Greetings. While I've just posted exciting news on the plans for a #vss365 anthology, I haven't updated the blog on writing progression (or lack of it) for some time. An update What have the last few months entailed? The tragic loss of a friend which hit me fairly hard as he was full of life, …
#VSS365 Anthology
Want to know more about the history of #vss365 ? Click here to find out more. Why have an anthology? As the original creator of #vss365, many people have proposed an anthology to me over the last few years. Why? In short, because it's something to celebrate. Many people have found a supportive, encouraging and …
Book Review: The Terror, by Dan Simmons
The Terror by Dan Simmons My rating: 4 of 5 starsPart historical fiction, part horror, part supernatural, part mutiny, part survivor movie, the Terror is all these things, and more. At 946 pages long and 28 odd hours of my very precious time invested, this one was worth a blog post. Is it amazing?In places, …
New Story – Wow, it feels good
First new story in a couple of years. Writing a novel is a slow, and painful process, so it felt good to go back to small word counts and super-tight writing. Thanks for reading. If you can vote then that would be even better (it's in a comp). https://short-edition.com/en/story/5-min/sixteen-again Thank you kindly - M
Free books – honestly
It's birthday time - so for 14th and 15th Feb my novel, Metropolitan Dreams, and Prompt Stories, my short fiction collection, will be FREE in Kindle ebook format. Metropolitan Dreams UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Metropolitan-Dreams-Mark-King-ebook/dp/B01N6T3TO8 … US: https://www.amazon.com/Metropolitan-Dreams-Mark-King-ebook/dp/B01N6T3TO8 … Prompt Stories UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/PROMPT-stories-collection-short-fiction-ebook/dp/B07HJHHG8S … US: https://www.amazon.com/PROMPT-stories-collection-short-fiction-ebook/dp/B07HJHHG8S … Hope you enjoy them, if you do, please leave a review. Thanks very much - …
Substance, by Peter Hook (book review)
A troubled 5 stars from me This is the story of the band New Order, as told by one of its founding members. I’ll start by saying I’m no Peter Hook fan. I went through a stage of liking New Order songs back in the early 90s (totally blows my mind to think of this …
2018: Report
Was this year a year of fireworks or going round in circles? What was 2018 like for me? Sure, I know there are a few days left, but what's really going to change? In 2018, I wanted to: Read 30 books. Grade: A+ I did this, which was fairly remarkable given the year I had. …
Extreme writing challenge – how did I do?
How not to do National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) One month. 50,000 words. That's how it's supposed to be done. But, me being me, I opted to do it differently. I tried to tackle the 23 chapters that still needed editing. How did I get on? 28,000 new words. Almost as many revised ones. So, …
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The house that NaNoWriMo built
Last year, like many good folk, I ‘won’ NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, where the challenge is to write 50,000 words in 30 days - a small novel for some, about half a novel for me). It was a very hollow victory, despite resounding initial success. I went in with a detailed plan. Despite the …
Don’t buy my new book!
Yes, words that you rarely hear shouted. PROMPT Stories, my collection of short fiction, will be released on Amazon earlier than anticipated. This is to allow me to run a free ebook promotion, on, or near, the original release date. I won't be making any money from the book, almost certainly losing money - but …
Metropolitan Dreams 