Category Archives: writing

The Maggot of Salamanca

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Mark Hayes

Occasionally while happily writing away, you write yourself into unexpected corners. For example, in my current main work in progress ‘Lucifer Mandrake and the Hanoverian Proxy’, the plot requires a hole in the arcane wards protecting Queen Victoria’s court. As … Continue reading →

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Voices…

Posted on January 22, 2024 by Mark Hayes

“Did I? How exciting… I look forward to hearing it. I wonder if I already have?”     A female, exuberantly excited if slightly panicked voice in my head Every character I write, be they a main character, supporting case, or the … Continue reading →

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Larceny of Countenance

Posted on December 29, 2023 by Mark Hayes

I felt the sting of remorse. This face I had stollen for my own, now looked haunted and here I was to pay witness to its end. An end I had brought him to. Oh, I could rationalise it all … Continue reading →

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Creating books

Posted on December 12, 2023 by Mark Hayes

This is an updated article that I originally wrote in 2020 because the subject keeps coming back around, one way or another. Please bear in mind this is written with some humorous intent, but the advice contained within is meant … Continue reading →

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Verne: A guess post by Will Nett

Posted on November 16, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Sir William Nettleton VII, was once arrested for ‘lewd behaviour involving an elephant’ in his short stay in what was at the time refereed to as Eastern India, later became Burma and is now Myanmar one of only three nations … Continue reading →

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Blood on the Page

Posted on November 15, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Blood, they say, is thicker than water, this is true. It’s also why it makes for better ink. Mark Hayes 2023 Once in a while one quotes oneself. That particular quote is from a short story I started a while … Continue reading →

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Guy Forks by Will Nett

Posted on October 25, 2023 by Mark Hayes

There have been many Sir William Nettleton’s, the most infamous had his knighthood rescinded by the late queen in 1963 after the incident with the catholic call girls, the CoE bishop of Angleside and Elizabeth II cup final tickets the … Continue reading →

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Strange Influences

Posted on October 24, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Not everyone will be influenced by the same books. There are probably people in the world who don’t appreciate Wuthering Heights. There are people who fail to be drawn in to Fahrenheit 451. There may even be people in the … Continue reading →

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Whispered Wisdom’s of the Wise

Posted on October 4, 2023 by Mark Hayes

According to Pliny the Elder, ‘The only certainty is that nothing is certain’ I’m not sure about that… But it is a philosophical quote of which I am somewhat fond. Here then are some more. Life is really simple, but … Continue reading →

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The Kraken’s of Venice…

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Mark Hayes

A review of the Clockwork City by Shelley Adina

This is a delightful read, it keeps you turning pages, as it gently moves along, and then makes you turn them as things start to go badly for our two heroines. Because when things go bad, they go down hill quickly. And once that starts happening it hard to put the book down as you care about the characters, which is the real strength of the novel. It makes you care. Continue reading →

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