Mark Cantrell
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man0words.bsky.social
Mark Cantrell
@man0words.bsky.social
150 followers 110 following 280 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 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
man0words.bsky.social
Dug something out of the archives for the latest piece on my #author newsletter, see what you think...

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/programmin...

#writing #essays #blogpost #newsletter #readers #author
March 2, 2025 at 5:18 PM
man0words.bsky.social
Government response to Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations: steps forward, but not systemic change

open.substack.com/pub/peteapps...

#ukhousing #socialhousing
February 26, 2025 at 6:09 PM
man0words.bsky.social
Brain fog is no metaphor when it comes to air pollution – poor air quality really does make it harder to think, scientists have found...

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/the-muck-w...

#science #health #environment #airpollution
The muck we breathe pollutes our thinking Air pollution clouds the mind and makes everyday tasks challenging, say scientists. Image depicts a cluster of high rise buildings shrouded in thick smog, the top of them poking through the clouds. A red sun glowers through the haze.
February 16, 2025 at 10:24 AM
man0words.bsky.social
The latest article on my #author newsletter...

Scientists have used cutting edge computer modelling to explore how well one of humanity's early ancestors could run, shedding light on how we evolved our faster pace.

markcantrellauthor.substack.com/p/walk-a-mil...

#science #evolution #technology
Walk a million years in her shoes Cutting edge simulations are making Lucy walk again to help figure out the evolution of humanity's ability to run. Image depicts two Australopithecus skeletons with select leg muscles attach walking over a grid-based computer landscape.
February 8, 2025 at 12:10 PM