A Flight of Fancy

What’s that then? Well, it’s currently the working title of the next Delamere Story. I am up to 70,000 words of the first draft, and things are coming together nicely. I wasn’t sure what this was going to be about (apart from a mystery), but not long after starting, I decided it was going to have as its background the theme of fathers and sons. Or, in the case of Delamere, Uncle Jack and ‘adopted’ nephew, Simeon, mirrored against a father and son relationship. It also encompasses smugglers, the countryside, a young man’s imagination and stories, folklore (to a certain extent) and something else which I will keep as a surprise.

There’s a mystery, of course, and for this one, we’re leaving London and heading to Suffolk. Be warned, dialect is being used, and there will be additions to Baxter’s Glossary.

That’s all for today, where it is 37° outside with 75% humidity. Eek! I have the fan on full blast, and my fingers are still sticking to the keyboard. But before I go…

MM Romantic Suspense

Deviant Desire is in this collection of 29 titles that includes work by Ann Barwell (Shadowboxing).

Got sizzling MM couples dodging bullets while dodging their feelings? These MM romantic suspense novels deserve the spotlight. Whether they’re protection specialists, former military, or civilians caught in deadly conspiracies, if they’re battling danger while battling attraction, they’re here.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/MMRsuspense/rql3a21who

Banyak & Fecks

I had to pick up a spare pair of glasses for Neil on Thursday, and this involved a walk, a boat, another walk, another boat and a climb. Our nearest optician is on a different island, Rhodes, and the only way to get there is by boat. So, I set off down the hill to catch the 10.15, and off I went. This boat takes about 90 minutes (others are faster, but I was in no hurry), and it’s a gentle, smooth crossing at this time of year, so I took a book to read.

Banyak & Fecks

I don’t often reread my own work, not unless I am fact checking within the story world, but I keep coming back to this book as one of my best. I won’t give you a synopsis, because it’s there on the Amazon page, but I will explain how the book came about and what it does. It is the prequel to all of The Clearwater Mysteries, and ends the day before ‘Deviant Desire’ begins. It tells how two of the main characters meet, Silas and Andrej are already friends at the start of Deviant Desire, but how come? That was how I started out, and that’s what the book takes us through. There are many trials and tribulations on their journey.

Andrej walks across half of Europe to escape Russian violence in his home, Ukraine. On the way he learns to perform circus tricks on horses, later turns to renting, and, desperate, finally finds passage to England. Silas leaves his home city to travel to London to raise money for his sisters after their mother dies. We experience a night in a casual ward at a workhouse, a house fire, the Bloody Sunday riots, slumming, and delve into the world of being gay in Victorian Britain.

It’s not a mystery, it’s a story about friendship in a horrid world, and I think that’s why I am so fond of it. I was able to concentrate on the relationships and characters without having to tie up clues and find solutions.

Anyway, I’d already recently read the first half, and managed to read the second half during my crossings there and back. All in all, on Thursday, I walked for six miles and did about 13,000 steps. In the book, Fecker walks from near Odessa through the mountains to Genoa. Mind you, it takes him three years, and as for his boat trip…

Apart from Silas and Andrej (Banyak & Fecks), we meet other characters in this book who come back later in the series. Doc Markland makes a cameo, there’s the evil photographer whose work comes back to haunt Silas in ‘Negative Exposure, we meet Eddy Lovemount who speaks of fancying a young telegraph boy called James Wright. There’s also Captain Kent of the Valentine who turns up in The Larkspur Legacy, and some of the boys who fall to the Ripper in Deviant Desire. Click to read the blurb.


Promo Today’s promo is for the Book-Mojo collection of mysteries, thrillers and adventure stories, with some of mine in there as Jackson and as James. Click the banner for a free browse.

WIP Update: Delamere Nine

Hi folks, just a quick update on Delamere Nine (untitled).

I am now up to 60,000 words of the first draft, and the story is chugging along. I am at that point of thinking, ‘Is this going in the right direction?’, but I never let that worry me for long. If it’s going in some direction, at least it hasn’t run out of fuel, so let’s see where we end up. It is, after all, only a first draft. I have a climax to head to, and I have no idea how I’m going to get my heroes into that tricky situation without it reading as contrived, but I will manage something. The joy then comes in the editing and rewriting in draft two onwards. All the hard work will have been done (the blasting out of the words), and I can then play around with the details and descriptions.

If you like, the first draft is like building a house on your own by hand. Once you’ve done the hard graft of putting it together, though, you can then decorate and furnish it, and finally, when yore happy with it, live in it.

So, right now I have got foundations and a ground floor, but have two more floors to build. So, I’ll get on and leave you with another promo idea. Click the banner for more details of these historical mystery and romance novels.

Mysterious Variety

Hello! The world is full of mystery and always has been, and that’s what makes the mystery genre so exciting. It offers so many possibilities to escape from the real world and dive into all manner of thrilling situations. And some that are calmer. Cosy mysteries such as ‘Home from Nowhere’, for example, where there’s no race to the finish line, or a slow-build mystery of self-discovery as found in ‘Guardians of the Poor.’ That book is currently in a collection called July Kindle Unlimited Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, & Crime Reads. It’s a bit of a title, but it leads you to 95 titles all available on KU.

The Witchling

I am two people in that collection, Jackson and James, and you’ll find my ‘The Witchling’ is in there. This is the second book in the Saddling trilogy, and part of the blurb reads: Six months after the life-changing events of The Saddling, Tom Carey must solve the witchling mystery and risk his life to save his lover.

I guess it was while writing this one, and the one that came after, that I started to realise it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to write. Maybe that’s why I never finished the quartet. Each of the Saddling books takes place in a season at the time of an equinox or festival and has an elemental theme. So, the Witchling, for example, is set in summer, the climax is at the solstice, and the element is fire. The Saddling (book one) is winter solstice and water, and the third, the Eastling, is autumn equinox and wind. The Needling was to be number four, set at the spring equinox with earth as the element, and was to lead to rebirth for the troubled village.

While writing what I did write of The Needling, I realised that what I wanted to do was write stories with central gay characters, and hence, Jackson Marsh was born.

A quick stop to admire the view from my office window this morning…

Honestly, it’s Free!

Before then, though, came ‘Remotely’, a straight/gay body-swap comedy, with a mysterious, timeless kind of enchantress as the protagonist, known only as Miss P. People liked Miss P and wanted more of her, so I started on another story called ‘Unforgivable,’ which was about Miss P saving the West End musical, but soon put that away in favour of a short novella, called ‘Honestly.’ There are now eight chapters of this here on my sit,e and the final four should be up within the week. You can read it all for free here, or splash out $0.99 and buy the eBook, or read it on KU. It won’t take long. Basically, it’s about what happens when people are made to be honest with each other, and it takes the form of a kind of Tom Sharpe style farce… almost.

Honestly – it’s free!

Meanwhile…

… back in mystery-land, I am doing well with Delamere Nine, which, for some ungodly reason, I have mainly set in a Suffolk village. Jack, Bax and Simeon have gone to the aid of a farmer whose son went missing not long after seeing strange lights in the sky. The first half sets us up nicely for a dangerous second half (I hope, I’ve not written it yet), the villains are the protagonists as well as the antagonists, but apart from that complication, it’s all coming along nicely in first draft form.

Newsletter

If you are on the mailing list, you should receive a newsletter later today listing all the promos and other news. You can, as always, help us all along by having a click and browse of these promos, and here, as a reminder, is the link to the July Kindle Unlimited Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, & Crime Reads. Have a good weekend, stay safe, and I’ll be back on Wednesday.

Delamere Nine and July Promo News

Delamere Nine is, as yet, untitled, but it is coming along. I am up to 33,000 words of draft one, and I know what’s been going on (though the detectives don’t as yet), and I know what the halfway point twist will be, and I have an idea for the climactic ending, I just need to get from 33% to 50% so the story can take an unexpected path, then from 50% through to crisis to climax to 100% done.

I’ve not completed the blurb for Delamere Nine as yet, I’ve not even completely mapped the story in my head or on paper, but I can give you a rough idea of what’s happening, without giving away any spoilers.

One night, a young storyteller sees strange lights in the sky over Suffolk. The next day, he retells the story to his dad, the local PC and others. They laugh at him, and he storms off, never to be seen again. A few days later, a woman’s body is found in a field. A few days after that, the dad arrives at Delamere House, having walked for two days and two nights to get there and begs for Jack Merit’s help. Jack, Baxter and Simeon head off to the depths of rural Suffolk, where they discover the dad’s house has since been ransacked, the boy is missing, and people are living in fear of the rural legend of the Fire Snake…

The writing continues as soon as I have posted this. Meanwhile, it’s a new month, which means new promos for you to either yawn at, ignore, click on or whatever. There will be a newsletter out on Saturday with all the links, but I’m going to start with this one as it comes first on my list of six. This one is called:

LGBTQIA+ Characters in Romance (all pairings)

A quick scroll shows me cabin romance, historical (Anne Barwell), topless hunks, fantasy romance, Jem Wendel’s ‘Resisting the Urge’, MM, FM, DD (Deviant Desire), and many other niches within the genre of nor under the umbrella of LGBT etc. romance.

As usual, if you feel able or interested, click the link and have a scroll through the titles. I now generate around 90% of my sales this way, and the more I promote, the more I get promoted (for free), so everyone is happy, especially me.

Click the banner to view all the titles

More Honestly, Delamere and Promos

Good morning! Nearly the end of June already, it’s hard to believe, but there it is. I have three things for you today. Firstly…

Honestly

The serialisation continues, and there are now four short chapters up on the list. Check the page from the menu, and you will see a drop-down list of the chapter links. (You may need to refresh the page to see all four.) Each chapter has a link to the next, and there are another seven chapters still to be posted, which I will do in time.

Delamere Nine

So, what’s happening in the Jack Merrit world? Well, without giving too much away, Jack, Baxter and Simeon are currently in Suffolk investigating a case in the countryside. We’re getting rural for this one, which is a challenge for me, who has read mostly about Victorian city life. I’m doing my research, though, and delving into the world of the dairy farmer and village pub. Luckily, where I was brought up was still pretty 19th century in terms of farming, remoteness, villages and pubs, so I can draw on some of that.

I am up to 32,000 words already, the mystery is growing but now the investigation has started. Simeon is coming of age, kind of, there’s a these of father’s and sons which is giving Jack some pause for thought, and Baxter is, of course, being inappropriate as often as possible.

Promos

I will soon have another collection of promos to share with you. These are free-to-view collections of books on specific topics and from indie authors selling on Amazon and elsewhere. As from next month, though, I will add them not only to the newsletter, but also to their own page on the site here, so you never lose out.

Newsletter

You can subscribe to the newsletter from the top of this page, or from the newsletter page itself, where the privacy policy is also set out. I’ll be back on Wednesday with a proper update about Delamere Nine (still untitled), and any other news I have for you. Have a great weekend!

Two Works in Progress

Two? Surely not… Well, yes and no…

Delamere Nine

This book is underway and, so far, is running smoothly. It’s one of those that I am making up as I go along (don’t we always do that when writing a novel?), but I know where it is going. I know what the climax should be like, I know who is involved, and what the emotional through line is to be, what the ‘theme’ is, and how the mystery starts. What I don’t yet know is what the mystery is (I have a vague idea) or how it will be solved. That’s the joy, you see, the joy of the job. I discover as Jack and Baxter discover, and from what they discover, comes the next chapter, and so on. If I reach a point where I start to lose the thread, I go back, unstitch, and start again. Or I make repairs as I go. This way, I avoid plot holes.

I am aiming for half a chapter a day, and I am already up to the end of Act One, at 25,000 words. There has been a tragedy, there is a mystery, and someone in the cast is trying hard to grow up, while two others have to share a bed…

More on this story as it develops.

Honestly – a Novella

The other project on the go is updating and uploading ‘Honestly’, a novella I wrote following on from the success of ‘Remotely.’ That was a gay/straight body-swap coming-of-age comedy. ‘Honestly’ is also coming of age and is set in a small fishing village ‘up north’ where a young lad and his mother have moved from ‘down south.’ All is not well, however, and Miss P has been sent on a mission to put things right because the problem in the village has been caused by that dreaded thing, writer’s block.

Well, you can download the whole novella here for $0.99, or you can start to read it online, chapter by chapter. Today, I have chapter two available, and am working on preparing chapter three so you don’t have to wait too long to continue the story.

https://jacksonmarsh.com/honestly-chapter-two

If you’re interested in the straight/gay body-swap, you can find ‘Remotely’ at this link. That’s Amazon.com, but it’s available in all my usual Amazon stores. Here’s the blurb:

Britain’s newest and most pointless TV talent competition is coming to Middlestone-On-Sea. ‘So You Think We’re Remotely Interested?’ has taken Friday night viewers by storm as it streams live variety shows from remote, provincial theatres across Britain. The theatre with the most audience votes wins regeneration and revival, and lord knows, Middlestone-on-Sea needs both.

The dying seaside backwater rests its hopes on the performance of two ex-best friends, gay Gary and straight Stag.

The visiting celebrity judge, the mysterious and timeless Miss P, knows that for all to be well, they must mend their broken friendship. But there is no success without trial. She magically swaps Gary and Stag into each other’s bodies. Secrets are learned, comedy ensues, and yet the community remains divided.

Rifts must be healed, differences accepted, and bodies swapped back before the season grand finale in four days’ time otherwise Middlestone will lose everything.

Honestly

I am starting a new project and sharing one of my novellas. This will appear chapter by chapter over time. (When I can’t think of anything else to write as a blog post.)

I’ve set up a menu page you can click to and find new chapters as and when, and when I work out how to do the drop-down menu, I will add the chapter list to the main menu… Anyway… Honestly is a comedy coming of age novella I wrote after writing the gay/straight bodyswap comedy ‘Remotely’, which stars an enigmatic character called Miss P.

Here’s the blurb and first chapter, which you can also find on the Honestly menu page here.



Chapter One

“There’s always been something missing from this village, and it ain’t the stink of fish.”
Mrs Marigold Lumpsucker, a resident of Carping Bay.


It is a little-known fact that Miss P was the first woman in history to find a cure for writer’s block. The event took place in London, backstage at The Globe Theatre in 1594.

While scouring the fields and lanes of Shoreditch in search of some delicious and potent tobacco leaves, she sensed that something nearby was not as it should be. It didn’t take her long to track down the problem, and she found young Will within minutes. He sat at a small table in the yard, staring at the barn, a quill in one hand and a blank page in the other. She could tell from the air that the man was struggling. If it sounds strange to say that she could sense someone’s difficulty in the air, that’s because she was strange. Unusual, at least.

As Miss P approached, she could see that Will had nothing on his page apart from a title and a few lines. As she read them and pondered, she spied a rolled tobacco leaf on Shakespeare’s table and politely asked if she might try it.

Shakespeare waved his hand as if he were seeing off a fly. He meant that she should help herself, which she did. The yard had the tang of dung about it, and there were flies about. A swarm of them fought over some recent droppings. The sight reminded Miss P of the Siege of Pyongyang, an event she had recently arranged. For the good of everyone, you understand.

She rolled the leaves into a cigar shape and lit it, enjoying the rich taste and the way the smoke tickled her nose. She turned her attention back to the title page of Will’s new work.

‘When is opening night?’ she asked, pointing a slender finger towards the paper.

‘Seven days hence this must be done by, Lady. Else no income shall my company have. ‘’Tween times I must take up arms against the slings and arrows of Richard III, two Shrews and a Titus Andronicus matinee for the elderly.’

‘I see.’ Miss P did see. She saw all kinds of things that no-one else could. That’s why she did what she did. ‘A tragedy?’

‘I do agree, my block is so. And such a sad tragedy it be that I fear this play be nought but a farce. No words hath my quill. No new syllables sprout from my imagination like buds to the dawn. No passion flows in this dead bird’s coat.’ He waggled the feather, slumped his head onto the table and banged it twice.

‘May I…?’ Miss P took the quill from him.

Shakespeare turned his head and opened one eye suspiciously on the elegant, hard-to-age and impossible-to-place lady. She brushed the feather down her cheek while studying his words. He snapped his eye shut when she caught him looking.

‘I don’t think the world is quite ready for this. That is your problem.’

He raised his head to her. ‘My problem, handsome stranger, is that I find scene one a mountain as impenetrable as Olympus. There is nothing here.’ He beat his fist against his head.

Miss P drew in another drag of the burning leaves. As she let the smoke out, she angled it towards the playwright. A thin wisp snaked away from the cloud and spiralled before Will’s face. He crossed his eyes to focus and gasped. It was a dark green colour with flecks of sparkling silver. As he opened his mouth to ask what this lady had done to his tobacco, he inhaled the smoke and coughed.

‘May I suggest we address the title?’ said Miss P. ‘Once that’s found, you will see that the story unlocks itself.’

Shakespeare looked at the title. ‘But this, smoke-angel, be the tale my heart aches to tell. There be riches in this story. Worth in all its mighty forms, honour as worthy as Prince Hal at Agincourt. This tale must be told.’ He was adamant on the subject.

‘Indeed, it will, Mr Shakespeare,’ Miss P assured him. ‘But in time. The story you ache to write now will be possible in years to come. And yes, your story will throw light through the world like dawn breaking through yonder window. But, alas, the good people of Shoreditch, to say nothing of Her Majesty, are not yet ready for a tragic love story about,’ she checked the page, ‘Romeo and Julius.’

Shakespeare groaned and sat back in his chair.

‘Sad but true,’ Miss P continued. ‘But this is not the time or place to break this kind of ground.’

‘It is meant a comedy.’ Will snatched the paper from her. ‘It be not what it seems. Two old friends, both alike in dignity, are at war with each other. Magic intervenes, and they wake up realising they are no longer in their own bodies but in those of each other…’

‘And to get back, they must learn how it is to be each other. One man is destined to be a father, and the other to love only men. Yes, a most engaging plot, and yes, there is a remote chance that story will be told. But not now.’ She was also quite adamant on the subject.

A few more strands of smoke drifted from her near-spent leaves and found their way into Will’s nostrils.

‘And you suggest?’

‘Romeo and Juliet, perhaps? A love story. No, the love story.’

‘Oh, Madam. You are thrusting greatness upon me.’ Shakespeare rubbed his beard. He glanced from Miss P to the page.

‘Some are born to it, Mr Shakespeare,’ she said. ‘While others…’

She offered the quill, he took it, and for a moment they held it together. His body trembled. His eyes flashed wide, and his lips moved. She released the quill, and it flew to the page where Shakespeare scratched inspired words.

‘Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair London, where we lay our scene…’ he spoke as he wrote, the story falling into his mind like gold from a cut purse.

Miss P smiled. The yard smelt so much cleaner now. The air was crisp and had a delicious tang of cigar about it. She was ready to leave, but there was still one thing unsettled. She reached into the bag that hung from her elbow and took out a small glass figurine. She put it on the page, right where Will was scribbling. He drew back.

‘What’s this?’

‘I picked it up on some recent travel. You should keep it. It’s just an elephant made from jade. It will make sure you never forget your words again.’

‘Well, gracious kind, and my heart accepts the warmthness of your gift, Madam.’

‘Maybe, in return, I could…?’ Miss P plucked a quill from Shakespeare’s tankard.

‘It is old and worn, but thine with thanks,’ he said, and dipped a superior nib into his ink.

‘By the way,’ Miss P added as she turned to leave. ‘I bought it in Verona.’ She paused for emphasis and stuck the feather in her hat. ‘Fair Verona?’

‘Of course!’ Will was back to his writing. ‘Nobody dies for love in London.’ He started the scene again.

That was the last time Miss P saw him. It was the last time she needed to.

She had been curing writer’s block ever since.


Look out for Chapter Two
Or download the novella here for $0.99

Honestly Index

Number Nine

Yes. I know, I just can’t stop… So, instead of stopping, I have started on the Delamere Files book nine, so far untitled. I am 20,000 words into the first draft, I have an opening inciting incident, I have had a tragedy, and now, I have an assignment for Jack, Baxter and Simeon. We haven’t had much from Simeon since he appeared in ‘A Case of Make Believe.’ We got to know his younger brother, Ronny, a bit more in ‘Holywell Street,’ so I thought we might drag Sim into this story and find out more about him. Exactly what his role will be as he sets off into the wilds of Suffolk with Jack and Bax remains to be seen. We know he’s been on the streets (in more ways than one) and he said he didn’t mind, but I wonder… Will he meet someone in the countryside? Will he grow up a little (he’s now nearly 17), or will he become part of the mystery…?

I have an idea for the climax of this story, but no idea how I am going to reach it. So far, we have a missing lad and a body in a wheat field with no tracks to or from it, strange lights in the sky at night, and… Well, who knows what chapter seven will bring.

This one is currently set to be a real adventure, for me, I mean. No doubt Jack and Co. will have some adventures along the way, and perhaps Baxter will fall for a farmer’s lad and have a fumble in a barn. Time will tell.

Meanwhile, today’s promo for you to click on and explore is this one:

MM Murder/Mystery/Detective/Crime Promo General Fiction / LGBT and Romance / LGBT

This one is right up my street. A mix of male romance and mystery. I have Deviant Desire in this one and Guardians of the Poor.

Book Release and a New Badge

First of all, folks, ‘Holywell Street’ is finally published.

I say ‘finally,’ but I notice that Acts of Faith only came out in March! Holywell Street was one of those that ‘wrote itself’, although, of course, it didn’t. It represents about 400 hours of work over three months, but it’s there, and it’s here:

Holywell Street – Kindle, Paperback and KU

As usual, that’s the Amazon.com link, but you can change the .com to your country if buying the paperback. A New Badge, what’s that all about?

30 Best MM Romance Book Blogs and Websites in 2025

This is one of those things that I never know whether I should take with a pinch of scepticism. Is it good publicity for me, or the start of a barrage of spam? Well, I did one of these before with my Symi Dream blog, and it went well, so I am going for it now. It’s not costing me anything but a little time, and who knows, it may gather me some more readers.

This FeedSpot listing promises to give you “The best MM Romance Book blogs from thousands of blogs on the web and ranked by relevancy, authority, social media followers & freshness.” MM Romance Book Blogs has given me my own page, but if I want to add to my profile, I have to sign up and pay, so I shan’t be doing that. I’ll just share with you this badge, leave you the link, and move on, but feel free to share this post and news around if you feel so inclined.

MM Murder/Mystery/Detective/Crime Promo

And today’s promo push is for MM Murder/Mystery/Detective/Crime Promo. Click over to check out a full set of titles from new and established authors, with all books being on the theme of MM pairings involved in crime and mystery. Guardians of the Poor is in there.

Delamere Book Nine

Yes, I have started on an idea for book nine… I won’t tell you what that is yet, because bit is very much early days, but it will, no doubt, be another twisted tale of strange clues, missing people, and mystery with some emotional elements thrown in. I am thinking something along the lines of fathers and sons, but I am not yet too sure. Meanwhile, let me direct you back to the start of the series, just in case you’ve not caught up with the tale of two Merrits, one Baxter and London in the 1890s.

The Delamere Files