Tag Archives: writing

Oh what convoluted webs we do weave

Posted on July 21, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Main characters are bad enough, but the incidental characters that hang around the edges get more often than not have their own lives that morph and change as they go from a one chapter, one scene, body with a plot point nailed to it, to someone with a complete back story and who has had their own weird adventures of stage… Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, fantasy, Hannibal Smyth | Tagged book-review, books, fiction, reading, reads, steampunk, writing | Leave a comment

A Tale of Two covers

Posted on July 20, 2026 by Mark Hayes

This post may offend some people. To be fair I could write that at the beginning of almost everything I write so I’m not overly worried. However, this post will touch upon a subject which offends a lot of people, including me. The subject of AI art. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, Harvey Duckman, horror, indie novels, rant, reads | Tagged AI, amreading, art, artificial-intelligence, books, reads, sciencefiction, urban fantasy, writing | Leave a comment

Music to Write by ~ Female Rage Edition

Posted on July 2, 2026 by Mark Hayes

So in the spirit of sharing new music to write by, or just listen to (of which there may be a theme… ) Form the almost mainstream down to an artist so obscure their you tube channel is only marginally better subscribed than my own Continue reading →

Posted in music, Uncategorized, writing, writing music | Tagged music, review, reviews, rock, writing, writing music | 1 Comment

Dear Edgar 61 ~ The Domain of Arnheim

Posted on July 1, 2026 by Mark Hayes

the question before us is not if the landscape Garden is a story, but if The Domain of Arnheim takes that original non-narrative piece and turn it into a story…? Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, Dear Edgar, Poe, reads | Tagged writing, fantasy, books, reads, Poe, Dear Edgar | Leave a comment

Cover Stories

Posted on June 11, 2026 by Mark Hayes

‘Don’t judge a book by the cover’ as the old wisdom goes, unfortunately, however, in the real world everyone does. There is going to be some harsh unforgiving honesty with myself in this post, but sometimes that is required Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, books, fantasy, Harvey Duckman, men in dark tweed, reads, self-publishing, writes, writing | Tagged amwriting, book-review, books, cover design, fiction, reading, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writing | Leave a comment

Dear Edgar 60 ~ The Cask of Amontillado

Posted on May 26, 2026 by Mark Hayes

In this grim tale of revenge by our Dear Edgar, the promise of sampling a cask of Amontillado is used by the protagonist Montresor to lure his intended victim Fortunato to his grotesque doom. Fortunato considers himself to be a connoisseur of fine wine, though just how true this may be is debateable. Continue reading →

Posted in book reviews, horror, Poe, reads | Tagged writing, horror, amreading, writerslife, books, reads, fiction, short stories, Poe, Dear Edgar | Leave a comment

Dear Edgar 59 ~ The Sphinx

Posted on May 14, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Nor is it related to the character ‘The Sphinx’ in the movie Gone in 60 seconds, played by former football hard man Vinnie Jones. Though in fairness that would have been some what unlikely and remarkable prescient of Poe if that was the case.
Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, Dear Edgar, depression, horror | Tagged amreading, Dear Edgar, fiction, horror, literature, Poe, short-fiction, writing | Leave a comment

The Creation of Strange Worlds

Posted on May 12, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Did I really want to delve back into the mind of Howard Philips Lovecraft? Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, books, dreamlands, horror, Lovecraft, sci-fi, writing | Tagged book-review, books, fiction, horror, Lovecraft, writers, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Oh… you’re just self-published?

Posted on April 15, 2026 by Mark Hayes

Oh… your self published, that’s wonderful, tell me about your book… Continue reading →

Posted in amwriting, indie writers, indiewriter, publication, self-publishing, Uncategorized, writing | Tagged author, books, fiction, publishing, writer, writerslife, writing, writingtips | Leave a comment

Dear Edgar 58 ~ The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar

Posted on April 13, 2026 by Mark Hayes

In these, the enlightened days of modernity, hypnotism is a casino act and the other aspects of mesmerism is consigned to long debunked and forgotten corners of pseudoscience. In Edgar’s time however, there was some basis of belief that gave credence to this story. By presenting it in such an arid perfunctory way it seemed like a genuine scientific account. People wanted to believe, and the story offered ‘proof…’ Continue reading →