Mark Lord's Blog, page 25

The Honour of Rome now available from a range of eBook Retailers

I have finally managed to get my short story The Honour of Rome distributed through a wide range of eBook retailers – previously it was just on Amazon. So if you like reading books on the Nook, iPad or any other device – see Smashwords – then you now have no excuse not to read [...]

Airfix Red Arrow Gnat – on my bookshelf

It’s probably about 25 years since I have done one of these models, but I picked up the Airfix Red Arrow Gnat starter kit at the RAF Museum a while ago and painted it up for my son. I must say the quality of the parts and the paints provided aren’t that good – the paint [...]

War of the Roses – New Medieval Combat Game

In October Paradox Interactive (the makers of Mount and Blade, Europa Universalis and Hearts of Iron) launch War of the Roses, a medieval combat game set during the Wars of the Roses. Essentially this looks like a historically set version of Mount and Blade, but with better graphics. Mount and Blade features simple but fun [...]

My One Year Writing Plan

I was inspired to write a one year plan of writing goals after skimming through Jeff Vandermeer‘s Booklife. Booklife is a guide to for authors keeping your sanity in today’s world! It gives you tips on how to cope with social media, blogging and generally building your public persona as an author, as well as [...]

Do you want to study the supernatural in the Middle Ages?

Well you’re unlikely to be able to attend this course (if you are then you’re very lucky!), but if you want to read up on what the supernatural meant in the Middle Ages then I would recommend looking over the course notes for Eileen Joy’s The Medieval Supernatural. I have created a page on this [...]

The Joy of Writing

Sometimes you have to start hitting the keys to remember how fun writing can be. For some reason just getting to that point can be hellish and involves a ton of prevarication, but when you start putting one word after another you suddenly remember that it is not a chore and that creation is inspiring [...]

Back to School Fantasy Fiction – Top 5 Fantasy Novels featuring School or College

A bit of fun for those of you going back to school or college soon – or are parents of those who are! Here’s my top 5 Fantasy Fiction novels featuring school or college! The Magicians by Lev Grossman US Liberal Arts College for wizards – a bit like a grown-up Harry Potter. Harry Potter and [...]

New Cover Art Style – Bird Talk and Bisclavret

I have instituted a new cover style for my self-published short stories with Bird Talk and Bisclavret being the first examples. The main purposes was to make the author name (sounds horribly egotistical!) more prominent and also of a consistent style. My decision to do this was influenced by Dean Wesley Smith’s post about how [...]

The Decline of Magic

This research article looks interesting – it’s about how people in the enlightenment became more skeptical about magic, but they could only do so once it was more permissible to have irreligious ideas: THE DECLINE OF MAGIC: CHALLENGE AND RESPONSE IN EARLY ENLIGHTENMENT ENGLAND MICHAEL HUNTER (2012). The Historical Journal, Volume 55, Issue 02, June 2012 pp [...]

Self-publishing Pros and Cons – Revenue

I’m going to split this analysis into two sections and a conclusion. First I will look at the evidence for revenues from Traditional Publishing, and secondly from Self-Publishing. What I am trying to do is find an average figure. Of course if you are J. K. Rowling or one of the new breed of million [...]