Download A Free Sampler

Taste The Shade

A free leaflet that presents an example of the poetry contained in Mark Cantrell's collection, Deus Ex Insomnia can be downloaded for free. The sampler is designed to be printed on two sides of A4 and then folded to make a convenient triple-paned introduction to the delights contained in the full publication. To download the sample click [HERE].

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Wading Through The Slush

Cantrell goes ‘Authonomous’

The publisher HarperCollins recently launched its ‘peer review’ site Authonomy to provide authors with a means of side-stepping the ‘slushpile’ and maybe scoop that ever-elusive publishing deal.

Author Mark Cantrell decided to give this new authors’ tool a shot, and so he has uploaded the first 17,000 words of his latest novel “In Workers’ Paradise” on to the site to see just how the ‘peer review’ site works in practice.

“The Internet can be a great medium for authors to present their writing to a potentially global audience. Of course with millions of pages out there, and so many sites and writers vying for attention, it can sometimes seem like a crowded auditorium, packed to the rafters with people shouting their wares at the top of their lungs and not listening to anyone around them,” Mark said.

“So, anything that helps them to gain attention, however small, has got to be an important consideration for any author trying to raise their head above the parapet. If it gets you noticed, then that’s all well and good, if not, then you haven’t lost anything. The only real way for an author to lose is if they don’t try. So, Authonomy was well worth a shot.”

“In Workers’ Paradise” presents a fantasy memoir with an overtly political flavour that seeks to explore the nature of idealism and ambition, the author explained. “Whenever progressive movements arise to challenge the restrictions of their society, are they inevitably doomed to be corrupted by the ambitions of wilful and self-determined men – or do the ideals corrupt ambition to create the hearts and minds of men they require? What is left unsaid is often the most eloquent evasion of truth,” he added.

Now that the book has been finished, Mark is intending to tout it round to try and find a publisher. Authonomy plays a part in that lengthy, and difficult process of taking a book to its potential audience.

Meanwhile, his second and third novels – Citizen Zero (2001) and Silas Morlock (2006) are both awaiting the delivery of a new publisher called Writers of World. When that publisher finally goes live, it will present both books to the reading public. So, expect more news of these three books as events progress.

The sample of "In Workers' Paradise" can be read at Authonomy [HERE].

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Poetry Published

Deus Ex Insomnia

Buy it online, or order it from leading retailers, this poetry collection is available in paperback and a wide range of digital format editions...

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Ink Stain On The World

Coming Live From Mars...

Attack of the 50-foot Verbose Mutant Killer Fountain Pens From Mars

The Anthology that breezed through human consciousness like a neutrino through a planetary crust can be downloaded under a Creative Commons license.

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Earliest Novel

Relic of a fiery idealism

What it lacks in the novelist's craft it surely makes up for in terms of its youthful enthusiasm and idealism, but URANIUM FIST was my first attempt at writing a novel.

I trust my worth and work as a writer won't be judged on the basis of this work, I have moved on and developed in the craft since then, but even at the risk of casting aspersions on my capabilities, I chose to self-publish the novel as a free PDF back in 2006.

Publish and be damned, it was, in part, another a kind of -- potentially -- perverse pride in my work. For all its faults, I remain intensely proud of this work. It was after all my first piece of long fiction writing. So, I decided to make it available, as a historic example of my earliest writing efforts, and, perhaps, something of a literary curio.

The novel is unashamedly left-wing and political. In that, it reflected the political leanings and zeal of my youth, and something of the studies I was undertaking at university (where I wrote it). I was also consciously attempting to mimic some of the early 20th century writings on the Russian Revolution, attempting to capture the tone (simplistic, rather black and white, and tending towards the heroic or villainous in its archetypes). Even though it was something of a science fiction (space operatic?) tale, set on a distant Earth colony, I wanted it to have a certain retro feel. And so that's what I did.

At times, the political simplicity makes me cringe, as does my execution of the narrative, but I remain proud of it as my first attempt. We all have to start somewhere -- and I can think of worse places.

Uranium Fist is available to download free from Many Books, where it is offered in a wide variety of ebook formats.

Category: URANIUM FIST

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