Category Archives: writing

Five years of Passing Place

Posted on November 29, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Five years ago my personal favourite of my novels, and the one I will grudgingly admit to being most proud of Passing Place was release. I say grudgingly because all my novels are little slithers of my soul and, excepting … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, big questions, book reviews, books, Esqwiths, fantasy, fiction, goodnews, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, horror, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, opinion, Passing Place, publication, reads, sci-fi, self-publishing, steampunk, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sailing on an Hourglass Sea

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Not too long ago I reviewed Mat MaCall’s The Dandelion Farmer. I was I think now perhaps a little too gushing in my praise of the novel, the first of a trilogy of which the second The Hourglass Sea is … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fiction, goodreads, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, publication, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Returning to the Passing Place

Posted on November 22, 2021 by Mark Hayes

One of the odd questions one gets asked when one is stood around at an event by a display of books you have written is ‘which would you recommend?’ I have strong feelings for all my novels, for a variety … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, Esqwiths, fantasy, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, Passing Place, reads, sci-fi, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Craft…

Posted on November 19, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Just to get the obvious apology out of the way, sorry, this post is not about the 1996 cult classic teenage witchcraft movie, it is instead about the craft of writing. Though that said there is a line that can … Continue reading →

Posted in #amwriting, amediting, amwriting, fiction, humour, indie writers, nanowrimo, quotes, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fact Vs Fiction, by Dr Tamara Clelford

Posted on November 17, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Todays offering on Guest Post Wednesday, the first of a new series of guest posts I’ll probably manage to put out on Thursday’s, is from a fellow Harvey Duckman writer and tapdancing physicist, Tamara Clelford, who’s has one of those … Continue reading →

Posted in #amwriting, amreading, amwriting, blogging, books, fiction, goodreads, Harvey Duckman, indie, indie writers, opinion, reads, sci-fi, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Dyslexic Writing Process

Posted on September 16, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Over the years I have written a lot about writing, and different bits of the process. I’ve also written once or twice on the subject of dyslexia. This is not really a post about the latter and a lot about … Continue reading →

Posted in amediting, amreading, amwriting, dyslexia, editing, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, reads, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

It’s just not Cricket… and other matters of research

Posted on August 27, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Research is an important aspect of the fiction writers tool box. That may seem counterintuitive, after all its fiction, we just make it up don’t we? But actually when ‘just making things up’ research can become more important than you … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, editing, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, Harvey Duckman, humour, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, novels, reads, steampunk, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

From small acorns…

Posted on August 26, 2021 by Mark Hayes

The English language in its never ending colonial expansionism co-opted many years ago. A word that was originally Turkish, though it had deeper roots in Persian and Arabic. Like so many words of other languages who’s vowels my mother tongue … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, big questions, book reviews, books, booksale, cthulhu, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, horror, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, Lovecraft, novels, opinion, Passing Place, pirateday, pirates, publication, reads, rites, sci-fi, steampunk, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

It’s been a while…

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Mark Hayes

Hi, its been a while… Of cause, you may not of noticed, but the Passing Place has been on something of a hiatus. Real life has been throwing curve balls and writing blog posts has been thrown somewhere down the … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, blogging, editing, fantasy, fiction, goodnews, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, Harvey Duckman, horror, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiefriday, indiewriter, novels, reads, sci-fi, self-publishing, the elf kings thingy, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chapter titles

Posted on May 14, 2021 by Mark Hayes

I have a thing about chapter titles. I’m always a little disappointed when an author doesn’t use them, though just numbering chapters is very much the norm these days. The naming of chapters harks back to the days when many … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, blogging, books, fantasy, goodnews, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiefriday, indiewriter, opinion, Passing Place, pointless things of wonderfulness, pratchett, reads, sci-fi, self-publishing, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment