A Flight of Fancy

Posted on 16/07/2025 by Jack Marsh

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.

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Delamere Nine and July Promo News

Posted on 02/07/2025 by Jack Marsh

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.

More Honestly, Delamere and Promos

Posted on 28/06/2025 by Jack Marsh

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.

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!

A Tragic Event and Inspiration

Posted on 07/06/2025 by Jack Marsh

Holywell Street

‘Holywell Street’ was inspired by a true and tragic event. If you search out a copy of the Illustrated Police News for Saturday, April 1st, 1893, you will find, on page two, a short article titled, ‘Killed by Laughing Gas.’ The man’s name was Thomas Samuel Minett, and his practice was on Sloane Street (number 97). Part of the report reads, About five o’clock a gentleman called, and receiving no answer to her knock, [the secretary] entered the deceased’s room, and found him half sitting in his chair with his mouth covered with the gas machine.

Those are the opening lines of the author’s notes that come at the end of ‘Hollywell Street’, which I have just got back from proofreading. All that’s left now is for me to have my final read and then arrange for the files to be properly set out and formatted for publication – oh, and to get the full cover back from Andjela. So, not long now.

The part of the article above in italics is what really set my mind to thinking about the mystery – in this case, why did the dentist kill himself? The discovery appears in chapter three of the book, and the mystery starts from there. The story, however, opens a little time in the future because it’s one of those that starts with a scene and then goes back a few days to start again, finally reaching the same scene (from a different point of view) some way into the story. There’s a name for that kind of storytelling, at least, there is in film. I think it’s something like double double-narrative flashback, or similar. I like it, but only use it now and then. I used it in ‘Artful Deception’ the sixth book in the Clearwater series. That starts with an incident at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square and then jumps back in time to a country estate.

Here, in Holywell Street, the story starts in a bookshop on the street:

Chapter One

The proprietor of number eight, Holywell Street knew exactly what to expect the moment a customer approached his bay window. Stockton Wheeler had been in business long enough to recognise a vagabond or ne’er-do-well on the hunt for some kind of trouble or other. The statuesque, white-haired publisher knew well the twitching mouth of the hopeful sharper, the shifty eyes of the would-be petty thief, and the slanted nose of the youthful palmer. Raggedy boys loitering at the window were invariably criminal, but it was not beyond the bounds of possibility that such a till-taker might take the form of a young woman. However, that had happened on only one occasion in his career.

Promos & Newsletter

While all that is going on, and while I am fixing the final files, look out for my monthly newsletter which is due out tomorrow. I have a few promos to share with you, and they will be linked in the newsletter, and will pop up here during the month and also on my Facebook page and Bluesky page.

Here’s one:

Queer Romance is resistance (Over 70 MM Romance titles)

I’ll leave you with the full cover for Holywell Street, which, in real life, doesn’t move. More news about the release coming soon.

Audible 1892. Visual Holywell Street.

Posted on 04/06/2025 by Jack Marsh

My update this week concerns two things: The Clearwater Tales Vol 1, ‘1892’, and the Delamere Files book eight, Holywell Street.

1892

This short collection of short stories, as told by five Clearwater characters, is now available as an audiobook. As I have explained before, I had to go with the virtual voice option. Although I have been in touch with a talented VO artist who is willing to profit share my Clearwater series, I can’t take him up on the offer because of where I live. At the moment, you can only upload your own recordings to Amazon if you live in certain countries, and Greece is not yet one of them. So, I have used the best of what Amazon have on offer.

Sadly, I can’t change the accents of characters when they speak, and not all the subtle nuances are there, but it’s the best I can do right now. Here’s the link.

Holywell Street Cover

The exciting news here is that I have the cover for Holywell Street, and you will be the first to see it. The MS is with the proofreader, Andjela has the back cover text and will be making the full cover soon, and all being well, we’re looking at publication around the middle of the month, if not before.

So, to be the first to see the cover, click the title that I’ve put after the blurb. And the blurb is this:

Act for all of us.

Respected dentist Harold Eskell writes a list of cryptic references for Jack Merrit to find and then takes his own life.

Now leading the Delamere Agency, Jack is determined to uncover the truth behind Eskell’s final act. Enlisting the help of Baxter and his loyal team, he embarks on an investigation that uncovers shattered lives, unexplained suicides, illicit photography, underground erotica, and blackmail.

It’s all leading him somewhere, but where?

All things are unrelated yet connected, and the only way to do the right thing is for Jack to risk his liberty and fight crime with crime.

What Next?

Posted on 31/05/2025 by Jack Marsh

I now have the cover for Holywell Street, book eight in the Delamere series, and I am waiting for the proofed copy to come back so I can do a final check and send it off to be formatted. Not long now, which leaves the question, what next? Before I answer that rhetorical question, here’s the cover title:

1893

A while ago, I started on something called ‘1893, The Clearwater Tales Volume Two’ to accompany ‘1892’, which is volume one. I’ve written the first two chapters of what may one day be another anthology connected by a situation, and I have gathered some characters together. I have an observer and his backstory, the setting – a foggy night in a Wiltshire railway station where the Penzance special is delayed. The characters tell stories while they wait out the night. I have the station master, Harry Carnforth, a character who made a brief appearance in ‘Grave Developments’ and was then cut, his name is Martin Dewhurst, and he wants to attend the Larkspur Academy. Also waiting for the train are Silas Hawkins, Sir Easterby Creswell, Chester Cadman, and Benjamin Baxter.

The trouble is, I don’t know what the short stories are that they will tell each other to keep themselves amused as Harry Carnforth caters for them through the night.

That’s one idea.

1892 the Clearwater Tales Volume One

Another Delamere?

For sure, but what’s the hook, the gimmick, the subject…? I was talking about this recently, how a subject comes to me and I explore it from there. So far, we’ve had: being a cabman, the old school network, music halls, family feuds, magicians, a serial killer, and coming soon, Victorian erotica. Included in those eight books so far are also sewers, saints, singers and sinners, and a little sex, though I must admit, I am writing less of that these days.

So, I think my next task will be to return to the Police Illustrated News and other publications of summer 1893 and see what was going on in the world. I had thought of a kind of Oscar Wilde type trial, which is coming up in 1895, and the cover of Hollywell Street gives us someone foppish who could well be a Dorian Gray, but I don’t want to get into all that as it’s been done.

Therefore, I guess the current answer is, ‘I’m not sure’, but I’ll be along with something as soon as inspiration strikes. Meanwhile, I have some more promos coming up, so look out for a newsletter next Saturday, I need to do more publicity somehow, so I can sell a few more copies, and I continue to play with animating the covers, as you will see from this next one pulled at random from my growing collection. Have a good week, I’ll pop back on Wednesday with an update on ‘Holywell Street.’

The Delamere Files

Act For All of Us.

Posted on 28/05/2025 by Jack Marsh

Delamere Book Eight

As the song says, ‘I’ve gone about as fur as I can go,’ with this one. For now, at least. So, I sent the MS off to be proofread, and Andjela is working on a cover. I have an illustration, and all will be revealed in due course. I also have a draft blurb which I will post for you, and I have my usual collection of author’s notes at the end.

For this book, those notes cover such things as Holywell Street itself, a man called William Lazenby who may or may not have penned the book, The Sins of the City of the Plain, the Cleveland Street Scandal, and there’s a brief mention of Fanny and Stella, cross-dressers arrested 23 years earlier.

The couple are only mentioned in passing, but you might be interested to know more about their story, and there’s a great article titled Fanny and Stella: Piecing together LGBTQ+ histories and telling the stories. [Click Here]

Oh, and I have also started a thing called Baxter’s Glossary, which I will put in either at the front or back of the book. There’s a fair amount of slang in use in this one, and I can’t always explain it in the text.

Anyway, here’s the blurb for Delamere Eight:

Act for all of us.

Respected dentist Harold Eskell writes a list of cryptic references for Jack Merrit to find and then takes his own life.

It’s all leading him somewhere, but where?

All things are unrelated yet connected, and the only way to do the right thing is for Jack to risk his liberty and fight crime with crime.

Don’t forget to check out my Facebook Page, where I have been adding new reels and moving book covers like this one:

The Final Chapter

Posted on 21/05/2025 by Jack Marsh

I’m on it – the final chapter of Holywell Street. I’ve reached 95,000 words of the first draft and for the last couple of days, have been struggling with the last chapter, only because I wasn’t sure of the best order in which to do things, and which point of view to do it from. Still, within the next few days, I can commission a cover and an illustration, set about the blurb and rewrite/edit, and book in my proofreader. I aim to get this draft to Neil to start beta reading later today. Yay!

Meanwhile, you may have seen from my Facebook page that I have been experimenting with technology that brings the characters on the covers to life. Basically, it makes them move, and some of these have been more successful than others. I’ll be dropping more on the FB pages in due course, but I wanted to share one here with you as a Wednesday treat. I love the way the water moves here, but something very strange happens with the hands, and the wrong man goes under the water, lol. It was fun spending half an hour experimenting with the thing though, but I am a long way from taming it completely. I’ll leave you with this moving cover and get back to the final chapter.

Here’s Where I’m At

Posted on 14/05/2025 by Jack Marsh

I am currently at 82,000 Holywell Street… Well, 82k words written for ‘Holywell Street’, the Delamere book number eight. Funnily enough, the plot revolves around number eight Holywell Street, mainly so I can say here’s book number eight Holywell Street as though it’s an address as well as part of the sequence. Also, according to the 1891 census, that address was vacant, as were others around it, so I can be more creative with its description. I suspect the buildings were left empty for a good reason, like they were falling down, because the street was demolished in 1901. It was quite picturesque by all accounts and some buildings there were from pre-1700 or very early 1700s.

Anyway, I am having fun and working through the climax, which isn’t really a climax in the usual sense. There’s no death-defying leaps of faith, zip lines onto music hall stages, or people falling off burning towers. What there is, though, is a bit of fun (I hope) as part of the ‘towards the end’ section is seen from Ronny’s point of view, and we know what a little oik he can be. As that’s going on, I am waiting for the first draft of a new reel to come back from the guy who is working one up for me, and I am about to send off for a new pencil sketch to go in the front of the next book. I am also considering the cover, though the final draft won’t be ready for some weeks yet. Meanwhile, I believe Holywell Street will be my 48th book, including my ‘living on a Greek island’ books and those written under my real name. I know it sounds like a lot, but it’s what I do! This is one of my shelves and contains all the Jackson Marsh titles, except for ‘Bobby’ which is on the shelf above.

Holywell Street Update

Posted on 07/05/2025 by Jack Marsh

Here’s an update on how Holywell Street is coming along.

I am up to around 65,000 words of the first draft, and it’s going along quite well, thank you. I was a little worried that I was about to peak too early, but I have sorted that. It’s a case of me wanting to write the exciting part asap, but not wanting to write it out of sequence. When that happens, I tend to rush the middle, so I have to either a) force myself to slow down, or b) write the exciting part out of sequence, which is what I wanted to avoid. By ‘exciting’ I mean the revelation, the part where I can let go of all the surprises I have kept in my head, and all those traps I have laid through the early part of the story, which I can now spring.

(Wych Street ran behind Holywell Street, and in yesterday’s writing, Jack and Ronny were parked here waiting for someone…)

Holywell Street doesn’t have so many surprises, and it’s not going to have an action ending as we have in A Case of Make Believe and Acts of Faith; it’s going to have more of the kind of ending we had in Gave Developments. What it does have, though, is a string of seemingly unrelated and random ‘clues’ for Jack and co. to solve, some information based on fact about a certain Victorian pornographer, a nod to the story of Jack Saul, and plenty of factual details about a few other matters you will read about before too long. Hopefully, you will find the book on the shelves and ready for reading before the end of June.

Meanwhile, can I tempt you to a click and a browse of some mysteries and thrillers that are all available on Kindle Unlimited? Have a browse here, and I’ll be back on Saturday with more news.

Jackson Marsh Author

Gay Historial Mystery

Category Archives: The Delamere Files