Mark Cantrell's Blog, page 54

BLOG: Must Marketers Become The Engineers Of Souls?

Brand be damned, these words are mine

SOME of you might be wondering what I'm doing posting all these old articles from work. Well, I figure I ought to pay at least lip service to the other half of my life with words.

 

I am a writer and a journalist, after all. It's all part of the brand, as it were, and I gather that's what I'm supposed to be these days since venturing forth into the world of publishing.

 

Being a brand doesn't sit easily with me, not least because if I were to foll...

BOOKS: The Alien Artifact 2 by Victor Bertolaccini

 'Movie-style' novel is a poor show indeed
Intrigued by the concept for this 'movie-style' novel, Mark Cantrell was disappointed to discover a stilted and characterless story that meandered into nowhere

 

SOONER or later, it was bound to happen that I'd find myself compelled to write a less than favourable review, and that brings me to The Alien Artifact 2 by Victor Bertolaccini.

 

The novel disappointed me, which is a shame. Not only did the story fail to deliver on the terms of...

INTERVIEW: Jack Dromey MP

AT HOME WITH... Jack DromeyShadow housing minister Jack Dromey MP is scathing about the Government’s record on housing, but admits that politicians of all parties have failed to give the issue the attention it deserves. In the May 2012 edition of Housing magazine, he told Mark Cantrell it’s time that housing was made centre-stage of politics

“Throughout my life a guiding principle has been to make a difference,” said Jack Dromey. For over 30 years he followed its star a...

STORY: Confronted With The Demands Of Commitment

"Final Draft"
Commitment is everything for an author, as Dan learns in this flash fiction piece by Mark Cantrell, but can he keep the girl?

DAN was having a great time.

 

His fingers flew over the keyboard, bringing the story to life. It was like being in there with his characters, listening to their every word, watching their every move. He was the silent witness completely embroiled in their lives - until Kelly stormed in and broke the spell.

 

"Hey, you promised..."

 

Here we go...

COVER: Hot Air Fails To End The Fuel Poverty Chill

Let them heat cakeFrom the April 2012 edition of Northern Midlands and Southern Housing magazine: The Hills Review has revealed an urgent need for action to save millions from the frosty embrace of fuel poverty, prompting a host of organisations to back the author’s ‘call to arms’ but the Government’s response was rather lukewarm – a promise to consult later this year. Mark Cantrell reports

Nobody can accuse this Coalition government of dragging its feet when toug...

MEDIA: Book Giveaway Introduces Author's Website

PRESS RELEASE:Who says there's no such thing as a 'free launch'?
Novelist's ebook giveaway introduces new website

A new chapter is underway for Mark Cantrell's online literary presence and to celebrate the occasion, the 43-year-old author is giving away digital copies of his works for free.

 

Mark, who lives in Stoke-on-Trent and works as a journalist in Manchester, has launched a new branded website to provide an all-in-one source for new writing and the latest information on his literar...

COVER: Homelessness Is A Killer

[image error]Dying for a place called home
Homelessness is a grim and devastating experience that takes its toll on human health and well being – not to mention mortality – and many fear that 2012 is going to become a vintage year for this bleak harvest. Mark Cantrell reports in the cover story from the February 2012 edition of Housing magazine

Occasionally politicians talk sense. That is, they say something that rises above the usual ideological tribalism: “In a civilised society no one...

POEM: Mix For The Metaphorical

Elements
By Mark Cantrell

 

[image error]

I am of the Elements.

Not those

Of old,

Archaic & Arcane as derived

By Alchemists,

Nor those of stardust

Forged in the nuclear crucible

Of dying stars,

But those far more profound.

I am elemental:

Not of Fire, Water, Air and Earth,

But an amalgam chimerical

Of Space & Time

Matter & Energy.

To these I add the Fifth:

Thought,

As forged by the mystery

Of Mind.

 

Mark Cantrell,

Bradford, 12 May 2005

 

 Copyright (C) May 2005. All Rights Reserved.

ESSAY: Technology Or Bust

Is silence digital in the ghost-written revolution?
By Mark Cantrell

AS authors, indeed as readers, we are in our own ways informal custodians of a literary culture that stretches back into the depths of time, before even the written word first emerged, and whether we like it or not it's up to us to ensure the next generation has its chance to join in with the narrative flow.

 

To some, the traditional establishment based on print technology remains the essential guarantor of this literar...

INTERVIEW: On Air With Tina Watkin

[image error]Hostess With The Mostess From the archives: Tina Watkin of Bradford Writers' Circle, and, at the time, a presenter with Bradford Community Broadcasting (BCB), talked to Mark Cantrell about radio and the writer...

YOU don't need to be a famous author to get on the radio: just ask Tina Watkin.

 

That's not a sideways swipe, incidentally, just an acknowledgement of the work Tina has done for local writers, together with Bradford Community Broadcasting 96.7FM (BCB), over the last two years...