Sam H Arnold

The Beautiful Beast of Auschwitz

She was one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. Her body was perfect in every line, her face clear and angelic, and her blue eyes the gayest, the most innocent eyes one can imagine. And yet Irma Grese was the most depraved, cruel, imaginative pervert I ever came across.—Dr. Gisella Perl…

24 days ago · 4 likes · 1 comment · Sam H Arnold

Half-Hangit Maggie Who Escaped the Hangman’s Noose

Margaret Dickson, known as Maggie Dickson and later Half-Hangit Maggie, lived in the early 18th century as a fish seller. When her husband deserted her in 1723, she was forced to leave the city and m…

22 days ago · 8 likes · 5 comments · Sam H Arnold

The Incredible 60 Hour Survival Underwater

On 26th May 2013, Nigerian sailor Harrison Okene was the twenty-nine-year-old cook on board the Jascon-4 tugboat. The tug had been helping stabilise an oil tanker, twenty miles off the coast. The ship had been fighting heavy swells when it capsized and sank thirty metres to the sea floor just off the coast…

17 days ago · 2 likes · 4 comments · Sam H Arnold

Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm

This historical mystery has fascinated me more than any other. It’s comparable to the identity of Jack the Ripper and has been a subject of my research and interest since I began writing Murder Mayhe…

15 days ago · 4 likes · 3 comments · Sam H Arnold

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How the Greek Gods Shaped Our Language

Sam H Arnold — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 13:03:10 GMT

Just before we look at how Greek mythology has affected our language today, an announcement.

I’ve launched a podcast for Murder Mayhem UK. You can find it on your podcast app or on my main page. If you prefer visuals, subscribe to my YouTube channel for graphics on the same topics.

I’d be delighted to have you over, and I’d be grateful for any helpful advice you can offer.

Now on to the main part of the article.

Greek mythology has been talked about a lot recently with the release of the new Odyssey film, which I haven’t seen but plan to. Most of my knowledge of these tales has come from the amazing Stephen Fry, and I urge you to pick up any of his books if you want to read more.

Whilst reading his books, though, I was struck by how much of modern language has been shaped by these tales—shaping not just our vocabulary, but astronomy, psychology, science, and everyday idioms.

Planets

Whilst most of the planets in our solar system bear the names of Roman gods, it is worth remembering that the Romans mapped their pantheon directly from the Greeks.

Mercury is the Roman name for the Greek god Hermes, the swift-footed messenger of the gods. If you are in the UK, you will also know that a popular delivery service used his name (now rebranded as Evri).

Venus is named after the goddess of love and beauty; in Greek mythology, she is known as Aphrodite. Mars is the god of war, named after Ares. Jupiter, the biggest planet in the solar system, is named after the king of all the gods, Zeus. Saturn is named after Cronus, the Titan who went rogue and tried to swallow his children Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.

Uranus is the only major planet named directly after a Greek deity, Ouranos. Whilst Gaia ruled the earth, Ouranos represented the sky. The outer reaches of our solar system feature Neptune (named after Poseidon) and the dwarf planet Pluto (named after Hades).

Several moons associated with these planets are named after secondary figures and deities from Greek mythology.

Language

Greek mythology has also influenced our language beyond the planets.

Are you frightened of spiders? Arachnophobia is derived from Arachne. Arachne was a mortal who wove beautiful tapestries. She was foolish enough to challenge Athena to a weaving contest. When her work proved flawless, Athena transformed her into a spider out of spite so she could forever weave her webs.

Narcissus was a hunter who, through the trickery of the gods, fell in love with his own reflection in a pool. In the tale, he lost his will to live and turned into a flower. This is where the term narcissism comes from.

Zeus was notorious for his affairs, and one of the nymphs he pursued was Echo. When Hera, his wife, discovered how Echo distracted her during his infidelities, she cursed Echo to only ever speak the last words spoken to her.

Pan was the goat-legged god of nature whose shrieks in the forest would cause terror to passing travellers; you could say it caused panic.

Finally, we have the Achilles’ heel. According to legend, when Achilles was an infant, his mother, the nymph Thetis, dipped him into the River Styx to make him invulnerable. However, she held him by his heel, leaving that one spot untouched by the magic waters—creating his only vulnerable spot.

I am fascinated with how literature shapes our language, don’t even get me started on Shakespeare. These are just a few places where Greek mythology has shaped our language; there are many more. Atlas, who held up the heavens and whose name became a book of maps. Pandora’s box, which none of us should open.

I hope you have enjoyed this trip into the great Greeks. Let me know in the comments if you know of other sayings.

Until next time: Find the time, find the words, find the way.

Sam 😊

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How Waterstones Survived Kindle

Sam H Arnold — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 13:03:00 GMT

If you walked down a British high street in 2011, it felt like a graveyard. Retail giants were vanishing overnight. Woolworths had collapsed, Zavvi was gone, and Waterstones stood in the firing line.

Waterstones looked like a dead man walking.

It was a bloated, expensive chain of superstores selling a product that everyone was now buying on a Kindle.

The thinking was that with the Kindle launching globally; ”promising a future where you could carry a library in your pocket” along with the iPad offering the ability to read books, buying physical books would soon be obsolete.

To top it off, its owner, HMV, was collapsing as digital downloads began to take over its market share. The Waterstones shops were a mess, and analysts were sure the chain would be dead by 2014.

But that’s not what happened. If you are a bookworm like me, I would guess you are still spending much of your time in Waterstones, sniffing the books and browsing the shelves.

The books are not cheaper than Amazon, yet there is something that makes us come back and pay that little extra; all for an experience.

This is the story of how a failing business looked at the digital threat and decided to do the exact opposite of what everyone expected.

Things Fall Apart

By the late 2000s, under the ownership of HMV, Waterstones was suffering from a severe identity crisis. It’s known mostly for being a bookstore, yet it was acting like a supermarket.

The store was using a system of centralisation. Basically, in all 300 stores, the format was the same. A team of experts in a glass office in London decided what everyone should experience.

Jack the Ripper was not showcased in London, stories of coal mining were not prioritised in Wales, and local authors were all but ignored.

The suits in head office sent out strict, non-negotiable diagrams that told every shop manager exactly where to place every single book. This meant that if you walked into a Waterstones in Glasgow, you saw the same recommended table as you would in Cornwall.

There was a bigger problem, though: the powers were making money wherever they could at the expense of the reader. Every inch of the shop; ”from the window to the first display as you walked in” was available to the highest bidder.

Publishers were handing over nearly £27 million a year to rent these spaces, creating a system where a mediocre celebrity biography could dominate the front of the store simply because someone wrote a cheque to put it there. The shops became cluttered with books no one wanted to read.

Struggling for cash in 2011, HMV put Waterstones up for sale. That was when an unlikely saviour stepped in: Alexander Mamut, a Russian billionaire with a passion for British literature. Thank God for Mr Dickens. Mamut paid £53 million, which, for a chain that had 300 stores in prime locations, was considered a steal.

The Redeemer

Mamut could have poached a CEO from Gap or Marks and Spencer, but instead he knew he needed a man who understood readers. He went to Marylebone High Street and recruited the exact opposite of corporate.

James Daunt was a man who had quit finance to open Daunt Books. His flagship store was a sanctuary of long oak galleries and skylights. Books were arranged by country, and visitors were encouraged to browse and discover. He cared about the physical beauty and the experience of the customer. He was also hugely successful with this approach.

When the news broke, many in the industry laughed. Mamut had effectively hired someone who had only ever managed six shops. However, both men were unperturbed.

Brave New World

Daunt soon realised that everything about Waterstones was wrong. The first task was to convene the regional managers. He announced that he was relinquishing consistency and operational decisions, entrusting them to individual store teams.

He understood the simple concept that what flies off the shelves in a wealthy London suburb is often completely different from what sells in a working-class town in the north.

To prove he was serious, he announced that they needed to decide where the tables went. In theory, you would have thought that these bookstore managers would jump at the chance, but most of them had no passion and were terrified of the change.

Daunt had a solution for this, too. He undertook a brutal restructuring involving firing half of the managerial staff. He removed the layers of middle management who were only there to enforce the rules and replaced them with booksellers and people who actually read. He wanted people who could argue with customers about the ending of a novel and recommend books, effectively giving each store its own personality.

Hard Times

Daunt, in a surprising move that immediately reduced his balance sheet by £27 million, halted publishers from paying for prime store areas.

Daunt argued that the money wasn’t actually free because it came with the hidden cost of being forced to stock bad books. He reasoned that if you stock bad books, you lose the customer, and if you lose the customer, you lose the business. So he told the publishers that if they wanted their book on the front table, they had to write a better book.

This shifted the power dynamic entirely, meaning the front tables were now reserved for books that the booksellers actually believed in.

If a manager in York loved a weird, obscure book about the history of the Vikings, they could stack it high on the front table. And because they could look a customer in the eye and honestly say, “It’s fantastic,” the books actually sold.

A Room of One’s Own

Once the shops were selling books people wanted to buy, Daunt turned his attention to the physical environment. The stores were far from inspiring, with wide, straight aisles flanked by drab, anodyne, and badly stocked shelving that made the space feel intimidating rather than appealing.

Daunt initiated a massive refurbishment programme based on the simple philosophy that if you want people to leave the comfort of their homes, you have to offer them a destination worth visiting. Amazon’s got value covered; Waterstones needed to offer beauty and atmosphere.

To achieve this, the industrial metal shelves were ripped out and replaced with thinner oak tables, while the aggressive lighting was swapped for warm, soft LEDs that mimicked a library setting.

They laid down carpets, added comfortable armchairs, and introduced curves to the floor plan to break up the rigid grid, effectively forcing customers to slow down and meander through the space.

The goal was to make these stores feel intimate, breaking up the vast square footage into nooks where a customer could pick up a book and lose track of time.

This philosophy extended to the branding itself. In towns with historic buildings, Daunt allowed the stores to lean into their architectural heritage, most notably in Southwell, where the shop doesn’t even carry the standard branding above the door, allowing it to masquerade as a local village bookshop.

If you have ever spent two hours wandering the shelves in your local Waterstones, you know this has worked.

Sleeping with the Enemy

Despite this change, digital downloads continued to haunt the book industry. In 2012, Daunt did something that left many in the industry scratching their heads. He partnered with Amazon to sell the Kindle in his stores. Staff were shown how to train even the most reluctant customer in using their new gadget.

People questioned why you’d invite the fox into the hen house. Why would you sell the very device designed to put you out of business? But Daunt’s logic was pragmatic. He believed that if his customers were going to read digitally, he wanted them to associate that experience with Waterstones.

This was where the bookworms took matters into their own hands.

Over time, sales of e-readers began to plateau. The growth that “experts” had promised flattened out. Simply put, a Kindle does not smell like a newly cracked paperback.

Readers’ favourite book format was physical, not digital, as I asked them.

By 2015, Waterstones quietly removed the Kindles from their stores. Daunt admitted that the sales were pitiful, but the experiment had served its purpose.

I think Amazon is actually a fabulous thing for books... But they are a website, self-evidently. They have a single proposition... they by definition are absent what we can do within bookstores, which is the serendipity of illogical choice. - James Daunt

The Winners

In 2016, Waterstones reported that the finances of the business were healthy and improving every year.

In 2018, they bought Foyles, one of London’s most legendary bookstores. Daunt did the exact opposite of what usual logic suggests: he kept the name, kept the brand identity, and left the front-end personality alone because he realised the Foyles brand had value because it meant something to Londoners.

During the same year, Elliott Advisors bought a controlling stake in Waterstones. In 2019, Elliott acquired Barnes & Noble, the struggling American giant, and they put James Daunt in charge of that too.

Daunt was now effectively the CEO of the English-speaking world’s physical book market. He began applying the same Waterstones logic to Barnes & Noble, clearing out the clutter and empowering local managers in Nebraska and Ohio to order what their communities wanted.

Then came 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic presented a terrifying challenge, but the years store managers spent embedding themselves in their local communities created a reservoir of loyalty. Lockdown-driven traffic surged to their website.

As the world reopened, the book market was hit by a tidal wave of demand from a completely unexpected source: TikTok. A corner of the internet dubbed “BookTok” began driving sales with a ferocity that traditional marketing couldn’t match. For this generation, the book became an aesthetic object and a status symbol. Waterstones found itself accidentally perfect for this moment. James Daunt’s decade-long crusade to improve lighting and install beautiful oak tables meant that when influencers arrived, the stages were already built for them.

In 2022, they did it again by acquiring Blackwell’s, an institution in Oxford and Cambridge. By keeping the brands separate, he could dominate different segments of the market without diluting the identity of his core business, yet still keep growing the profit margins.

By 2024, Barnes & Noble announced they were expanding, opening new stores in locations where Amazon had previously decimated the competition.

Great Expectations

This new wave of book lovers showed themselves again in August 2025 during the annual bookfest at the Piccadilly flagship, where thousands of fans descended upon the store, creating queues that wound up the stairs and spilt onto the streets. This chaotic stampede proved that the next generation had fully embraced print with fanaticism.

Today, Waterstones proves that the so-called retail apocalypse was never a natural disaster but a failure of imagination by retailers who died because they treated their customers like data points rather than people.

By treating the bookshop as a destination for leisure rather than just a warehouse for inventory, James Daunt proved that buying a book is a special experience that a “buy now” button can never truly replace and I, for one, am very grateful.

Waterstones is more than just a bookstore to me; it’s an experience of exploring the shelves and meeting new friends who will stay in my mind for years. Waterstones is a home away from home.

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John Steinbeck’s Writing Routine

Sam H Arnold — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 13:03:19 GMT

I am constantly fascinated by the writing routines of writers. Mainly because I am trying to squeeze hours in wherever I can. Oh, to have the time to write full time! How would I organise my day?

The writing routines that entertain me the most are the ones from writers that I admire. My favourite author at present is John Steinbeck. I am slowly making my way through his canon. So it was with fascination that I discovered how he produced classics such as East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath.

Steinbeck approached his writing as a gruelling 9-5 job rather than an artistic calling. He believed in intense discipline and treated his desk as a factory workbench.

He would spend many hours deep in the zone, especially when he was writing his two masterpieces mentioned above. For a writer, he had a remarkably strict routine; one we could all take something from.

Early Morning Warm-Up (7:00 AM - 8:00 AM)

Compared to many writers, Steinbeck was an early riser. Once awake, he would have a quick breakfast, which largely consisted of black coffee. By 7:30, he sat at his desk.

However, he did not start writing at this point. Before working on his current masterpieces, he would force himself to go through his warm-up routine. He would open his journal and write a full page of stream-of-consciousness prose. Similar to morning pages that Julia Cameron made famous.

In these entries, he would complain about his backache, worry about his dogs, and generally detail his anxieties. This process cleared his mind and warmed his hand for longer writing sessions.

Narrative Sprint (8:00 AM - 1:00 PM)

Steinbeck would then write straight through for roughly four to five hours. He had a strict quota of two thousand words, which worked out as roughly four pages of his large ledger.

He was very superstitious about his writing and the tools that he used. He hated typewriters because he said the mechanical noise interrupted his train of thought. He wrote by hand using wooden pencils.

In the morning, his routine would begin with sharpening twenty-four to thirty-six pencils and placing them in a box. It was a routine that Roald Dahl also used. Once the pencil went dull, he would drop it in a box and grab a fresh one. It is estimated he used , more than, three hundred pencils to write East of Eden.

He preferred writing on large, heavy ledger paper. He loved the colour of yellow legal pads or cream-coloured ledger sheets because white paper reflected too much glare under his desk lamp and made his eyes ache during his morning sprints.

During this process, he refused to stop or look back until he had reached the two thousand words. He never edited as he wrote, as he believed this destroyed his organic rhythm.

His first draft was completed before he rewrote or edited anything.

Physical Labour (1:00 PM - Evening)

By the afternoon, Steinbeck was mentally exhausted. He believed writers had only a few hours of true creative energy daily, and forcing longer sessions resulted in poor work.

Like Dickens, who used to take an afternoon stroll, Steinbeck preferred physical labour in the afternoons. He would garden, build furniture, repair the house, or go for long walks.

This physical work allowed his subconscious mind to process the next day’s plot points without active strain. It is similar to going for a walk when you are stuck on a project.

For years I have looked for the perfect pencil... I found one the other day made by Eberhard Faber... It is very soft and will not hold a point past a legibly written page... but the blackness of the line is a joy. - John Steinbeck, Journal of a Novel

It is clear, by the books he produced, that Steinbeck’s routine worked extremely well for him. As with all writers, we can all take something away from his routine and add it to ours.

What is your writing routine?

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Counting Connections

Sam H Arnold — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 13:02:02 GMT

The summer holiday’s are in full swing and myself and the children are having lots of adventures. Today, I thought I would share a short story I wrote for a competition. I hope you enjoy it.

Counting Connections

The fluorescent bulb above aisle seven had that low-grade hum that made you slowly question your own sanity. It was almost as if Jess could feel the vibration going through the soles of her safety boots. She wondered for the fifth time if she should turn it off, but then the darkness of the warehouse would engulf her on a night shift.

Outside, the rhythmic drumming of the rain lashed the corrugated roof, and a distant low rumble of thunder sounded as the June thunderstorm engulfed the small town. It bounced between the hills and the sea, getting louder and quieter as it moved across the sky, trying to escape. Jess smirked. She knew what it was like to be trapped somewhere you didn’t want to be.

Still standing here in the stark white glare of the overhead lights, everything was reduced to the sharp beep of the inventory scanner and the cold, metallic smell of the galvanised steel shelves.

“Zero-four-four-nine-two,” Clara read from the clipboard. Her voice was slightly hoarse, rounded by the exhaustion of a twelve-hour shift. “Brass hex nipples. Three-quarter inch.”

Jess leaned over the bottom shelf, her knees groaning against the cold linoleum floor. She plunged her hand into the dusty plastic bin. The brass fittings clinked together like heavy, dull coins. Clack. Clink. She counted them into her palm in sets of five.

“Twelve,” Jess said, her voice dropping into the cavernous quiet of the aisle. “No, wait. Thirteen.”

“Thirteen,” Clara repeated, the scratch of her ballpoint pen against the paper loud against the backdrop of the rain.

They had been at it since seven in the evening, moving methodically through plumbing, trade accounts, and outdoor fixtures. It was tedious, mind-numbing work that left a fine layer of grey metallic dust on their fingertips and the taste of stale, lukewarm coffee on their tongues.

A shared thermos sat between them on a flat pack of timber, a single plume of steam rising from the plastic cup that served as their communal mug.

Jess shifted her weight, sitting back on her heels. Her shoulder brushed against Clara’s arm. It was a contact they had made a thousand times over the last two years; stacking pallets, squeezing past each other in the staff room, sharing the tight space behind the trade counter. But tonight, with the store locked and the dark windows pressing against the glass greenhouse section next door, the contact felt different. It felt heavy. Static.

Clara didn’t move away. She adjusted the clipboard on her knees, her thigh resting just a millimetre from Jess’s trouser leg. The fabric of their heavy work trousers rasped together with a dry, quiet shhhk.

“Next one,” Clara murmured, her eyes fixed on the sheet, though she hadn’t turned the page. “Zero-four-four-nine-five. Washers. Small.”

Jess reached into the next bin. Her fingers were cold from the metal, the skin rough around the cuticles from a winter of lifting timber. She scooped a handful of the tiny brass rings. They were small enough to slip through her fingers if she wasn’t careful, tiny golden circles catching the harsh fluorescent light.

“Hold out your hand,” Jess said.

Clara dropped the clipboard onto her lap. She didn’t just hold out her palm; she moved her hand slowly, sliding it across the cold floor until it was directly beneath Jess’s.

The inventory scanner in Jess’s left hand gave a faint, electronic chirp as it went into sleep mode, but neither of them looked at it.

Jess leaned forward to drop the washers. But instead of letting them fall from a distance, she lowered her hand until her palm was nearly touching Clara’s. She uncurled her fingers. The tiny brass pieces cascaded into Clara’s hand with a soft, metallic whisper—chhh-clink.

But Jess didn’t pull her hand back.

Her index finger lingered, trailing down the side of Clara’s thumb. It was a slow, deliberate movement, the friction of skin against skin entirely different from the cold finality of the metal they had been handling all night. Jess’s fingertips caught on the slight roughness of Clara’s palm, tracing the line where the metallic dust had settled into the creases of her skin.

Clara froze. Her breath caught, a tiny, sharp intake of air that Jess heard perfectly over the roar of the rain on the roof. Clara’s fingers closed, not around the brass washers, but tilting upward just enough so that her fingertips brushed the inside of Jess’s wrist, right over the steady, jumping pulse.

The silence between them became absolute, a tiny pocket of warmth carved out of the massive, draughty warehouse.

Jess looked up from their hands. Clara was already looking at her. Her hair was tied back in a messy, loose bun, a few dark strands falling around her face, her eyes wide and dark under the shadow of the metal shelving. There was no grand speech. There was no cinematic shift in the weather. It was just the two of them, sitting on a dirty floor in Aisle Seven, surrounded by industrial plumbing supplies.

The air in the aisle had changed. It felt thick, charged with a sudden, dizzying clarity, as if the storm had somehow found its way into the warehouse. Under the touch of a dusty finger, everything they had lived behind for months simply dissolved.

Clara’s thumb moved, a tiny, tentative stroke against Jess’s skin, testing the reality of it.

“How many?” Clara whispered. Her voice was barely a breath, completely swallowed by the storm outside, yet it felt like the loudest thing Jess had ever heard.

Jess didn’t look down at the washers in Clara’s hand. She couldn’t. “I don’t know,” she replied, her voice just as soft. “Count them again.”

Clara didn’t move her hand away. Instead, she let the brass washers slide out of her palm. They scattered loosely onto the linoleum with a bright, clattering ring, rolling under the bottom shelf, lost in the shadows.

Neither of them cared.

Clara shifted her hand completely, her fingers sliding between Jess’s, locking them together, cold skin turning warm in the space between them.

The rain continued to lash against the tin roof, a thousand miles away. Under the humming light of Aisle Seven, the stocktake was entirely forgotten.

The Irony of Using AI to Find AI

Sam H Arnold — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 08:08:45 GMT

Unless you have been on holiday for a week, you cannot have missed the controversy over Substack’s release of its AI checker. There are privacy concerns, concerns over a witch hunt of writers, and generally a good old moan up on Notes.

First, there is no way this should be a witch hunt for writers who use AI. If you are a writer and not using some of the tools that AI offers, then you are losing time you could spend writing. But there is also a larger issue here: writers who are using AI to produce all their content - 100% AI-generated articles.

Before you think these people don’t exist, I was playing with the tool yesterday, and one of the True Crime writers I have followed for years, who is highly popular, is 100% AI-generated.

Yes, this may be an accident, but it might also be that I have been fooled all this time. That is a concern. Not that I am going to out their name; no, I come from the civilised generation. But I am not reading their writing anymore; I feel, well, conned in a way.

My AI Use

With that in mind, I thought I would be totally honest about my AI use. I don’t want any of my readers feeling as I have.

The primary way I use AI is as an editing partner. It picks up the typos and grammar mistakes I have made. When you have read something many times, your brain starts substituting what is there with what should be there. AI helps me find these problems.

Secondly, AI produces some of my images, especially the background ones I use on my articles. With True Crime, it is very hard to find an image you have the legal rights to share. For obvious reasons, some are too gruesome to share, and I always worry about sharing images of people, especially if a conviction has not been obtained yet.

Finally, I use AI to create an SEO- optimised title and description for my article, which I then copy and paste into the article settings. I have seen a huge increase in outside visitors to my newsletter since doing this.

Occasionally, AI will sort my research notes into a logical order when I have gone down a rabbit hole and have 50 pieces of paper with various handwritten facts on them. Occasionally, it will suggest cases for me to look into so I can roughly connect my Monday and Wednesday articles.

That is it for my writing. Do I feel guilty about using AI to help me with these tasks? Absolutely not. But I don’t feel guilty about putting my clothes in a washing machine rather than going down to the river to clean them, either.

Until next time: Find the time, find the words, find the way.

Sam

AI won’t replace humans, but humans who use AI will replace those who don’t. - Sam Altman

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Taking My Hobby Back

Sam H Arnold — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:01:45 GMT

I thought it was time for a bit of a personal update, a structural reshuffle, and a massive confession: I am officially taking my reading hobby back.

For a while now, I’ve been trying to keep up with the steady fortnightly rhythm of running The Book Chronicles. But somewhere along the line, turning my favourite books into structured “content” started draining the absolute joy out of reading. I found myself thinking more about framing posts. I was no longer just getting lost in a brilliant story.

So, I’ve made a big decision to clear my desk and refocus my creative energy.

Here is what is changing, what is moving, and where you can find me moving forward:

The Book Chronicles is officially closing

I am winding down the standalone Book Chronicles newsletter. For those of you who were on a paid tier, your subscriptions have been turned off so you won’t be rebilled (and I am currently sorting out any recent annual sign-ups).

That doesn’t mean all the content has gone. You can find it on this website under Reading. I will be adding to this section whenever I have something to say.

Sam H Arnold is becoming “Schedule-Free”

My personal site and newsletter here aren’t going anywhere, but the pressure is officially off.

There is no more strict fortnightly schedule.

From now on, this is a space where I will post completely organically. When I have something meaningful to share about my writing journey, a major milestone, or an article I genuinely care about, it will land in your inbox. You can always chat with me in chat if you have questions.

All my energy is moving to Murder Mayhem UK

By clearing away the noise, I am finally able to pour 100% of my focus into the project I am most passionate about right now: Murder Mayhem UK.

Because I’m no longer splitting my focus, I am dedicating serious time to deep-dive research. I am unearthing gripping historical cases and delivering the highest-quality true crime writing possible.

Moving forward, I’ll be publishing two comprehensive articles every single week.

If you love deeply researched investigative history, dark social histories, and cases that keep you up turning the pages, I would love to have you over there. It’s where the absolute bulk of my writing energy is going, and the community we are building in the comments section is incredible.

Thank you so much for reading, for supporting my work across these different projects, and for allowing me the space to evolve my writing platform.

I’ll see you over at Murder Mayhem for some dark history, or right here whenever the creative lightning strikes!

Until next time: Find the time, find the words, find the way.

Sam

Murder Mayhem UK Articles This Week

The World Cup Massacre in County Down

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Drop me a comment: Do you have a writing related question you need answering.

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My Top 5 Reads of 2026 (So Far)

Sam H Arnold — Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:02:01 GMT

As we are halfway through the year, I thought it would be fun to look at my top five reads to date. I am pretty sure that these will change by the end of the year; at least, I hope so, or it could be a pretty dismal last half.

You can find full reviews of these books on my reading tab, but here are the five that I consider my best reads and why they have stayed in my heart. In no particular order.

Ship of Magic & Mad Ship — Robin Hobb

I am going to put the first two together as they come from a series. For me, Mad Ship has that added 1%. This is because I love second books in fantasy series; the first sets the scene, and you meet the characters, whereas the second is where the world-building happens.

This is the second trilogy in the Realm of the Elderlings series. I had planned to read this trilogy in 2026, but I’ve nearly finished it. I’ve already bought the next trilogy, which I can’t wait to start.

Robin Hobb is a master of character development, and you even find yourself relating and empathising with the despicable as well as the heartwarming. These books tell the story of the Bingtown Traders, mainly the Vestritt family, who have a liveship, a ship that can interact and talk to you. The ships are as much of a character as the two-legged humans. One of my favourite characters in the book is Paragon, the slightly immature liveship.

For fans of the Farseer Trilogy, there is an unusual cameo in the book, but see if you can spot it.

If you love fantasy, alongside characters you learn to love and watch grow, then this is a must-read. Start with the Farseer Trilogy and move on to The Liveship Traders.

Burning Bright — John Steinbeck

This is a very short novella by Steinbeck, but it packs just as much punch as East of Eden. Some of the reasons I love this book are personal; at its heart, it deals with the issue of parenting, regardless of genetics.

This unique book is told over three acts, each set in a different location, but featuring the same characters and continuing the story. It’s a must-read, and you can finish it in one sitting at only 90 pages.

Out of all Steinbeck’s novels, this is possibly talked about the least, but it sits right up there with East of Eden and Of Mice and Men for me.

The Will of the Many — James Islington

It is hard to sit here and know what to say about The Will of the Many. This tells the story of Vis, who must infiltrate the enemy and pretend to be one of them to survive and gain revenge. The world-building and concept are incredible, and if you like books set in academic settings, this is a must-read. I could not put this book down from the first page to the last, with all its twists and turns.

So, why is it hard to write about?

Because, having read this, I could not wait to read the second in the series, The Strength of the Few, and I hated it. I DNF’d it at 150 pages. The second book lacks the amazing qualities of the first. I’m happy to stop at the first book, but I’m disappointed that it didn’t improve throughout the series.

Blood Over Brighthaven — M.L. Wang

If you are looking for a standalone fantasy novel with engaging characters and amazing world-building, then this is for you. M.L. Wang’s intricate and mysterious tale is captivating and impossible to put down.

This is one of the only books that made goosebumps stand out on my arm during one of the twists. It is a masterclass of storytelling.

I would urge anyone to pick this up, even if you are not into fantasy, as this will have you hooked from the first page and leave you thinking about issues that relate to our world as well as this fantasy one.

There you have it: my five favourite books from 2026. What has been your favourite read of the year so far?

Murder Mayhem UK Articles This Week

Just before Christmas in 1988, the United Kingdom became the target of one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in history. A bomb planted aboard Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over the small town of Locke…

The Lockerbie Bombing

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Drop me a comment: Have you read any of the books mentioned let me know in the comments.

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The Power of the Pocket Notebook

Sam H Arnold — Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:03:30 GMT

I remember seeing that if you want your children to move away from electronics, you should lead by example. This stuck with me. That is why I always try to have a book in my hand as much as my phone.

The other thing that has helped reduce my phone consumption considerably is a tiny, pocket-sized notebook. I keep it with me at all times. This notebook contains my to-do list, ideas, appointments, and random thoughts. It is a catch-all for my brain.

To spark your creativity, you need time and space to think. To allow your brain to do this, you cannot be holding things in there you need to remember. Writing this down in a tiny notebook will free your brain.

The bonus is you tend to remember things better if you write them down.

Writing them down seems to move the information out of your short-term holding brain into your long-term memory. You no longer need to think about it. It is just there.

It does not need to be pretty; it just needs to be practical. So consider grabbing yourself a cheap notebook from your local supermarket and keeping it with you.

Write down ideas as they come to you. They can be as stupid as possible.

At the end of the week, go through these notebooks. Discard the rubbish and action the gems. This way, you should never find yourself searching for an idea to write about again.

Until next time: Find the time, find the words, find the way.

Sam 😊

The impulse to write things down is a peculiarly compulsive one, inexplicable to those who do not share it, useful only accidentally, only secondarily, in the way that any compulsion tries to justify itself. - Joan Didion

Articles

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Howard Hughes: eccentric, rich, and unconventional. Think Elon Musk in flares; he was a man who truly liked to explore life. So, when he announced in 1972 that he was building a state-of-the-art ship to mine for manganese on the ocean floor, no one was very surprised…

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Only Three This Month

Sam H Arnold — Fri, 26 Jun 2026 13:03:31 GMT

Throughout this newsletter, I have always said that reading should be about pleasure, not numbers. That is why I am happy to show you all that I only read three books this month. Life got in the way.

Mythos - Stephen Fry ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Stephen Fry’s Mythos is a fascinating retelling of the classics that breathes vibrant, witty life into the ancient Greek myths. Fry approaches these age-old tales of gods, monsters, and mortals with a deep love and a dry, modern humour that makes them incredibly accessible.

As an experience, it is incredibly easy to listen to. The prose flows beautifully, and the sheer joy Fry has for the subject matter is infectious. However, Greek mythology is famously complex, packed with a staggering number of characters, shifting alliances, and overlapping genealogies. Because of all that information, I found myself thinking I might have been better off reading it than listening to it. It is a lot to take in as an audiobook, and there were times when I wished I could flip back a few pages to double-check a family tree or a specific god’s lineage.

That being said, the audiobook format has one massive, unbeatable selling point: Stephen Fry reads it. His performance is flawless. He voices the petulant Olympian gods and the tragic mortals with distinct, theatrical personalities, making the entire journey feel like a cosy, fireside storytelling session.

If you are looking for a brilliant, accessible primer on Greek mythology, this is a masterpiece. Just be prepared for a massive influx of names and details—and perhaps keep a notepad handy, or pair the audiobook with a physical copy so you can fully appreciate the incredible depth of Fry’s research!

Sweet Thursday - John Steinbeck ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

There is a distinct, nostalgic pleasure in returning to the world of Monterey with John Steinbeck’s Sweet Thursday. It was absolutely lovely to spend time with these characters again, revisiting the eccentric, colourful cast of the post-war Cannery Row. Checking in on Doc, Hazel, and the rest of the gang felt like catching up with old friends after a long absence.

That being said, I have to admit that I didn’t like it quite as much as Cannery Row. Where the first book felt like a series of effortless, beautifully drifting vignettes, this sequel has a slightly more structured, almost romantic-comedy plot that didn’t capture the same lightning in a bottle for me.

However, in fairness to Steinbeck, that might be more about my reading mood than the book itself. Sometimes we pick up a book wanting a very specific atmosphere, and if our headspace doesn’t align with the story’s tempo, it can alter our overall enjoyment.

Sweet Thursday is undeniably charming, whimsical, and written with Steinbeck’s trademark empathy and humour, so it may simply deserve another look when my reading appetite is in a different place.

Ultimately, it remains a delightful, easy-going companion piece to a classic. If you love the characters of Cannery Row, it is still a journey well worth taking to see where life’s currents have carried them.

Mad Ship - Robin Hobb ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

I am absolutely blown away by this book. Having now fully immersed myself in this world, I can confidently say that this trilogy is so much better than the first (The Farseer Trilogy). The scale, the ambition, and the sheer depth of what Robin Hobb is doing here is on an entirely different level.

There is so much to unpack on such a deep level with the world-building and the lore. Hobb doesn’t just build a fantasy setting; she crafts an ancient, living history that slowly unravels before your eyes. The characters are brilliant, and having even more of them take centre stage for this instalment made the narrative feel incredibly rich. In particular, I love the Rain Wild Traders—their unique culture, their mysterious environment, and their physical transformations add a fascinating dimension to the story.

I’ve noticed a real pattern in my reading lately: I don’t know what it is about fantasy, but in almost all the series I have loved, the second book has always been my favourite. Whether it’s the escalating stakes, the familiarity with the cast, or the expansion of the world, Mad Ship perfectly fits this trend. The addition of complex political intrigue adds another fantastic layer for me, transforming the story from a seafaring adventure into a high-stakes struggle for power and survival.

My original plan was to pace myself and read this trilogy slowly over the course of the year. However, Hobb’s writing has completely ruined that plan! I am itching to move onto the last in the trilogy immediately. Yet, at the same time, I feel a wave of sadness knowing that I won’t spend any more time with them once it’s over.

This book is that rare thing that left me totally satisfied and completely immersed in the world. It is a flawless masterclass in epic fantasy, and I am utterly captivated.

What was your favourite read of June?

The Moirai Shadow

Sam H Arnold — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 13:00:42 GMT

Just as I said two weeks ago, here is the first piece of fiction I am sharing with you. I was so surprised when I found out it won runner-up in the competition I entered it for this week!

So, please dive into Kathy’s isolated work at the oil rig and experience the horror she brings.

The Moirai Shadow

Kathy stood back, shielding her eyes as the rotor blades whipped the air into a frenzy. She took one last look at Lindon’s silhouette behind the glass before the helicopter began its ascent. Mist swirled around the platform, clinging to the iron struts and giving the rig a ghostly, skeletal appearance. The machine hovered for a moment, suspended two feet above the deck; on the far side, the heavy door slammed shut with a metallic echo, and then it rose, vanishing into the grey.

Kathy turned away, unable to watch him leave despite the promise that they would be reunited in a fortnight. They had rowed about her staying behind last night, but she had remained firm. She needed to see the project through, to shut the rig down properly and organise a year’s worth of research before returning to the mainland.

Feeling foolish, she turned back to watch the helicopter cut across the sky, now no larger than a child’s toy. She followed it with her eyes until the speck vanished over the horizon. All she was left with now was the endless, churning sea, the howling wind, and her skeleton staff: three scientists and two security guards.

It had all started a year ago when she was appointed to head a research team on this decommissioned oil rig. Their remit was to study a strange strain of prehistoric algae. What started as a routine discovery mission shifted the moment the results came back. The algae, nicknamed Moirai, turned out to be more virulent than anthrax. Six months ago, the military had moved in. Now, they were being told the rig was finally being mothballed. Or so they thought.

Kathy retreated to her quarters. The wind threw itself against the glass, making the frames rattle in their surrounds. The room had felt homely when she shared it with Lindon; now, it felt hollowed out and deserted, much like the rest of the superstructure. She pulled the curtains shut. There was nothing to see anyway, just endless black water stretching in all directions. Two weeks. Fourteen days, and she would put this episode behind her to start a new chapter.

A sharp knock at the door broke her trance. Jane, tall and blonde, filled the doorway. “Lindon got off okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. No problems,” Kathy replied, forcing a small smile.

Jane walked over and wrapped her arms around her. “You’ll be back with him before you know it. Until then, we’ve plenty to keep us busy.”

Kathy embraced her friend tightly. “I know. Where’s Tom?”

“Cleaning out Lab Three. We’re almost done; he’s packed everything he can. The goons were circling earlier, making sure nothing ‘confidential’ was being nicked.”

“Were we stupid, Jane?” Kathy asked quietly. “Not to see where this was going?”

“I’m not even sure the company knew. Let’s just get this over with and get home.”

Kathy nodded. When they had first arrived, she had revelled in the isolation. Now, the rig felt like a cage.

“Coming down for dinner?” Jane asked.

“I don’t fancy it. Do you mind if I bail? I think I’m just going to sleep.”

“Okay, sweetheart. We’ll see you tomorrow. Start the countdown, only fourteen days.” Jane gave her a final squeeze before stepping out, the heavy door clanging shut behind her.

Despite her racing mind, Kathy fell into a deep, heavy sleep, drained by the emotional toll of the departure. She woke with a start as her door flew open, hitting the wall with a bang.

“You need to come. Now!” Jane screamed.

“What? What time is it?” Kathy sat up, disoriented.

“Two in the morning. Kathy, something awful has happened.” Jane was hysterical, practically dragging Kathy from the bed. Kathy grabbed a hoodie, pulling it over her pyjamas, and followed Jane into the corridor. The rig moaned in the gale, the very foundations seemingly vibrating with dread.

They raced down the internal staircases to the lower levels, to the pool where the submersible was docked. As they reached the platform, Kathy saw Tom. He looked ashen.

“Thank God,” he breathed.

“What’s going on?”

“I couldn’t sleep, so I came down to start stripping the sub. The water usually calms me... that’s when I found them. I should have known something was wrong; the door was already unlocked.”

“Found who?” Kathy asked.

“Bert and Ernie. The guards.”

The room was circular, dominated by the gaping hole in the floor where the ocean churned below. On the far side of the platform, Kathy saw a tangled mess of hair and gore. A few feet away lay a second, indistinct mound.

Kathy knelt as close as she dared, the metallic stench of blood coating the back of her throat. She reached out to turn the head towards her to identify the man. She recoiled instantly. The nose had been sheared off. One eye had been torn from its socket, dangling against a pale cheek by a single, white nerve cord. The lower jaw was gone, along with an arm and a foot. Even after six months of daily contact, she couldn’t tell which guard it was.

“The second one is worse,” Tom whispered. It looked as though the body had been dismantled; limbs had been torn from their sockets and flung across the cold steel floor.

“Who did this?” Jane sobbed.

“I don’t know,” Kathy said, her voice trembling. “But we need to get out of here in case they’re still in the room. Move!”

She shoved the others toward the exit, slamming the door and sliding the deadbolt. “Help me!” She began heaving a heavy equipment cabinet across the doorway to barricade it.

They spent the remainder of the night huddled in the mess room. No one ate. They simply clutched mugs of tea for warmth, never taking a sip. They ran through every scenario, but none made sense. Tom suggested an intruder, but the scanners showed no movement since the helicopter had departed twelve hours earlier.

“Maybe someone got off the chopper?” Jane suggested.

“I was there,” Kathy insisted. “From landing to take-off. No one got off, I promise you.”

The only explanation, however impossible, was an animal.

“But what animal?” Tom asked.

“Maybe something we don’t know about,” Kathy replied darkly. “After all, we didn’t know about Moirai a year ago.”

By seven that morning, the research didn’t matter. The evidence against the government didn’t matter. They just wanted to live. They headed to the communications centre to demand an emergency evacuation. Tom dropped into the chair and began toggling switches frantically.

The radio was dead. No static, no lights, no life. Kathy saw silent tears track through the dust on Jane’s face.

“Don’t worry, we have the satellite phones,” Kathy said, though her heart was hammering. She opened the storage locker. Her stomach dropped. The cradles were empty. Every single phone was gone.

“Fuck,” Tom whispered over her shoulder.

“We’re stuck. We’re going to die here!” Jane’s voice rose to a scream. “I’m taking the lifeboat. I don’t care about the storm, I’m not staying here to be eaten!”

Jane bolted for the door.

“Jane, wait!” they yelled, racing after her. Kathy caught her by the arm. “You’ll die out there in this swell! We stay here, together. We stay away from the pool and the water. It’s only thirteen days. When the scheduled pickup arrives, we leave. We just have to wait it out.”

Kathy wished she felt even half as confident as she sounded.

For the next ten days, they lived in a state of hyper-vigilance. They moved as a pack, never leaving one person alone, even outside the washrooms. The wind battered the rig, throwing salt spray against the high windows, but the interior remained deathly silent.

Kathy didn’t know what woke her on their final night. She opened her eyes and felt the wrongness of the room immediately. The familiar sounds of her friends’ breathing were gone. The room was silent.

Fuming that they had left her alone, she hurried to the control room. The thermal sensors showed two heat signatures on the external deck. What on earth are they doing out there?

She pulled on an oilskin coat and pushed through the heavy exterior door. The wind nearly took her off her feet. Reasoning that a fall into the Atlantic would be fatal, she threw the switches for the floodlights, illuminating the platform in a harsh, white glare. For protection, she grabbed a fire axe from the emergency red box.

She moved toward the corner where the sensors had tripped, the winch station. The machinery was whirring, the cable inching slowly downward. She leaned over the railing. In the churning foam below, she saw the dark, triangular fins of sharks.

Then, the floodlights hit the man dangling from the winch. When he looked up, Kathy found herself staring into the terrified eyes of Tom. He didn’t scream; he couldn’t. He opened his mouth and a wet, gargling sound emerged just as a shark breached the surface, latching onto his leg and dragging the cable taut.

Kathy lunged for the controls to reverse the winch. The electronics had been smashed to pieces. She searched for the manual crank handle, missing. She tried to jam the axe handle into the gear socket, but it wouldn’t fit.

Hope drained out of her. She looked back over the edge. Tom was gone from the waist down, the sea turning a violent crimson as the frenzy intensified. He looked into her eyes one last time before the light faded from his.

A piercing scream erupted from the far side of the rig. A woman’s scream.

Kathy ran. Halfway across the deck, she realised with a jolt of horror that she had left the axe behind.

She found Jane. Her friend was standing perfectly still, her head locked into the frame of the industrial crusher. The machine had been tilted on its side, the heavy hydraulic plates moving inward with agonising slowness. Jane was handcuffed to the frame, a metal rod bolted behind her neck to keep her spine straight.

“Talk to me!” Kathy sobbed.

Jane opened her mouth. Kathy gagged. Jane’s tongue had been removed, leaving only a jagged, bloody stump. The plates were already beginning to fold Jane’s ears back.

“I’ll get you out, I promise!” Kathy screamed. She grabbed a metal pole from a nearby bannister, using it as a lever to try and pry the plates apart. The industrial hydraulics didn’t even flicker; the pole snapped like a twig. Jane’s eyes turned bloodshot from the pressure. She looked through Kathy, her gaze fixing on something behind her.

Then, Jane’s head gave way like a ripe melon.

An arm snaked around Kathy’s shoulders, pulling her back. A familiar, warm voice whispered in her ear.

“You really shouldn’t have chosen them over me, Kathy.”

He released his grip. Kathy spun around, staring into the eyes of the only man she had ever loved. “Lindon? Why?”

“All my life, I’ve been second best,” he said, his voice eerily calm. “Second to my brother, second in my class. You were supposed to be different. But you put me second to them. You stayed for them instead of leaving with me.”

“But... I saw you leave. The helicopter...”

“You saw me get in. You didn’t look long enough to see me get out. You were too keen to get back to your friends.”

Kathy remembered the door slamming. He had closed it from the inside and slipped out the other side while the mist shielded him.

“We’re going to take a romantic trip to the bottom of the ocean in the sub,” he smiled.

“The hull isn’t rated for that depth, Lindon. You know that.”

“I know. We’ll be together for eternity. Now, are you walking, or am I carrying you?”

“I’m walking,” she spat.

The stench of the pool room was unbearable. He shoved her through the door toward the two putrefied remains of the guards.

“Sit there,” he commanded, pointing to the gore-slicked floor between the corpses.

Kathy collapsed, sobbing as the fluids from the bodies soaked into her clothes. Lindon ignored her, humming to himself as he punched in the launch sequence for the submarine.

Her leg brushed against a severed limb. She began to gag, but then she saw it: the glint of a combat knife tucked into the dead guard’s boot. Moving with agonising slowness, she kept her eyes on Lindon’s back. She slid the blade free and hid it up her sleeve.

Lindon turned with a flourish. “Finished. I thought we could go watch the sharks. Shall we?”

He grabbed her by the shoulder as they reached the sub’s hatch.

“Take your clothes off. You stink of them.”

She began to undress, her hands shaking. As Lindon bent down to unlatch the heavy circular hatch, Kathy lunged. She shoved him with every ounce of strength she possessed and bolted for the exit.

Lindon was fast. He caught her by the hair, yanking her head back. Kathy spun, the hidden blade flashing in the light. She buried the knife deep into his eye socket.

He shrieked, releasing her. She threw herself through the door and slammed it shut just as he surged forward. The heavy steel edge struck the hilt of the knife, driving the blade through his skull. He fell backwards.

Michael Abrahams settled the helicopter onto the ‘H’ with practised ease. He was here to evacuate the remaining five staff before the government sanitised the rig; blowing it to pieces to bury the Moirai secret forever.

He spotted a lone woman slumped against the railing. He hopped out of the cockpit and approached her. Michael had worked with many veterans, but he had never seen a look as haunting as the one in this woman’s eyes.

“You Kathy?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Where are the others?”

She didn’t look at him. “There aren’t any. It’s just me. Can we go?”

Every bit of Michael’s training told him to ask more questions. But the sight of her shaking hands stopped him. He helped her into the cabin.

As he climbed back into the pilot’s seat and started the rotors, Michael felt a chill that his thermal flight suit couldn’t block. Looking back at the rig through the glass, he felt as though the Devil itself was watching them depart. The best thing for this place, he decided, was for it to be reduced to pieces.

How to Read More Books

Sam H Arnold — Fri, 12 Jun 2026 13:02:59 GMT

Here are more practical tips on how to increase the number of books you read. However, a word of caution: this should be so that you enjoy more books, not so you can reach some arbitrary reading goal or compete with others. The main principle of all reading should be to enjoy it.

Audiobooks

When I started listening to audiobooks, I heard all the advice from people who listened on 2x speed and thought, how? The truth is I still do not listen at that speed. But there are books where you can increase the speed, and every little helps.

My biggest tip is not to set yourself a rigid speed that you always listen to. Instead, adjust this for each book; some narrators naturally read more quickly than others. For example, recently I listened to an Elly Griffiths book on 1.8x speed. My next read, Mythos by Stephen Fry, I slowed down to 1.2x.

Another way to fully absorb the books you read is to tandem read. Simply put, you listen to the audiobook whilst reading the physical book. This takes some juggling to get the speed right, but it is a truly immersive way to read.

Quit Hard Books

I worry when people say they have never DNF’d (did not finish) a book. There are so many books in the world that no one will ever read them all, so why struggle through a book you are not enjoying?

Do not be afraid to say, “No, this is not for me,” and walk away. Sometimes you might come back to the book later, and it is simply a case of wrong book, wrong time. Sometimes the book isn’t for you.

This is especially true if you follow BookTok or Bookstagram. Books are recommended there all the time, and you feel like you will miss out if you do not read the book that everyone is talking about. The truth is you will not be the only person who did not like a popular book, and there are too many others you could love instead.

Read what you love

There is a lot of snobbery around reading, and I have no idea why. “You must read the classics.” “If you haven’t read any Dickens, are you even a reader?” It is all rubbish. Whether you are into fantasy, romantasy, or plain smut, read what you love.

Never let anyone shame you for the books you are reading. Because no matter what you are reading, you are accomplishing something many people don’t: reading a book.

Fun fact: when Fifty Shades of Grey was released, so many people did not want others to see what they were reading that sales of Kindle devices doubled.

Take a book everywhere with you

This last tip is so simple I shouldn’t have to write it, but if you want to read more, you have to have a book with you everywhere you go. Every day, I carry a book in my bag so I can read when I get five minutes.

If you want to keep your books beautiful and can’t bear the thought of throwing them in your bag, then get an e-reader—even if it is just an app on your phone.

You will be surprised how these five minutes, grabbed here and there, can mount up to be a whole extra book in a month.

What is your number one tip to read more? Pop it in the comments and let us all know.

Drop me a comment: Have you read any of the books mentioned let me know in the comments.

Subscribe today: If you enjoyed this article then consider subscribing for more

The Sunday Shake-Up

Sam H Arnold — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 07:02:01 GMT

Me and my girls went bowling in Spring break. For those that don’t know we still have another 8 weeks of school before the Summer holidays in the UK.

Just a heads-up, this is the last newsletter you’ll get from me on a Sunday. Before you all start crying and begging me—no, the newsletter isn’t stopping. The day is simply changing to Friday.

Now, for those of you who hate change, like my daughter, I am hoping you will let my little newsletter nestle in your inbox until Sunday. You can then pick it up and read it as part of your usual routine.

For those of you who embrace a little chaos, you will receive the next edition on Friday. It will continue to land every other week. In the opposite weeks, when I am not telling you about my writing journey, I will be sharing my reading with you on The Book Chronicles.

Of course, if you like a little murder, mayhem, and history, you can find this every Monday and Wednesday on Murder Mayhem UK.

The other change you will notice in this newsletter is that I am going to start sharing some of my fiction short stories with you. They have been waiting on my main page for you to explore since this newsletter began, but I have not yet sent them to you via email for you to enjoy.

On 19th June, you will receive your first short story from me—a horror story set on an oil rig. You can check out my other short stories here:

Fiction

I really hope you stay with me for this ride.

Until next time: Find the time, find the words, find the way.

Sam 😊

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. — Winston Churchill

Articles

The Tragic Mystery of Delvonte Tisdale

It was the 15th November 2010, when an unidentified driver discovered a body in the middle of a residential street in the Boston suburb Milton. The body was that of a mutilated Black youth. He wore n…

4 months ago · 4 likes · Sam H Arnold

The Irish Potato Famine was the worst in Europe during the 19th century. Had the British government acted differently, it is without question that they could have saved lives…

The Irish Potato Famine

4 months ago · 3 likes · Sam H Arnold

How Queen Victoria Became the Head of an International Drug Cartel

It would be an understatement to say that the British love tea. This was as true in Victorian London as it was during the Second World War, when Winston Churchill had severe reservations about rationing it…

4 months ago · 3 likes · Sam H Arnold

Could This Be My Favourite Book Ever?

A very mixed bag this month, most were good but did not wow me. One though I think could be a contender for one of my favourite books ever…

4 months ago · 1 like · 1 comment · Sam H Arnold

Could This Be My Favourite Book Ever?

Sam H Arnold — Fri, 29 May 2026 13:03:39 GMT

A very mixed bag this month, most were good but did not wow me. One though I think could be a contender for one of my favourite books ever.

The Hobbit - J.R.R Tolkien ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Returning to The Hobbit is always a joy, and I found it to be just as good on a re-read as all the other times I have read it. There is a timeless quality to this story that makes it the perfect introduction to the work of Middle-earth.

The amazing characters of the company are so well-defined, but Bilbo will always be one of my favourites. His transformation from a comfort-loving hobbit to a brave adventurer is one of the most satisfying arcs in all of literature.

This particular read was made even more special because I listened to it on audiobook read by Andy Serkis. Hearing the man who brought the character to life on screen perform the narration is a transformative experience. His Gollum cannot be rivalled; the “Riddles in the Dark” chapter is absolutely spine-tingling and brings a level of authenticity to the book that no other narrator could achieve.

Whether you are a lifelong fan of Tolkien or a newcomer to the series, this is a must-experience version of the story. It is a whimsical, dangerous, and heart-filled adventure that serves as the perfect foundation for the epic journey that follows in The Lord of the Rings.

The Wolf Den - Elodie Harper ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Most historical fiction set in the Roman Empire focuses on senators, soldiers, or emperors, but The Wolf Den does something far more profound. It takes us inside the Wolf Den, the notorious brothel of Pompeii, to tell the story of a group of she-wolves (lupae). Yet, more than just a historical account, this is a deeply moving story about female friendship and survival.

The history is incredibly vivid, but it never overwhelms the narrative. Instead, the story centres entirely on the women while giving a unique look into daily Pompeii life. You feel the dust of the streets, the heat of the tavern kitchens, and the claustrophobia of their small stone rooms. Elodie Harper manages to build a world that feels completely real, populated by women who are fiercely alive despite the cages they are kept in.

What I respected most about the writing is how it handles the brutal reality of their lives. It is a brilliantly told story that does not go into graphic sexual detail too much, but still allows you to feel the true horror of what these women go through. The trauma and the loss are tangible, yet the book never feels exploitative. Instead, the emotional heart of the novel lies in the quiet moments of solidarity, the shared laughter, and the small ways these women protect and keep each other human.

Though this is the first in a trilogy, it finishes in a very satisfactory way on its own. There is a complete arc here that leaves you feeling a sense of quiet triumph rather than a frustrating cliffhanger. While I will definitely read on, there is no frantic urgency to rush into the next book immediately. It is a story that invites you to pause, appreciate the resilience of these women, and let their voices linger in your mind.

Burning Bright - John Steinbeck ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

When people think of John Steinbeck, they usually think of Of Mice and Men, The Grapes of Wrath, or East of Eden. Yet, tucked away in his bibliography is Burning Bright, a powerful, beautiful book that is not spoken about nearly as much as his other stories, but absolutely deserves to be recognised as a masterpiece.

What makes this book so structurally brilliant is its design. Steinbeck places the same four characters in three completely different locations, a circus, a farm, and a ship at sea. Despite the shifting backdrops, their names, relationships, and core conflict remain identical. By stripping away a fixed setting, Steinbeck proves that the struggle at the heart of the story is a universal truth, completely unconfined to any single individual, class, or era.

At its core, Burning Bright teaches us that genetics mean absolutely nothing in parenting. It is a fierce, deeply emotional defence of the idea that fatherhood and motherhood are defined by love, sacrifice, and the choice to care for a child, rather than bloodlines. In a world obsessed with legacy and biological inheritance, Steinbeck’s message is both radical and profoundly comforting.

It is a short, intense, and deeply poetic read. The prose has a rhythmic, almost theatrical quality that elevates the drama to something mythic. If you have loved Steinbeck’s more famous novels, you owe it to yourself to seek this one out. It is a stunning, overlooked gem that will completely change how you think about family.

This may be one of my favourite books ever.

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter - Stephen Graham ⭐️ ⭐️

Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a book that offers a truly fascinating mix of horror and historical literature. It blends the rugged, brutal reality of the historical frontier with dark, supernatural elements, creating an atmosphere that feels incredibly immersive.

To be completely honest, I liked the book, but I didn’t quite love it. My main struggle was that the first part took me a long time to get into. The setup and the world-building felt a bit slow to find their footing, and it required some patience to push through those opening chapters before the story really started to take hold.

However, once the momentum picked up, the supernatural elements made it worth the wait. I absolutely love a vampire novel, and this book provides a highly interesting spin on a famous trope. Setting vampires against the backdrop of historical buffalo hunting adds a gritty, raw edge to the lore that feels entirely fresh. It strips away the romanticised, polished versions of vampires we so often see and replaces them with something far more primal and suited to the harsh historical landscape.

If you have the patience to get through a slow-starting first act, this is a very unique read. It’s a creative genre-blend that historical fiction buffs and horror fans alike will find highly intriguing, even if the pacing isn’t always perfect.

What was your favourite read of May?

Drop me a comment: Have you read any of the books mentioned let me know in the comments.

Subscribe today: If you enjoyed this article then consider subscribing for more

What to do When the Motivation Tank is Empty.

Sam H Arnold — Sun, 24 May 2026 07:02:41 GMT

We’ve all been there. You stare at the blinking cursor. The cursor stares back. It’s a silent, digital standoff, and right now, the cursor is winning. That has been me this week.

Sometimes there is not enough time to wait for the mythical inspiration fairy to turn up. Sometimes you just have to write. Even though your motivation is down a hole. If famous writers only wrote when they were motivated, then most of the books, articles, and newsletters out there would never exist.

I have a few methods I use when I feel like this. Maybe one of these will help you when the writing slump hits.

Lower the Bar

Perfectionism is the absolute enemy of progress. When you lack motivation, the thought of writing a masterpiece feels exhausting. So, don’t try to.

Permit yourself to write absolute rubbish. Tell yourself, “I am going to write the worst first draft in human history.” Ryan Holiday talks a lot about how the only goal he sets for himself is two crappy pages a day. It frees your brain from the pressure. You can easily fix a page of bad writing; you can’t fix a blank page.

Change the Scenery

If you’ve been sitting at the same desk, staring at the same monitor for hours, your brain goes into a stagnation loop. Break the circuit.

Move to the kitchen table, sit on the floor, or head to a local cafe. If the screen itself is the problem, step away from it entirely. Grab a notebook and a favourite pen, or pull out an iPad and an Apple Pencil to scribble things down by hand.

There is a strange, tactile magic in physical writing that often bypasses the mental blocks standard typing creates.

Use the 10-Minute Micro-Timer

When motivation is zero, committing to a three-hour writing session feels like climbing Everest. It’s too intimidating, so you procrastinate instead. I have even been known to favour the washing-up over writing.

Trick your brain by bargaining with it.

Set a timer on your watch or phone for just 10 minutes. Tell yourself that you only have to write until the alarm goes off, and if you still want to quit after that, you have full permission to walk away.

Nine times out of ten, once you break the friction of starting, the momentum carries you right past the 10-minute mark.

Follow the Energy, Not the Outline

If you’re working on a longer piece, you do not have to write it chronologically. If chapter one or the introduction feels like wading through wet cement, skip it.

Look ahead at your outline and find the one section, scene, or tip that actually sparks a tiny bit of interest. Write that part first.

Writing is modular; you can stitch the pieces together later. Capturing a bit of genuine enthusiasm anywhere in the piece will help generate the momentum you need to tackle the drier bits.

How do you tackle the blank page when you’re feeling completely uninspired? Let me know your go-to tricks in the comments!

Until next time: Find the time, find the words, find the way.

Sam 😊

You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. — Jack London

Articles

When the tragic accident happened with the Titan in 2023, I remember thinking to myself: what made these people get into what was nothing short of a bean tin to travel to the bottom of the ocean…

The Hindenburg Disaster

5 months ago · 4 likes · 2 comments · Sam H Arnold

The Assassination of James A. Garfield

When we talk about presidential assassinations, we talk about Lincoln and JFK. Some might also mention the many failed attempts on Trump, but few mention James A. Garfield…

4 months ago · 4 likes · 1 comment · Sam H Arnold

Christopher Marlowe has always held a special place in my heart. It isn’t just because of his legendary status in English literature, but a more personal connection: he was born and raised right in the area where I live. I’ve spent many an evening at the Marlowe Theatre, named in his honour, watching pantomimes and plays in the very city that shaped him…

The Enigma of Canterbury

5 months ago · Sam H Arnold

Introducing my New Adventure on Substack

Sam H Arnold — Sun, 10 May 2026 07:01:46 GMT

This week was my birthday and if you count the candles you can see how old I was. Yes it was a fire hazard but my eldest insisted.

This might be the craziest thing I have done to date, but I have started a new Substack not a newsletter but a completely new Substack dedicated to my working life as a full-time teacher of students with additional needs.

The new Substack felt the right way to go, the content is completely different and nothing I have ever included in my writing. Yes, I will need to grow it, but many of my followers here may not be interested in education.

In the newsletter, I plan to share educational resources, tips and tricks. Over thirty years of teaching have meant I have created a massive amount of resources and these are what I want to share with you all. So whether you are a parent or a teacher there should be something to help you here.

To give you an example, one of the key texts in the GCSE English Literature exam is An Inspector Calls, so this week I shared a revision guide for the book, covering the key information a student will need before their exam. With my knowledge of SEN (special educational needs), this is not a boring sheet of notes; it is broken up in a way that all can appreciate. If you are interest there is a link below to it.

This might seem like a lot of work and it is, but this feels right to share what I have learned over all these years and to put my company on Substack which is fast becoming one of the leading platforms in generating contacts.

Check it out if you are interested.

Until next time: Find the time, find the words, find the way.

Sam 😊

Mistakes are learning opportunities.

Articles

Some great thinkers considered Atlantis a fictional island Plato had made up to teach philosophy, whilst others consider that he based it on a real place lost to history. There are even mentions of i…

The Mystery of Atlantis

5 months ago · 5 likes · 2 comments · Sam H Arnold

The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations

The weather was bright on the day The Great Exhibition opened. All the dignitaries gathered to catch a glimpse of Queen Victoria and Albert; this was the culmination of many late nights for Albert…

5 months ago · 3 likes · 1 comment · Sam H Arnold

The Library of Alexandria

The famous Library of Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the most important repositories of knowledge in the ancient world. Built in the fourth century B.C., it flourished for some six centuries, serving as the cultural and intellectual centre of the ancient Hellenistic world…

5 months ago · 2 likes · Sam H Arnold

Hearing Versus Holding

Sam H Arnold — Fri, 01 May 2026 13:02:43 GMT

Half of the books I read this month, I actually listened to which is still reading before anyone comments. My main read this month was a history non-fiction and I have found myself drawn to non-fiction at the moment which is how my reading goes, cyclical in nature I go between genres.

Here are the four books I read two audiobooks and two paperbacks.

The Killing Time - Elly Griffiths ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

The Killing Time is a good second edition to this new series. While I’ll admit the characters are still growing on me, I find that it is always hard to start a new series when you are so in love with the characters from an author’s previous work. However, Elly Griffiths is starting to find her rhythm with this new cast.

What makes this particular series special for me is the addition of Victorian London. As a massive nerd when it comes to that period in time, seeing the characters navigate the fog, the history, and the atmosphere of the 19th century was a total delight. The time-travel element adds a unique layer to the mystery that sets it apart from your standard procedural.

This is an easy, quick crime read—the perfect kind of book for when you want to rest and not have to think too much. It provides a great balance of intrigue and escapism without being overly taxing. If you enjoy a bit of historical flair mixed with your mystery, this is a solid choice. I’m looking forward to seeing where the series goes next.

Victoria, The Queen - Julia Baird ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Victoria: The Queen is nothing short of a masterpiece of research. What makes this biography stand out is how incredibly easy it is to read; Julia Baird writes with a flow and grace that makes the history feel like reading a novel.

Queen Victoria has always been my favourite queen, if one can have such a thing, and this book only solidified that for me. She was a fascinating, wonderful woman, complex, stubborn, and deeply human. Baird peels back the layers of the “widow in black” persona to reveal the passionate, vibrant, and often misunderstood woman underneath.

The depth of information provided is staggering, making this a must-read for history fans. I was a little disappointed that there was no mention of Jack the Ripper, especially considering how that shadow loomed over the later years of her reign. Still, the rest of the book is so rich with detail that it hardly detracts from the experience.

From her isolated childhood to her legendary partnership with Albert and her long years as a monarch, this biography covers it all with stunning clarity. It is an essential portrait of a woman who defined an era.

Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Slaughterhouse-Five is a book that defies easy categorisation. I’m not entirely sure what genre this falls into, and honestly, that is part of its genius. It weaves together parts that are historical fiction, parts that feel almost autobiographical, and elements of fantasy and sci-fi. It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t fit into a box, because the result is a brilliant read that is engaging from the very first page.

The story follows Billy Pilgrim, a man who has become “unstuck in time,” moving between his experiences as a chaplain’s assistant in WWII, his life in suburban America, and his time in an alien zoo on the planet Tralfamadore. While that sounds chaotic, Vonnegut’s prose is so grounded and conversational that it never feels confusing.

As a smaller book, it is also a quicker read, but it carries a weight that lingers long after you finish it. It deals with the horrors of the firebombing of Dresden and the nature of free will with a “so it goes” attitude that is both heartbreaking and profoundly wise.

This was my first foray into Vonnegut’s world, and it certainly won’t be my last. I will definitely be reading more by this author. It is a must-read for anyone who appreciates literature that pushes boundaries and makes you look at the world a little differently.

The Hallmarked Man - Robert Galbraith ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

In true Strike tradition, Robert Galbraith has delivered an intricate crime thriller that is impossible to put down. This is a masterclass in plotting, weaving a complex story through many cases and suspects, keeping you guessing until the very final reveal.

The heart of this series has always been the relationship between our leads, and in this instalment, the combination of Robin and Strike is as powerful as ever. Their chemistry, professional respect, and the evolving tension between them remain the engine that drives the story forward.

I honestly think this is my favourite of all the Strike books, though I admit I probably said that about the last one, too. Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) has a way of making each mystery feel fresh while deepening our connection to the recurring cast. The attention to detail, this time involving the fascinating world of silver and masonry, is just incredible.

My only complaint is a personal one: how dare she leave it on a cliffhanger! After hundreds of pages of buildup, the ending leaves you desperate for the next chapter in Strike and Robin’s lives. I really hope J.K. Rowling is writing the next one as we speak, because I need to know what happens next immediately—a brilliant, addictive addition to the series.

What was your favourite book from April?

Drop me a comment: Have you read any of the books mentioned let me know in the comments.

Subscribe today: If you enjoyed this article then consider subscribing for more

The Big Mistake Everyone is Making on Substack

Sam H Arnold — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 07:02:18 GMT

Finished the holiday’s with a trip to our local farm.

There is a common mistake that writers are making with their Substack and it is a problem that I was making until very recently. They are relying on their header and footer to drive their subscriptions. The problem with this is that these sign-ups only show up on emails which means the person has already subscribed.

Yes, there is a subscribe button when people find your posts but it is not your personal message to your readers.

If a person finds you through a search engine, a social media post, or organically through Substack, they will not see your header or footer.

So how do you remedy this?

The solution is simple, take that information you are using and place it into Substack’s new template feature. It is easy to do: go into a post, click template, add new, and put the information in there. Then when you produce a post slip the template in where you want to. You don’t have to keep producing the same sign-up -templates take care of that, but those who access your articles through one of the methods previously mentioned will see it.

Until next time: Find the time, find the words, find the way.

Sam 😊

Your vibe attracts your tribe. — Margie Warrell

Reading Update

I have hit a bit of a reading slump at the moment, I can find many things to do rather than pick up a book. When I get to this stage I never push it I let my brain rest and know that I will get back to reading at some point.

Articles

The Grooming of Breck Bednar

Breck Bednar represented every parent’s modern nightmare: he met someone he didn’t know online. If you have children, you understand the dread this causes. Tragically, Breck’s story ended in the most…

6 months ago · 5 likes · 5 comments · Sam H Arnold

The Oxford Scenius That Re-Enchanted the World

As someone who writes, reads avidly, and is obsessed with history, there is nothing I love more than a group of writers coming together to hone their craft; especially when those writers produced the books that shaped my life…

5 months ago · 3 likes · 3 comments · Sam H Arnold

Was Frank Abagnale Jr. Telling the Truth?

When we talked about scammers on Wednesday, one name was probably at the front of your mind: Frank Abagnale. If you have watched Catch Me If You Can, he is the character Leonardo DiCaprio plays. He even makes a small cameo appearance in the film…

6 months ago · 5 likes · 3 comments · Sam H Arnold

Paying It Forward - Your Writing Questions Answered

Sam H Arnold — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 07:02:53 GMT

Fun with my daughter in the park this week as it is Easter holidays

Substack released a wealth of new features this month, including drop caps and templates. Although, I welcome belonging to a progressive platform that adds new features all the time a drop capital is not going to get your readers and subscribers.

Do you know what will?

Quality writing resonates with your readers. Whether you write about history, as I do, or the mating cycle of a tortoise as long as people are interested they will subscribe.

Many marketers will tell you they can train you to do this, but I am here to tell you that writing should be a passion and you improve the more you do it. Still want to learn more then find a free YouTube video or buy a book.

Having said that I am sure there are questions that niggle at you. That was when I started and I was lucky enough to have two amazing mentors who answered my mundane questions for free, when I started on Medium. Shout out to and .

I am also here to answer the questions that niggle so hit reply to this email and ask away. I will answer as many as I can, and in the next newsletter do a round-up for you all.

So whether it’s about books, writing, Substack, or history and crime hit reply and ask away.

The only stupid question is the one not asked

Until next time: Find the time, find the words, find the way.

Sam 😊

Articles

Fantasy, Classics and Disappointment

Every month I am shocked by how many books I have read. Reading should never be a competition so if you read one book this month then that is more than most people. Also bear in mind with this list that 50% of the books I read I listened to on audiobook in the car and my work requires a lot of driving which helps me devour the books I do…

6 months ago · 2 likes · 1 comment · Sam H Arnold

Why Smart People Fall for Famous Scams

Undoubtedly, some will read this article and think, “This would never happen to me.” To think that would be naive; I have nearly been caught a couple of times myself…

6 months ago · 4 likes · 1 comment · Sam H Arnold