I’m now onto draft two/three of this one, and Neil is about to start beta reading for me. I know I have some tidying up to do, and I must go through the entire thing again, all 100K words of it, before sending it to my lovely proofreader. Once that’s on its way, I will turn my attention to what comes next… Whatever that may be.
A Depraved Indifference has an open ending, as you will see, so it is definitely not the last Delamere File, but before I get to whatever comes next for Jack and Co., I was thinking about another small collection of short stories. My thinking cap is on!
Meanwhile, here’s a promo you can support:
Queer Romance Is Resistance
This promo is being hosted by the lovely Elle Keaton, who has appeared on my blog in the past. There are 45 titles to explore here, and covers suggesting firemen in love, daddies, dragons, mystical places, and good old MM romance.
Here’s a quick update on Delamere ten, ‘A Depraved Indifference.’
When I stopped work yesterday, I was at 92,000 words and halfway through a climax, if you see what I mean. I had two of my heroes just about face to face with the villain (whoever he is), and they had just discovered what is about to happen, with time running out, and now have an impossibly situation to resolve without loss of life. They are also in the belfry of St Mary le Bow church, Cheapside, London, in the middle of the night. Why has all this come about? Because the villain has a depraved indifference to human life caused by other people’s indifference to him. It will all be explained in the story.
Meanwhile, here is a plan of the church, which is the only image to have joined my research folder in the last few days.
In my folder so far, I have a rare photo of the inside of St Clement Danes church, a photo of Morley’s hotel from the late 1890s (Trafalgar Square), some maps and other church floorplans. All this is based around ‘Oranges and Lemons,’ but the nursery rhyme has been twisted by my villain, as you will see, hopefully before this month is out.
New Month, New Promos
Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter if you want to get news on new promos. I have six this month, and will be sending out information about them on Saturday, when the newsletter comes out. Tell you what, I’ll give you a preview of the first one now.
MM Romance & Fiction
There are 22 MM titles here, some, like mine, you may already know, but there are others I’ve not seen advertised before. Plus, there are some new authors to explore and a variety of niches within MM romance.
The work in progress news this week is that I am now up to 63,000 words of the first draft of A Depraved Indifference. The mystery has thickened, and finding a solution has become more urgent because there have now been two major incidents to which Jack and Baxter have been called. So far, they have visited four churches around London, and if you want a clue as to why, then take a scroll down to Saturday’s post. We have also met a couple of new characters from the City of London Police who may survive the story or who may not, and we have also met our villain. Sort of.
We still don’t know who he is, but we know why he is doing what he is doing. I wanted a subplot for this story; otherwise, it’s simply a mystery, and wouldn’t have enough depth, so I thought the subplot could be the villain’s backstory, and the explanation for why he is doing what he is doing. I want the reader to feel sorry for him, yet not. To empathise with him, but wish they didn’t, because of the things he does. That’s the idea I am playing with, yet I still don’t know his name. Maybe we never will. Maybe I will save that for a future story.
That’s the joy of ‘making it up as you go along’ aka writing; you can do what you want because, after all, you are writing a novel, and it is meant to be novel.
So, I shall get back to it and keep you up to date in future posts.
Meanwhile, my Wednesday suggestion for additional reading has to do with stories where characters start off as friends and end up as lovers. Your kind of story or not? Why not check out these:
MM Friends to Lovers. This much-loved and classic MM genre is getting an airing at this promo with 24 cute titles where mates become more than mates. Included in there are my Students and Mentors of Barrenmoor Ridge, one of my best-selling titles (Mentor), and, with Students, I think my only F-to-L book… Then, I just remembered ‘The Blake Inheritance’ and ‘The Stoker Connection,’ which are also F-to-L, so maybe I should consider adding them next time.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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 news from the desk today is that I have just received the full cover for ‘Holywell Street’, and the files are with the guys who do the formatting for me. I used to do it myself using Adobe InDesign, but a) I am not a designer, and b) it was a nightmare, and now, c) Other Worlds Ink do a fantastic job for a reasonable fee, which includes as many later edits as necessary. For example, while I was setting out the audiobook version of ‘1892’, I noticed two typos had snuck through. So, I emailed the guys, and they made the changes within minutes. If you need to have your internal files set out (MS, front and back matter, etc.), then you need to check OWI’s author services.
Holywell Street should be available to you in the next few days. You’ll know when it’s there either by a message from Amazon, or here on my blog, or on my Facebook pages. Meanwhile, I have started on book number nine in the series, and I have an idea for the start and the end, the crime and the climax, but, as usual, not much else. So, I shall do what I do best and what I enjoy doing the most, and sit down to tell myself a story. How that story will unfold is yet to be seen… yet to be written.
In the meantime, I have also been working on publicity (because I don’t have anyone to do it for me), and so, I have set myself up in some more shared promos for July and must share the news of those that are running in June. These were also in my newsletter, and the usual plead applies: please click on them and take a gander. It doesn’t cost anything, but it gets me points that allow me to take part in more and bigger promos. The old income’s taken a bit of a hit this month, so the more publicity we can generate for old Jack Merrit and Co., the better. Thanks.
Here are a couple of promos specifically for MM Romance and Pride month.
Pride Romance 2025
General Fiction / LGBT and Romance / LGBT
As June is generally Pride Month around the world, we’re kicking off with a Pride Romance promo that features over 150 titles. There are loads of cute cover models, werewolves, fantasies, topless hunks, and the four Mentor books by yours truly are also listed.
Queer Romance Is Resistance – June 2025
Romance / LGBT
Back in the 80s and 90s, when I went on Pride marches, they were demonstrations. These days, it’s more of a celebration, but we still need to fight for equality and acceptance. Hence, June is also Resistance month. In this promo there are 70+ titles including work from our old friends Elle Keaton and KC Carmine, and Jackson Marsh (me) with The Mentor of Lonemarsh House.
