Tag Archives: books

Extra-dimensional conjurer…

Posted on May 28, 2025 by Mark Hayes

An interesting on fellow Harvey writer Ben Sawyers blog in which he accuses me of being an extra-dimensional conjurer… I’ve been called worse ( and I may add that to my BlueSky handle…)

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Occasional unattributed wisdoms

Posted on May 14, 2025 by Mark Hayes

Stare long enough into the void, and your eyes go a little squiffy. Continue reading →

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Researching Lovecraft

Posted on May 12, 2025 by Mark Hayes

So here me, back up to my neck with old tentacle hugger, getting annoyed at him. Just like old times… thus here are a few ‘notables’ which will probably find the cutting room floor in the end but have amused me for one reason or another in the meantime. Continue reading →

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Justice for Pluto

Posted on April 10, 2025 by Mark Hayes

There are in fact seven dwarf planets (though three are listed as ‘possible dwarf planets’) among the many other Trans-Neptunian Objects that have been identified. Two of them even have moons. The main reason Pluto is recognized as a planet is because it was discovered first. Eris, Haumea, Makemake, Quaoar, Orcus, Sedna, and Gonggong all could lay equal claim to planethood.

The most plausible reason why the other TNO Dwarf-planets are not recognized as planets is I suspect because learning all nine planets in order is already too much for some people before you add another seven dwarf’s. Given Disney’s recent issues with that number of dwarfs this may prove wise… Continue reading →

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Tales from the notepads

Posted on April 8, 2025 by Mark Hayes

“And todays date is?”

Grunted laughter… “it matters not.”

“It matters not? We are in the third decade of third millennium, yet you speak of observing a battle in the first. By my reconning some fourteen hundred years ago.”

“it is still no dream.”

“What is it then, if not a dream?”

“A memory…” Continue reading →

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Research and the novel

Posted on April 5, 2025 by Mark Hayes

Research is one of the most important aspects of the fiction writers toolbox, I am aware this may seem counterintuitive, after all its fiction. We just make it up don’t we? Well yes. But when ‘just making things up’ research is often far more important than you might imagine. Continue reading →

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Retail Theory, the downs, and why she hates everything…

Posted on April 4, 2025 by Mark Hayes

Retail is a strange place. I am aware I speak as a man who is less than fond of shopping, and who has never worked in a shop, but I have long been aware for those who do, retail is a strange place. Just how strange… Well that’s where Maggie Weber’s book comes in. Continue reading →

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Dear Edgar 28~ The Murders in the Rue Morgue

Posted on April 3, 2025 by Mark Hayes

At some point in your life you will have learned of this story, you will most likely not recollect when and how you learn of it, but you know of the story. ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’ is one of those stories that is part of the zeitgeist of humanity. It is a story so intrinsic to our collective culture, so ingrain within us, so referenced and repeated, that it exists beyond itself. Continue reading →

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Dear Edgar 27: The Man of the Crowd

Posted on March 31, 2025 by Mark Hayes

 It was well said of a certain German book that “er lasst sich nicht lesen” –it does not permit itself to be read. There are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told. Men die nightly in their … Continue reading →

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Miscast in petticoats

Posted on March 28, 2025 by Mark Hayes

Lucifer Mandrake, Arcanist to the court of St James, by appointment of Queen Victoria Saxe-Coburg, is not having his best day. Someone has been resurrecting dead peers of the realm. The House of Lords is now inhabited by the undead. Sooner or later, someone is bound to notice. Well probably. Is this just a plot to derail The Witchcraft Bill? Or is it something more insidious, such as a plan to remove Victoria as head of state and replace her with the King of Hanover? Continue reading →

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