Category Archives: writing

New release…

Posted on June 19, 2018 by Mark Hayes

Well, it’s finally out there. Though… For reasons I am not entirely sure of the kindle version (edit kindle version now live too) is taking some time to go live, however, available in paperback NOW for the tiny price … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, books, booksale, Esqwiths, fiction, Hannibal Smyth, indie, kindlesale, nanowrimo, novels, Passing Place, publication, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, world book day, writes, writing | Tagged #scifi, amreadingscifi, bookblog, bookcovers, books, booksale, reading, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk | 3 Comments

Piano Player or Pianist…

Posted on June 15, 2018 by Mark Hayes

Sam, he who was famously, but never actually, asked to ‘Play it again,‘ was the piano player in Rick’s bar in Casablanca. To my mind, that is whom he is, ‘The Piano Player’, he has never been ‘The Pianist’. That … Continue reading →

Posted in books, Esqwiths, goodnews, goodreads, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, novels, opinion, Passing Place, pointless things of wonderfulness, reads, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, amediting, books, Hannibal Smyth, Passing Place, writerslife, writingtips | 1 Comment

Rambling through a full edit…

Posted on June 14, 2018 by Mark Hayes

Stephen King explains in On Writing that his approach to second drafts and editing involves reducing the word count of a novel by a good ten per cent. Having read my fair share of Mr Kings novels, one hates to … Continue reading →

Posted in #amwriting, Hannibal Smyth, indie, indie novels, opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, rant, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, amediting, opinion, wordpress, writer, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Advice for writers in a slump

Posted on June 9, 2018 by Mark Hayes

A facebook friend struggling with their first novel was asking for advice or more accurately was bemoaning the struggle they are having getting words on paper. So after telling them not to be so hard on themselves. I wrote out … Continue reading →

Posted in #amwriting, nanowrimo, rant, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, amediting, writers, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 1 Comment

Rage against the reviews…

Posted on June 4, 2018 by Mark Hayes

It’s been a while since I had a really good rant. Which is probably a symptom of relative happiness, so the lack of me having a good old-fashioned rant about something is probably a good sign. All the same, there … Continue reading →

Posted in books, goodreads, indie, indie novels, opinion, rant, self-publishing, writing | Tagged amazon, bookblog, bookreview, rants, reviews | 9 Comments

Writing The End…

Posted on May 25, 2018 by Mark Hayes

Back in March, I wrote a post called ‘Searching for an ending’ about the struggles I was having with my latest novel ‘A Spider in the Eye, a Hannibal Smyth Adventure. Since then I have spent a lot of time doing just … Continue reading →

Posted in books, fiction, goodreads, indie novels, novels, Passing Place, self-publishing, steampunk, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, #novel, Hannibal Smyth, nanowrimo, novels, steampunk, writing | 1 Comment

The Sunday Reviews #3

Posted on May 13, 2018 by Mark Hayes

Okay, your used to the drill by now no doubt and probably see no reason to read this first bit of waffle. Which is fair enough because I’m not sure why I’m writing this first bit of waffle. Other than as … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, cider lane, fiction, goodreads, indie, indie novels, novels, publication, writes, writing | Tagged bookblog, books, indie, indiebooks, indienovels, kindle, kindleunlimited, novels, writers | 2 Comments

The Writers Imperative…

Posted on May 11, 2018 by Mark Hayes

‘It is not a chemically driven dependency, it’s simply a choice, after all, you chose to write, or not to write…’ Continue reading →

Posted in blogging, depression, rant, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, depression, mentalhealth, writer, writerslife, writing | 4 Comments

A Perfect Storm…

Posted on May 10, 2018 by Mark Hayes

Last night, around 11pm, somewhere between one too many coffees and the point where my mind stopped denying my body needs sleep, I hit a perfect storm. One of those rare moments when everything just clicks into place. A moment … Continue reading →

Posted in opinion, pointless things of wonderfulness, Uncategorized, writes, writing | Tagged #amwriting, amediting, nanowrimo, writerslife, writing, writingtips | 1 Comment

The Quotable Writers Block…

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Mark Hayes

We all get a touch of the dreaded writer’s block every now and again. Just as we all get a touch of the procrastination fairy, hit by wayward narrative bombs and once in a while manage to string a few words together without anything … Continue reading →