Author Archives: Jack Marsh

About AI Spammers

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Here’s a note for anyone else who might have published a book or two, and it’s about the way scummy scammers are using AI to make money. Here’s the start of an email I received this morning:

I recently explored *Snake Hill (The Delamere Files Book 9)*, and I was captivated by the way you weave suspense, rural legends, and complex character dynamics into this installment. The tension around the mysterious disappearances, the fire snake folklore, and the responsibility placed on both Jack and Simeon makes this book an engrossing read for fans of crime and mystery. Even with such a thrilling narrative, it seems this book hasn’t yet reached he wider audience it could captivate…

Do they think I am daft? Explored a book? What, you set out from the Royal Geographical Society with a brief to…? The rest of it is generated by an AI thing using my blurb, the text you can read on Amazon, which I wrote. All the person behind this is doing is generating dodgy text based on a book’s blurb, and having their system send out an email. These things then go with text like: Have you found it challenging to connect *Snake Hill* with readers who would enjoy the depth of your series, the unfolding mysteries, and the suspenseful twists…

This email suggested I contact ‘Mary’ and, like most, it promised promotion leading to untold wealth. It wanted me to reply and beg them to help me publicise the book(s). Then, what they would do is take my money and get AI to send out a few random spams to random email addresses and move on to the next victim.

Bring the Past to Life with Historical Fiction

I am now receiving at least one of these emails every day, But, because I use Mailwasher, I see them before they get to my laptop, not that they are dangerous or anything, but Mailwasher comes with various commands. I can permanently mark and report the email address as spam, and I can also bounce it back, so the person/machine at the other end thinks my email address doesn’t work. Hehe.

I don’t reply because I will only get more spam from the same AI if I do, but I’d love to reply: ‘So, tell me, as you have read the book and see its potential, can you tell me, a) what is the first full sentence on page 213? And b) why you started a series at book nine and not book one?

I bet, for every one of me (who is slightly experienced in this self-publishing game) there is a newbie out there who falls for this trick and parts with money because their book isn’t selling as well as they thought it would – and they thought it would because AI wrote it for them. Believe me, I have published over 40 full-length novels (every word of which I have written myself), and without a massive publisher and their publicity machine, you ain’t going to make a living, so don’t waste your cash on AI-generated spammers.

Research: British Newspaper Archive

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British Newspaper Archive

You may know that I use old newspapers and publications a great deal when researching for my 1890s mystery novels. Sometimes, I use them for inspiration and turn to the Illustrated Police News to find ideas for stories. At other times, I use them to find advertisements for things so I can use props that were real at the time, soaps, hair products, and in the case of ‘A Depraved Indifference’, a watch.

Here’s the front cover for the Police Illustrated News of 137 years ago on September 8th.

Click to open a PDF of the page (larger)

The central illustration is headed ‘Revolting and mysterious murder of a woman – Buck’s Row, Whitechapel.’ This is coverage of Mary Ann Nichols, a Jack the Ripper victim killed on 31st August 1888. Just out of interest, my grandfather was born on 8th September 1905, and my husband on 8th September 1967, and if you have read the Clearwater series, or Delamere, you will know that both houses stand side by side in Buck’s Avenue. It’s a made-up street in Knightsbridge, just about where the barracks are, overlooking Hyde Park, but I chose Buck’s on purpose. Anyway…

Morley’s Hotel

One of the places I wanted to know more about was Morley’s Hotel, so I have turned to the newspaper archive again to see what I could see. So far, I’ve not had much luck, but I have discovered that the hotel, which was in Trafalgar Square, was, in 1893, owned by the James brothers, so I have dropped them into Jack Merrit’s investigation. Currently, I am on chapter eight of the new story and it’s going along well. I am a quarter of the way through, and we have had two seemingly unconnected discoveries, a birthday, and Will has solved two cases, once while getting out of a carriage.

Morley’s Hotel stood where South Africa House now stands on the east side of Trafalgar Square and was a massive building. However, there seems to be very little information about it. I found out that Buffalo Bill once stayed there and an American soldier shot himself there in 1892, but that’s about it. I couldn’t help wondering how much of a rival it was for D’Oyly Carte and his Savoy Hotel up the road, or the Charing Cross station hotel. I will keep researching. The newspaper archive does cost a little to subscribe, but there is some free material, and you can find out all about it here:
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

Excellent Promo: Thrillers and Mysteries

Next week, my newsletter will be out, and new promos will start. One, though, is already up and running and since it started, sales of my series have begun to rise – which is excellent news for me! This promo runs into September, so there’s still plenty of time to browse and maybe find new authors to read and follow. It’s a collection of mystery and spy thrillers, and there are 46 titles to check out. Have fun!

Click the pic to find new reading.

WIP: Delamere Ten

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Snake Hill (Delamere Nine)

The good news is that Snake Hill is doing well, which means people must have enjoyed the previous books in the series. The ongoing news is that the paperback is not quite ready, but I hope to have the full cover in the next day or so.

Snake Hill universal link. Click here.

A Depraved Indifference (Delamere Ten)

This is off to a good start, and I even know what is to happen and when. The idea came to me very quickly, which is often a good sign and a warning sign. I warn myself to slow down and not rush ahead, and then I tell myself I can because I am creating this, so I can always uncreate it and change things, though, this time, I haven’t had to. Yet.

Without giving too much away, so far, Jack and Baxter have been called to a famous London church where something mysterious has been discovered. It could be 300 years old or three months, but the thing should not be there. Doctor Markland gets involved briefly, and Ned comes along with his scientific bits and pieces, and the next thing you know, we’re having lemonade on the back terrace at Delamere, where Will asks Ronny to sing some nursery rhymes. You can imagine the reception that gets. Later this morning, I will finish chapter six, that’s how well the storytelling is going. So far.

The research is happening as well. Here, for example, is the only image I can find of the church of St Clement Danes (Strand, London) before it was bombed in WWII. This is the original organ, which was built in 1690.

I also did some digging around Trafalgar Square and discovered that where we now have South Africa House was once Morley’s Hotel. That was a handy find as I needed there to be a hotel there in 1893, and lo! Here it is.

Photo is early 20th century

That’s my Wednesday update. If you haven’t joined my newsletter yet, please do, as there’s a heap of hot books coming your way in several September promotions. And, if you’ve not started sharing my BookBub and other links around your social media, please do! (Top of the right-hand column) Back on Saturday with another update.

Snake Hill on Kindle and KU

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Snake Hill is now available on Kindle and in KU. Here’s the universal link.

https://mybook.to/SnakeHill

That should take you to your appropriate Amazon site, and all will be well. The paperback version should be out next week. We’re just organising the full cover, which is something we can’t do until we know the page count, which we now know. So… In case you have missed it, here’s the blurb.

Albert Arbon collapses at Delamere House after a three-day trek. His only son, Robert, has vanished after seeing a strange light in the Suffolk sky, and Arbon is desperate to find him.

Detectives Jack and Baxter, with young Simeon, accompany Arbon back to his remote Suffolk farmhouse, only to find themselves faced with a combination of rural legends seemingly tied to a series of unsettling events. A body lies inexplicably in the middle of an untouched wheat field. Other children have gone missing. There is talk of a ‘fire snake’, and no-one dare share the secrets of what can be seen from Snake Hill.

As the investigation deepens, Jack must navigate more than the mystery. He must also face the burdens of responsibility — not only for uncovering the truth and doing the right thing, but also for guiding Simeon, a boy on the cusp of manhood, who’s willing to risk everything to prove himself.

What Next? Delamere Ten.

You might not be surprised to know I am already working on Delamere 10, and it has the title of ‘A Depraved Indifference.’ I am working with the idea that will combine:

Murders past and future.

A nursery rhyme.

Several London churches.

A Church organ.

So far, it starts on Simeon’s 17th birthday, so it’s set in August 1893.

My original idea for Delamere was to see where Jimmy Wright had come to, following his entry into the Clearwater world back in ‘Twisted Tracks’ in 1888 (although his first appearance is in Deviant Desire, but it’s very brief). I soon discovered that Jack and Will Merrit were to be my leads, and so, the series has become their story, and I, for one, am enjoying exploring their lives. I was going to write one book for each of 12 months of their lives, but that’s kind of gone by the by. Having said that, we’re on book ten (almost) and the series started in June 1892 and we’re only now in August 1893, so I haven’t done too badly. A lot has happened in that time.

I often wonder if it’s too much and how long a series should run for. I think, as long as I am writing a good, entertaining read, and as long as people are still enjoying the stories, i.e. buying them, then I’ll carry on until it feels right to finish. If you have any other ideas, let me know.

Meanwhile… It will soon be September promo time, so get ready for a new list, but in the meantime, there’s a new one just started up a few days ago, and we’re in it, so if you want to boost my kudos, hit the banner. This is a collection so thriller and mystery reads that are available on a variety of platforms.

A Depraved Indifference

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While we eagerly await the publication of ‘Snake Hill’ (any day now), I have come up with a working title for the next instalment of the Delamere Files, ‘A Depraved Indifference.’

I was doing some legal research the other day, as you do, when I came across something I’d not seen before. There was no reason why I should have done because a) I am not a lawyer, and b) it’s to do with American law, but I liked the term and what it implies. The paragraph was this: If the risk of death or bodily harm is great enough, ignoring it demonstrates a “depraved indifference” to human life and the resulting death is considered to have been committed with malice aforethought.

A depraved indifference to human life… I wondered if there was an English law equivalent in 1893, and I am still researching that, but the story I am now embarking on may not have anything to do with law or that phrase in the way it is meant. What I might do is use that expression/term/whatever to inspire the rest of the story. In Delamere 10, Will has already cited it (and I’m only on chapter two) while settling a case for the CID. Anyway, the point was to let you know I have started on some ideas for the next book, which has had me locked into this view for a while…

And this is the first draft text for chapter one of the next book, in case you want to zoom in and read.

I will be interrupted soon by the arrival of the files for number nine, which I will check through and upload as soon as we’re all happy that Snake Hill is good to go.

Meanwhile, you may have noticed I put three new links at the top right of the page, just beneath the newsletter sign up. My Facebook page, my BluSky profile, and now, my BookBub link, so if you use that service, you can follow me there. I ought to add my Goodreads link too, I suppose. (Note for later.) Meanwhile-meanwhile, a new promo has just arrived, so if you want to be among the first to see these new spy, mystery and suspense titles, just click the banner.

Snake Hill. A Further Update.

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Not long to go now, and you will be able to order/download a copy of the latest Delamere adventure, ‘Snake Hill.’

If you scroll down, you will see the cover and the blurb, but that’s all I can share with you at the moment. I am finishing my last read of it this weekend and will then send the MS to the formatting wizards while I wait for the full cover for the paperback version. I hope to release it during this coming week, but it will depend on when I receive the appropriate files. I’ll keep you informed on my social media.

Talking of which, if anyone uses BlueSky, I have an account there now: @jacksonmarsh.bsky.social so feel free to follow.

In the meantime, I have written a 5,000 pastiche or parody or piece of satire for my other blog where I chat about life on this Greek island. Next week, I will be presenting a section of this piece every day. What is it? Well, have you seen the play or film, ‘Shirley Valentine’? If you have, you will know it’s about a woman coming to Greece and finding herself during a kind of midlife crisis.

Well, my piece of satire answers the question, what would be Shirley’s experience of Greece if the story happened now? Hopefully, readers will find it amusing. If you want to check it out, click over to my Symi Dream blog on Monday and follow the adventure.

Talking of adventure, if you still haven’t checked out this month’s list of books on special promo, then try this one:

MM or MM+ Romance You’ll find 179 MM titles in this collection of MM romances. So many topless hunks, I don’t know where to start. Maybe with one of my own, and ‘The Mentor of Wildhill Farm,’ probably, of all my 50 books, the one with the most heat. In fact, it’s probably 60% heat, and the rest is story. It was my first Jackson Marsh and has a twist at the end you either love or hate.

Click the banner.

I’ll be back on Wednesday with more news on ‘Snake Hill.’

Snake Hill Cover

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Well, my dears, it’s here. The front cover for Delamere nine, ‘Snake Hill.’ Hang on, though, or as Baxter would say, Hold your pony, mate, not so fast. First you have to promise to click the promo link and check out a few titles that should open on another page.

MM & MM+ Romance

You’ll find 179 MM titles in this collection of MM romances. So many topless hunks I don’t know where to start. Maybe with one of my own, and ‘The Mentor of Wildhill Farm,’ probably, of all my 50 books, the one with the most heat. In fact, it’s probably 60% heat, and the rest is story. It was my first Jackson Marsh and has a twist at the end you either love or hate.

Click the banner

Wildhill Farm

Talking of the Mentor of Wildhill Farm, yes, it was my first ‘go’ at a queer romance, though there’s more heat than there is romance, and I had an idea towards the end to turn it into a series set in the same place. Then, I realised that it would soon be repetitive, and decided it was the place that was important. However, also vital was the old/younger mentor/mentee pairing, but that couldn’t always happen in the same location, so… Barrenmoor Ridge, Lonemarsh House, Lostwood Hall came next (maybe not exactly in that order), and onwards to other standalones like ‘The Stoker Connection’ which gave me a chance to play with ‘Dracula’, as it were, and to relive something from my teens. (I used to work in the theatre where the two MCs meet.) You can find all my titles here.

Anyway, I’m wandering from the point. The cover for Snake Hill, where is it? What is it? What’s the blurb?

The cover is coming in a moment, but as for what is it? That will become apparent when you read it, which I hope you can start to do next week – soon, at any rate. What’s the blurb? Here’s the blurb:

Albert Arbon collapses at Delamere House after a three-day trek. His only son, Robert, has vanished after seeing a strange light in the Suffolk sky, and Arbon is desperate to find him.

Detectives Jack and Baxter, with young Simeon, accompany Arbon back to his remote Suffolk farmhouse, only to find themselves faced with a combination of rural legends seemingly tied to a series of unsettling events. A body lies inexplicably in the middle of an untouched wheat field. Other children have gone missing. There is talk of a ‘fire snake’, and no-one dare share the secrets of what can be seen from Snake Hill.

As the investigation deepens, Jack must navigate more than the mystery. He must also face the burdens of responsibility — not only for uncovering the truth and doing the right thing, but also for guiding Simeon, a boy on the cusp of manhood, who’s willing to risk everything to prove himself.

And as for the full cover… Click the title…

A Glossary of East Anglia

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The next Delamere book, ‘Snake Hill’, mostly takes place in Suffolk. To keep things as authentic as I could, I trawled around for a dictionary of Suffolk words and phrases, and came upon:

A Glossary of Words Used in East Anglia (1895)

Author: Rye, Walter (1843-1929)

The subtitle reads, Founded on that of Forby. With Numerous Corrections and Additions. It was published for the English Dialect Society by Henry Frowde, and the version I used was transcribed by Universidad de Salamanca.

You know how I like dialect. ‘Holywell Street’ comes with Baxter’s glossary, if you ned to revise his East End expressions, but in ‘Snake Hill’, we have an East Anglian glossary. For those who may not know:

East Anglia is an area of the East of England often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included.

The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia (Angeln), in what is now Northern Germany. East Anglia is a predominantly rural region and contains mainly flat or low-lying and agricultural land. [Wiki]

So, ahead of publication, here are some of the words I have used in the story. I put this here so you can do some background reading before the book arrives on your Kindle or doormat later in the month.

Badly                          In ill health. Sometimes sadly badly.

Barley-bird                  The nightingale, which comes to us in the season of sowing barley.

Biddie                         Young chicken.

Black Shuck                In English folklore, Black Shuck, Old Shuck, Old Shock or simply Shuck is the name given to a ghostly black dog.

Brank                          Buckwheat

Buck                            To spring or bound with agility.        

Carre                           A stoat.

Clamp                         A mound of earth lined with straw to keep potatoes or mangold wurzel through the winter.

Clevers, or Cluvers     Tussocks or tufts of coarse grass.

Closen                         Enclosed fields; plural of close.

Clutter                         Confusion, disorder.

Cob-boy                      One who is between boy and man.

Dere                            Dire, sad.

Doker                          A diminutive used with respect to young animals.

Duffy dow                   Young pigeon not fully fledged.

Fleck                           The down of hares or rabbits torn off by the dogs.

Flick                            Hare’s or rabbit’s down.

Heads and Holls         Prominences and hollows tumbled confusedly together.

Hingle                         To snare. Poachers hingle hares and rabbits.

Hoven                         Swollen.

Huckle                        To bend down with pain.

Jug                              To squat, and nestle close together, as partridges at night.

Mamble                       To eat with seeming indifference.

Maul                            Clayey or marly solid, adhering to the spade or ploughshare.

Mawth-dog                 The phantom of a dog (in Norfolk).

Mewting                     The whistling of a boy without any regard or idea of time or harmony.

Mump                         A hop and a jump.

Nabble                        To gnaw.

Needles                       A common weed among corn.

Pin basket                   The youngest child in a family.

Plounce                       To plunge with a loud noise.

Quackle                       To interrupt breathing.

Ranny                          The shrew-mouse. (Plural, rannies.)

Ravary                        A violent mad fit of passion.

Roblet                         A young cock.

Sadly Badly                Very ill.

Smouching men          Smugglers (Smouch, 1) to kiss 2) to smuggle.

Smuddered                  Smothered. Choked to death.

Springer                      A youth.

Stour                           Stiff or stout.

Tom Poker                  The great bugbear and terror of naughty children, who inhabits dark closets, holes under the stairs.

Traptles                       The small pellets of the dung of sheep, hares, rabbits, &c.

Trunket                       A game at ball, played with short sticks.

Wiff/Wiffing               The sudden turning of a hare when coursed. Wishly                         Earnestly, wishfully, with longing.

Snake Hill. Delamere Files Book Nine. Update.

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Hi all,
A quick thing before we get to news of ‘Snake Hill.’

Newsletter

If you are subscribed to my newsletter, you should have received one yesterday with news on Snake Hill, and news of a few more interesting promos to check out.

If you haven’t subscribed to my newsletter, you can do it now on this page. Just check out the top right of the column or go to the newsletter page.

If you do sign up, and you have any problems, will you let me know? I’ve not had many new joiners for a while now, and I wonder if it is something to do with the process. Looking forward to having you on board. Thank you.

Snake Hill Update

The news on Delamere Nine is that it will be going off to the proofreader in a day or so. Meanwhile, I have commissioned a cover from Andjela, and I will show you that when I have it. I have also commissioned a drawing of one of the characters, the protagonist in this case, as it is he who sets off the chain of events that lead to all kinds of madness and mayhem, thrills (I hope) and adventure. I have drafted a vague blurb, and here it is:

When Albert Arbon arrives on Delamere’s doorstep after a three-day trek, his desperation is unmistakable — his son Robert has vanished following a night of strange lights in the Suffolk sky.

Detectives Jack and Baxter, with young Simeon, accompany Arbon back to his remote farmhouse, only to find themselves facing a tangle of rural legends and unsettling events. A body lies inexplicably in the middle of an untouched wheat field. Other children have gone missing, and no-one dare speak of the Fire Snake or share the secrets of Snake Hill.

As the investigation deepens, Jack must navigate more than a mystery. He must face the burdens of responsibility — not only for uncovering the truth, but for guiding Simeon, a boy on the cusp of manhood, who’s willing to risk everything to prove himself.

As I may have mentioned, there’s a background theme of growing up, coming of age, rites of passage, paternal responsibility, father and son… that kind of thing. Also, this is the first book in the series that (apart from a couple of chapters) takes place outside of London, putting Jack and Bax in a brand new environment.

Some of the dialogue and some of the stories told within the story make use of the East Anglian dialect. On Saturday, I will start to introduce you to some of the wonderful words and their meanings in this dialect. So, tune back in on Saturday…

And remember about the newsletter… And, take a look at this promo in the meantime:

MAYHEM & MOTIVES: Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense Reads – August Edition
Here’s my usual entry with Book-Mojo’s monthly collection of thrillers. This month, there’s a whopping 144 titles to browse, including, for the first time, my Holywell Street. I wonder if a topless Baxter will be enough to draw in some new readers?

Click the banner to find the books.

Finding a Title

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Delamere Nine

Delamere Nine, which is nearly ready for the proofreader, now has a title and I will get to it after we’ve had a quick look at the other titles in the series. These are my reasons for those titles, and the process may help other indie authors when trying to think of a title.

Finding a Way

When I set about starting the Delamere series, I had no idea what the title of book one should be. I knew I wanted the series to be about the detective agency, and for us to see James Wright at work, and I knew something else: The best way to put the reader into a situation is to do it through the eyes of someone new to that situation, that way, we can explore the new world as they do. Enter Jack Merrit, a man who needs a change in life, who craves love (but doesn’t know it), and a man who is doing everything he can to see himself and his brother through hard times. There has to be a way out of one life and into the next, surely? Yes, and Jack accidentally finds it via Larkin Chase and Jimmy Wright. Hence, the title of the book, ‘Finding a Way.’ I also wanted something that tied in with Jack being a cab driver and finding a route to happiness, adventure, and eventually love, but ‘Finding a Route’ sounded like a gardening magazine.

Other Titles in the Delamere Series

A Fall from Grace. A shameful downfall was never far away from the Victorian homosexual. The upper classes and the rich could often get away with being found out if they fled abroad or had enough standing (I am thinking of Lord Sommerset et al in the Cleaveland Street scandal), the poor would be the ones to get locked up, but the middle classes could fall either way. That’s one of the Falls of the title; the other, clearly, is the physical fall that starts the story way back in the past. The fall from Grace Tower at Sinfords School.

Follow the Van. A play on words, a ‘van’ being, in this case, the prize Jack must find, and to find it, he must follow the clues. It is also a line from a music hall song, and this story takes place in and around the music halls of London. The first line of the chorus of the song is ‘My old man…’ Jack is also on the trail of his father, his ‘old man’ in English slang. Hence: My old man said follow the van…’

Where There’s a Will. Not the most inventive of titles, but I wanted this one to be almost tongue-in-cheek. Will Merrit leads the case, which is to do with finding a missing will before the midnight hour.

A Case of Make Believe. Again, a play on words. The story concerns magicians and a disappearing boy, Ronny Felman, who was meant to disappear, but also meant to reappear, and didn’t. In this story, we have many make-believe magic tricks as the magicians make us believe one thing, but we’re actually seeing another. We also have the villains and their ‘make-believe’ Grand Guignol murders, which are actually real. Then, we have Jack coming to believe in himself more. He makes himself believe he can do this job.

Grave Developments. Well, there’s a body in a grave that shouldn’t be there, and things develop from that sticky situation. The detectives also use photography, so as the images develop, so does the story.

Acts of Faith. I can’t give you too much about this one for it will give the game away, but it’s to do with murders being committed on particular saints’ days throughout a few-year period. But who is committing them?

Holywell Street. And now, things become more straightforward. Holywell Street is the name of the street where the main action happens, i.e. the crime, the investigation and the resolve/climax, which is slightly different to others in the series.

Delamere Nine

Which brings me to number nine and the title. I was racking my brains for a few days about this one. It has a background subject (boys to men, coming of age), it has a ‘gimmick’ which I shan’t tell you about, but it’s something that was popular in Victorian times and still relatively new, and it takes place out of London, so we’re all out of our depth. Neil started reading the first draft the other day and more or less immediately came up with the title. ‘Why not call it Snake Hill?’ he said. ‘It’s the main feature of the story.’

So, just as Holywell Street is Holywell Street, so Delamere Nine will be titled ‘Snake Hill’ for reasons that will become apparent when you read it. This, I hope you will be able to do by the end of the month.

And now, the promos begin!

I am taking part in a few more free-to-browse promos this month, so the more views you can give these, the better (for me and for the other indie authors in the promo). Here’s the first – more will be announced along the way and in next week’s newsletter.

LGBTQIA+ Characters in Romance (All pairings)

There are 63 titles in this promotion, all with various LGBTQIA+ pairings. I have my mentors and students from Barrenmoor Ridge in this promo. The cover that most caught my eye? ‘Two Souls and A Pocket Watch’ by Inka York (Victorian vampires). I may have to grab a copy.

Click the banner to reach the promo page.