Mark O'Neill's Blog, page 12

Which Actors I Would Want In a Renegade Spy Movie - Mark O’Neill

I think it’s only natural that when a writer writes a book, they instinctively visualise a certain actor or actress playing a particular role. For me, knowing who that person is helps me to establish their voice in the story. Knowing how they performed in past movies or TV programmes gives me a good basis for figuring out how they would act in my story.

With the release of “The Renegade Spy”, I thought it would be fun to show you who I visualised in the main roles.

Captain Sophie Decker (Ga...

Which Actors I Would Want In a Renegade Spy Movie

I think it’s only natural that when a writer writes a book, they instinctively visualise a certain actor or actress playing a particular role. For me, knowing who that person is helps me to establish their voice in the story. Knowing how they performed in past movies or TV programmes gives me a good basis for figuring out how they would act in my story.

With the release of “The Renegade Spy”, I thought it would be fun to show you who I visualised in the main roles.

Captain Sophie Decker (Gab...

“The Renegade Spy” Is Out – Three Weeks Early! - Mark O’Neill

After countless tweaks and rewrites, I spontaneously decided on Saturday to just call it finished and put it out. In doing so, I finally became a published fiction writer. Yes, my 170-ish page novella, “The Renegade Spy” is finally out.

It’s been a long and tiring journey to get to this stage. From conception to publication has taken a lot out of me, even though the novella is so short. Anyone who says writing a book is easy is lying through their teeth. I am now writing a full-length novel...

“The Renegade Spy” Is Out – Three Weeks Early!

After countless tweaks and rewrites, I spontaneously decided on Saturday to just call it finished and put it out. In doing so, I finally became a published fiction writer. Yes, my 170-ish page novella, “The Renegade Spy” is finally out.

It’s been a long and tiring journey to get to this stage. From conception to publication has taken a lot out of me, even though the novella is so short. Anyone who says writing a book is easy is lying through their teeth. I am now writing a full-length novel...

[BOOK REVIEW] – Their Trade Is Treachery – Chapman Pincher - Mark O’Neill

MI5 has been around for hundreds of years and faces down many enemies who routinely threaten the internal security of the United Kingdom. They are overworked, underpaid, and understaffed. Until recently, it was official government policy not to acknowledge they even existed, and the name of their Director-General was highly top-secret.

Despite their many triumphs during World War II, in particular the Double Cross system (where they turned captured German spies back against their German mas...

[BOOK REVIEW] – Their Trade Is Treachery – Chapman Pincher

MI5 has been around for hundreds of years and faces down many enemies who routinely threaten the internal security of the United Kingdom. They are overworked, underpaid, and understaffed. Until recently, it was official government policy not to acknowledge they even existed, and the name of their Director-General was highly top-secret.

Despite their many triumphs during World War II, in particular the Double Cross system (where they turned captured German spies back against their German maste...

Former Beirut Hostage Thomas Sutherland – A Remembrance - Mark O’Neill

It’s hard to believe but I started writing professionally 28 years ago. Considering I am now 42, it doesn’t take a math genius to work out when I started. Yes I was a spritely young thing when I decided to start banging the keys on the typewriter.

Note to millennials  – a “typewriter” is what was used before computers became mainstream. Look, here’s one –

One of the first places I started writing for, when I was still at school, was the now-defunct “Early Times”. It was a newspaper designe...

Former Beirut Hostage Thomas Sutherland – A Remembrance

It’s hard to believe but I started writing professionally 28 years ago. Considering I am now 42, it doesn’t take a math genius to work out when I started. Yes I was a spritely young thing when I decided to start banging the keys on the typewriter.

Note to millennials  – a “typewriter” is what was used before computers became mainstream. Look, here’s one –

One of the first places I started writing for, when I was still at school, was the now-defunct “Early Times”. It was a newspaper designed...

The Best Method To Start Writing – Listen to Monologues

I pride myself on being really good at what I do, which is writing. My wife always tells me how freaked out she is at how fast I can type and push out articles. But quite frankly, a lot of the time, I have a lot of trouble producing the goods. If I am not procrastinating online (I’m looking at you Facebook), the writers block is kicking my ass.

The words just won’t come, no matter how hard I try. Add to that a nice warm attention-seeking dog who is always looking to bounce up on my knee, and...

Ohrdruf Notgeld 50 Pfenning, 1921

I have been collecting various collections since 2003, to combat the continual clinical depression that I go through. My main collection is stamps, having started my own, and inheriting two other collections, but I also collect a few other things. One of them is Notgeld.

Notgeld is basically “emergency money” in German, and it was used during the 1920’s, after the First World War had ended, and inflation was spiralling out of control. The Versailles Peace Treaty was punishing Germany severel...