Mark Cantrell
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man0words.bsky.social
Mark Cantrell
@man0words.bsky.social
160 followers 110 following 290 posts
A UK writer and journalist. Writes about social housing (day job). Author of SFF novels Citizen Zero and Silas Morlock, published by Inspired Quill.

Website: https://tykewriter.wordpress.com

Substack Newsletter: https://markcantrellauthor.substack.com
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man0words.bsky.social
Something for the New Year...

www.inspired-quill.com/product/sila...

#booksky #books #fiction #scifi #darkfantasy #dystopia @inspiredquill.bsky.social
Text reads: "A room without books is like a body without a soul." Beneath it, "A macabre melding of Fahrenheit 451 and Nosferatu."
December 31, 2025 at 12:55 PM
man0words.bsky.social
Xmas present from my niece. Good choice.
December 21, 2025 at 2:18 PM
man0words.bsky.social
Recently started work on my latest #novel, Forever Mercy. To mark the occasion, I thought I'd share the draft of the first chapter. Enjoy...

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/all-gothed...

#booksky #books #creativewriting #fiction #scifi
December 14, 2025 at 12:00 PM
man0words.bsky.social
A vinyl record made with coal dust pays tribute to Britain's mining heritage, but it also invokes a warning for the future if technological disruption excludes those at today's 'coal face' of change...

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/when-vinyl...

#writing #culture #history #heritage #coal
December 7, 2025 at 12:33 PM
man0words.bsky.social
Something from the archives this week. Experts at Cambridge University warned that AI risks denying people of colour a presence in our imagined world of tomorrow...

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/the-colour...

#AI #technology #culture #diversity #representation
November 23, 2025 at 11:41 AM
man0words.bsky.social
Once AI has done its work, where will you hide?

Citizen Zero, a hard-hitting #scifi thriller from @inspiredquill.bsky.social...

Buy it here: www.inspired-quill.com/product/citi...

#booksky #fiction #cyberpunk #novels #AI #technologu
November 22, 2025 at 10:27 AM
man0words.bsky.social
If you're looking for some hard-hitting near-future scifi with a contemporary edge, then check out Citizen Zero...

Find out more on my website: tykewriter.wordpress.com/novels/citiz...

#booksky #novels #cyberpunk #dystopian #scifi @inspiredquill.bsky.social
October 26, 2025 at 10:59 AM
man0words.bsky.social
Ilkley Literary Festival marks 52 years of celebrating great literature with a focus on 'soft power' and the soul of Northern poetry. Read the story on my author newsletter...

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/theres-not...

#literature #books #booksky #authors @ilkleylitfest.bsky.social
October 4, 2025 at 10:05 AM
man0words.bsky.social
This week's post on my author newsletter is a short story culled from my archives. Hope you enjoy it...

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/sinners-in...

#fiction #creativewriting #shortstories #scifi
September 28, 2025 at 10:34 AM
man0words.bsky.social
Scientists are 'fleshing' out the next stage of robot evolution by exploring the potential of lab-grown muscles, but will this bio-breakthrough cramp their style?

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/machines-m...

#technology #science #robotics #writing
September 21, 2025 at 11:17 AM
man0words.bsky.social
A tiny Saxon cross unearthed in a Leeds field is telling a story about the city's early medieval past. Read the latest piece on my #author newsletter...

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/weve-all-g...

#culture #history #heritage #archaeology #museums #Yorkshire
September 15, 2025 at 12:43 PM
man0words.bsky.social
In the end, AI just wasn't what it was cracked up to be -- so they came up with a monstrous solution...

Buy the book from @inspiredquill.bsky.social

www.inspired-quill.com/product/citi...

#booksky #fiction #scifi #AI
August 29, 2025 at 5:08 PM
man0words.bsky.social
If you'd like to support independent bookshops, as well as indie publishing, then my books are available to order through Bookshop UK...

uk.bookshop.org/shop/markcan...

#booksky #novels #scifi #dystopian @inspiredquill.bsky.social
August 28, 2025 at 4:52 PM
man0words.bsky.social
Developers and academics are working on a new computer game intended to change our attitudes to plastic and reduce the material's impact on the environment. Read the latest story on my #author newsletter.

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/play-the-g...

#plastic #pollution #environment #videoames
August 17, 2025 at 10:17 AM
man0words.bsky.social
Silas Morlock presents a dark story of redemption in homage to the power of literature...

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/dare-you-v...

#booksky #fiction #novels #darkfantasy @inspiredquill.bsky.social
July 20, 2025 at 12:34 PM
man0words.bsky.social
Time for some fiction with the latest post on my #author newsletter. Hope you enjoy this short story...

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/of-unicorn...

#fiction #shortstory #vampires #horror #macabre
June 29, 2025 at 10:42 AM
man0words.bsky.social
It's your moral imperative...

www.inspired-quill.com/product/citi...

#books #welfarereform #novels
June 28, 2025 at 3:09 PM
man0words.bsky.social
I’m proud - and humbled - to have been asked to contribute to Shaun McClure's latest book, offering a comprehensive guide to designing interactive fiction (adventure games). Please do check it out...

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FC6B1J5J/

#books #publishing #adventuregames #zxspectrum #fiction
June 14, 2025 at 12:14 PM
man0words.bsky.social
Scientists reckon that land affected by the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear accident is finally safe for farming. Read the story on my #author newsletter...

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/chornobyl-...

#science #agriculture #nuclear
June 7, 2025 at 9:41 AM
man0words.bsky.social
Fahrenheit 451 meets Nosferatu in this macabre 'love letter' to literature...

Buy Silas Morlock from @inspiredquill.bsky.social and keep the candles burning...

www.inspired-quill.com/product/sila...

Learn more: tykewriter.wordpress.com/novels/silas...

#fiction #booksky #novels #horror #scifi
May 13, 2025 at 5:12 PM
man0words.bsky.social
A wad of government cash is a major step to creating a new hub for Northern writers; it's about nurturing new talent and ensuring the North's literary talent makes itself heard.

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/let-the-no...

#writing #writers #literature #authors
April 19, 2025 at 9:22 AM
man0words.bsky.social
Silas Morlock follows a macabre path to a dark destination, but at heart the novel is a love letter to literature. Venture into the shadows and seek the light...

Buy it direct from the publisher, @inspiredquill.bsky.social
www.inspired-quill.com/product/sila...

#fiction #booksky #novels #horror
April 15, 2025 at 5:01 PM
man0words.bsky.social
We all have bad days at work, but at least they're never quite so macabre as in this short piece of fiction (well, hopefully they're not)...

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/time-chang...

#fiction #macabre #horror #shortstory #readers
Time Changes the Man, a short story by Mark Cantrell. The drudgery of work is all in the mind, we suppose, but what if it's written into our very flesh? Image depicts a close up of a bee's face.
March 30, 2025 at 10:47 AM
man0words.bsky.social
In the early days of AI, the models were trained on the stolen fruits of human brain-power, later models didn't stop there...

Support indies and buy direct from the publisher:
www.inspired-quill.com/product/citi...

Find out more:
tykewriter.wordpress.com/novels/citiz...

#scifi #booksky #novels
Citizen Zero, a novel by Mark Cantrell, published by Inspired Quill. AI has devastated jobs, authoritarian surveillance is the norm, and unemployed David is struggling to survive a broken reality...
March 21, 2025 at 8:00 PM
man0words.bsky.social
Two years to the day since my dad passed away, so I thought I'd mark the occasion with this personal essay on my author newsletter.

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/mourning-i...

#dementia
March 17, 2025 at 1:19 PM