JK Rowling this… I’ve always found dialects, fascinating. Possibly because I hail from Gods own county, a place rich with a hundred dialects slowly been eroded … Continue reading →