iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 11/05/2026

Delighted to see a new addition on my local walk: "touch and hear the view". Making nature accessible (especially with a cracking view like this one) enhances it for everyone. www.shropshiresgreatoutdoors.co.uk/… #ShropshireHills #CleeHill #AccessibleOutdoors

A 'Touch and Hear the View' installation at Clee Hill, Shropshire. A tactile ceramic tile by artist David Jones depicts the landscape in raised relief, with a QR code linking to an audio description of the view.

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 04/05/2026

Our village newsletter (circulation 560) had this curious historical note. I was unfamiliar with the #Superstition of "turning the key and the bible". #Folklore #Shropshire

Superstition In Shropshire The Cornishman, 16/01/1879
A remarkable case of credulity was heard on Tuesday at Ludlow Police court.
Mary A. Collier was summoned under the local bye-laws for using abusive language to Elizabeth Oliver. Both parties live in Lower Goulford. A sheet was lost off a garden line, and with a view to discover the thief, the superstitious practice of "turning the key and the Bible" was resorted to.
Complainant said that Collier met her in the street and said that the Bible had been turned down for Jones's, Martha Cad's and Burnsnell's yards, but when Mrs. Oliver's name was mentioned "the Bible fled out of their hands."
Mrs. Collier then called her a "_. day-light thief." She informed the Court that the key turned for Mrs. Oliver and no one else; the words in the Bible "were for her." Mrs. Oliver said the sheet had been found under the snow. A witness corroborated Mrs. Oliver, but the statement as to bad language was not confirmed.
The Bench dismissed the case and said such gross superstition was a relic of the past, and they would not have believed that such a thing existed in this advanced age.
John C.

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 16/01/2026

Check out this incredible deal, available right now: $5 for 3 books, or $25 for all 13! 13 amazing #scifi books, all on the theme of #aliens among us. With #storybundle, you get to support authors, help charity and discover your next favourite read, all at a great price. storybundle.com/aliens

The covers of the 13 books in the 'Aliens Undercover' Story Bundle.

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 29/01/2025

So the new #DeepSeek R1 #AI model is groundbreaking - but it still hallucinates at the drop of a hat. Apparently the reason the moon has phases is because the light passes through it?

Output from DeepSeekR1 "So during a full moon, all the sunlight that hits the Moon is reflected back to Earth, making the Moon bright. When it's not
full, some of the sunlight passes through the Moon's surface and reaches Earth, creating the crescent shape. This must mean
that the Moon acts both as a reflector and a transmitter depending on its phase."

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 23/12/2024

Are you a creative? Living or working in the UK? Have your say on copyright and Artificial Intelligence - the government want to know what you think! www.gov.uk/governmen...

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 28/11/2024

Tonight at 6pm UK time (and available to catch up later) I'll be interviewed about my writing on @bbcupload @bbcshropshire by @ninadasgupta! Listen live at www.bbc.co.uk/progra...

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 06/11/2024

Remember the 'Bake Off' kid? This is what she looks like now. Feel old yet? #GBBO #BakeOff #ObviouslyNot

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 02/09/2024

Special thanks to the Bestseller Experiment, Mark Stay and Mark Desvaux - plus all the Experimates who offered support, encouragement and incredulity when it mattered most. Have a photo of my writing buddy Lola in her usual spot beside me. #200WordsPerDay #AmWriting #WriteEveryDay 10/10

Lola, a small black cat, curled up on a cushion placed on a desk drawer.

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 02/09/2024

Towards the end of 2019 I committed to #writing 200 words every day. I now I have an unbroken streak that totals over a million words written. What have I learned? (thread follows)... #200WordsPerDay #AmWriting #WriteEveryDay 1/10

An illustration of my current writing streak: 1,682 days and 1,000,027 words.

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 26/08/2024

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 26/08/2024

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 22/08/2024

I made another video! When #selfpublishing your book you will be asked whether you want #DRM or not. What do you say? DRM for Authors - What you need to know | Author HowTo www.youtube.com/watc... #amwriting #author #novelist

Thumbnail for the video - a book draped in chains, with the text 'DRM for Authors: What you need to know'

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 31/07/2024

Special thanks to the Bestseller Experiment, @markstay.bsky.social and Mark Desvaux - plus all the Experimates who offered support, encouragement and incredulity when it mattered most. Have a photo of my writing buddy Lola in her usual spot beside me. #200WordsPerDay #AmWriting #WriteEveryDay 10/10

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 31/07/2024

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 16/05/2024

Today in #RuralLiving… “Hi, your neighbours are out. Can we leave a parcel with you?”

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 26/01/2024

Space is hard. Japan's latest moon lander landed... But can you see what's wrong? More great analysis as usual from Scott Manley - www.youtube.com/watc...

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 23/01/2024

For the authors who follow me... (Not an ad, just a testimonial from a happy customer.) I credit StoryOrigin with growing my mailing list from a literal handful of friends and family to a collection of avid readers and fans. 1/4

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 23/01/2024

Another five-star review! Check out 'The Return of the Martians' today, ares.watch/rotm #waroftheworlds #alieninvasion #aliens #martians #historical

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 13/12/2023

I forgot my writing anniversary yesterday! Luckily Martyne remembered, and surprised me with cake. Not Colin or one of his many impersonators, but rather a delicious home-made treacle and ginger sponge… Here’s to four years of writing every day! #cake #amwriting #author #novelist

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 17/11/2023

Snag a fantastic free Historical Fiction book in this exciting giveaway! storyoriginapp.com/b...

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 04/11/2023

Herne the Hunter has a complicated history - involving Shakespeare, Odin and an old oak tree. I've written a flash fiction piece inspired by the many legends about him. youtu.be/MK13hmi8ft0... #FlashFiction #ShortStories #Myths #Legends #British #Writing

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 01/11/2023

Thankful for Science Fiction? Grab an amazing read! Aliens, spaceships, nanotech, VR, steampunk, galactic empires, holograms and more. storyoriginapp.com/t...

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 29/10/2023

How about a short read, a mind-bending #mystery novelette "Glia": Desperate to find his sister, Brian resorts to stopping his medication in the hopes of entering her headspace. Reality blends with insanity, interweaving the barriers between right and wrong. storyoriginapp.com/s...

Cover of ‘Glia’ - a figure falls into a city skyline in front of a network of neurons.

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 28/10/2023

Looking for a #crime novel, #mystery and #thriller? How about 'The Girl Once Known'? storyoriginapp.com/s...

Cover of ‘The Girl Once Known’ - a sad woman peers through a rain-speckled window

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 28/10/2023

Looking for a #SciFi book to read? Why not try Oblivion Cloak: First Lieutenant Shaara was dead this morning. Her captain is furious at her. She wasted company resources getting herself killed, and it’s coming out of her paycheck. storyoriginapp.com/s...

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 24/10/2023

Flash fiction for free? markhoodauthor.com/p...

A typewriter, with a written story:
It didn’t belong to men. If you pushed through the hedgerows surrounding it, your brain became addled, your feet waylaid. You were as likely to return home and find two weeks had passed in a minute, as to never come back at all.

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 22/10/2023

F is for Fairies. The latest instalment in my 'A to Z of British Myths' markhoodauthor.com/2... #Myths #Legends #Mythology #Fairies #AlphabetSuperset 1/3

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 14/10/2023

There are a million ways to die in the Arctic. "The End of the Dew Line" is a cold-war thriller in the coldest of settings. Join Declan 'Mac' McAlistair and his unlikely ally Tom Cat as they uncover and fight a conspiracy that could cost everything. ares.watch/dew #Books #ColdWar #Thriller #Arctic

Cover of 'The end of the dew line' by Nick Keyes - a man in a frost-covered parka looks resolute, an early-warning radar station reflected in his snow-goggles.

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 06/10/2023

Martyne and I made a rose today! Thanks to Oldfield Forge for their patient teaching.

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 27/08/2023

Reskeet with something you own that most people don’t. The aluminium maquette for the statue of H.G. Wells that Joe stands in Woking. Bought from the artist.

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 23/08/2023

And a shameless plug: I’m experimenting with preordering paperbacks via my own website - get your personalised copy of the new ‘Martians Return’ book! ares.watch/eutm

Cover of 'Earth Under the Martians' - A Martian tripod looms over a figure on a boat.

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Mark Hood @markhoodauthor.com · 23/08/2023

Made it here... no idea how popular it'll be, but at least I've snagged my name!

Cat peeking out of the rear of a computer. Caption reads "Hacker voice: I'm in"

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