Snake Hill. Delamere Files Book Nine. Update.

Posted on 06/08/2025 by Jack Marsh

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

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?

Delamere Nine Update

Posted on 23/07/2025 by Jack Marsh

Hi folks. I didn’t post a Saturday blog as I was up to my eyes in other work, and today, I have only a quick update on Delamere nine and life in general.

First of all, I am at 82,000 words of the first draft and nearing the climax. When I work on a first draft, it’s not simply a case of blasting through and reaching the end. If I did that, I’d have a first draft finished in roughly a month, whereas it takes me about two. The main reason is that I am constantly going back and reading earlier chapters, and as I read them, I alter them. Some days I will sit here and write 4,000 words and say, ‘That’s chapter ten done,’ or whatever. Other days, I will say, ‘The head isn’t in the right place today,’ and then I will go back and edit, improve and change earlier chapters. It’s a question of mood. Today, for example, I have to do some other work first, then I have some non-writing jobs to se to, so any time I have, I will probably use it to make notes, or go back and do come checking. If the creative head isn’t in the right place (or the write place, you might say), then there’s no point in pushing it.

*I thought this chap reminded me of a young Ronny*.

It’s also very warm here right now, with temperatures up to 40° in the daytime and around 30° at night. There are still the household chores to see to, though Neil is usually the poor old thing who sees to them while I am working. He’s out this morning, so I have to water the plants, make sure the water barrel fills, do some washing while doing other things, because it’s a day when the water comes in. We only have one barrel, and once the water stops coming in, whatever is in the barrel must last us until the next fill up two, sometimes three or four, days later.

And talking of water, I must research a place on the River Orwell in Suffolk, which is where I left Jack and Baxter yesterday, in a pub, surrounded by a gang of evil smugglers. Must get on!

Here’s a MM Romance collection you might like to browse:

Chapter Seven

Posted on 16/04/2025 by Jack Marsh

In today’s work in progress blog, I am pleased to tell you that I am now working on chapter seven of ‘Holywell Street’, and the story is progressing well. Hopefully, those aren’t famous last words and the story will continue to flow. It should do because I know where I am going (to a certain point) and by the time I get there, I will have discovered where I am to go after that, and so on until the end. I am already 25,000 words through it and that’s only in about a week, because I have little other work to contend with right now. That, in turn, means I’m pretty poor, but I continue to promote indie authors through my promotions (there’s another on to check out at the bottom of the post), and my loyal fans continue to read, while I pick up a few new readers along the way.

So far in ‘Holywell Street’ we have met two unscrupulous characters, and then we have started the story in Delamere House, where there have been some changes, mainly in the layout of rooms and in the staff. There are now five detectives, two of whom are in charge of research and records, and the other three are more out-and-about, Jack and Baxter included, and the boys still haven’t grown up. Soon, I aim to put on the blog a description of how the house is now organised. I wrote this for myself rather than to go into a book, but I will share it with you when I’m sure that’s how things are going to be.

A character in the new book and the cause of the mystery…

While I get back to creating book eight of the series, I’ll leave you with this promo. It’s a new one and only started on 9th April, so it has a while to run. Have a click, have a browse, and you never know, you may find another new and exciting author to follow.

Tales to Devour. Begin Reading This Hour!

April 9th through to May 10th.Genres: General Fiction / Literary Fiction, Mystery & Suspense / Mystery, and Sci-Fi & Fantasy / Science Fiction

https://books.bookfunnel.com/blindsidemysteries/2uwlpo9v4n

June Promos

Posted on 01/06/2024 by Jack Marsh

History and romance mix month June

Hello everyone! Apologies if you just received a newsletter and it was exactly the same as this post, more or less, but it’s the start of a new promo month. Therefore, I have news of promos running in June, the month in which I will release the 4th Delamere Files novel, ‘Where There’s a Will.’

I am very pleased to say that the new series has been doing really well, and that’s mainly thanks to you, my readers and supporters, and to the Book Funnel promotions. This is where a group of authors get together and promote each other’s books, simply by sharing the link to the promo page. Our readers and supporters go to the page to browse, and, hopefully, pick up some copies of a new author’s book. The promotions are themed, and naturally, I go for the historical novels ones, and/or the adventure, romance, action, mystery… whatever is suitable to the book.

So, here is news of what promos you can go and check out this month. Apart from one, they are all running until the end of the month. It doesn’t cost you anything to click, but the more clicks I get direct from this newsletter, the better it makes me look – wink, wink.

LGBT Reading Party

(Only available until 8th June)

This is a celebratory sales promo for authors of works with characters who would identify anywhere within the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.

Click this link: LGBT Reading Party

Mayhem and Motives

MAYHEM & MOTIVES: Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense Reads is a genre-themed sales promotion brought to you by BookMojo.

There are just over 100 books in the list, all mystery or thrillers.

Click this link: Mayhem and Motives

Pride Month

Find your next queer read.

Anyone can join the promo, as long as the main character of the book is part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Well, for me, that’s ripe for all three of my series starters, and they are in there along with over 200 other titles. Plenty of new LGBT authors, stories and series to check out there, and from all genres.

Click this link: Pride Month

All that and a new novel too? Yup, that’s what coming this month. So, here’s wishing you a great June ahead!

Encouragement

Posted on 10/04/2024 by Jack Marsh

I am currently at 27,000 words of ‘Where There’s a Will’ and the story is falling into place nicely, as are the characterisations, the mystery – which is a slow build – and the atmosphere. There are also some light moments, and there’s to be very little angst, although there is a love story subplot going on.

Meanwhile, I was checking out some information about the others in the Delamere Series and was interested to see how many rates Finding a Way the first book in the series has received so far. I was pleasantly surprised, and happy that they were all five or four-star ratings, but even better were the reviews. Not many, but enough, and some very glowing words from honest and happy readers. I liked the one titled, ‘Don’t Dilly dally, follow this author,’ because its title clearly resonates with the setting of ‘Follow the Van’, book three in the series. Like the rest, it was honest, pointing out what the reader thought was both good and not so good, and both sides of the coin are useful for the author to know. The other reviews, from Anthony Pisacano, Tony Wiliamson Jr, and CM are also well-written and honest, and I am not just saying that because they say nice things about me and the stories.

These reviews really encourage authors to keep going. Writing my books is now my full-time job and has been for some time, and the income I receive from them is what we live off. Here in Greece, over the winter when my husband isn’t working, it’s all we have, so reviews that attract more readers are more than welcome.

I must slip in this line from a review of ‘Follow the Van.’

Jackson Marsh uses this insight to give us a wonderful historical glimpse into how the early tubes ran back in the 1890s, the pollution, the danger, the 3 class travel system. This is one of the many things the author adds to these books which make them more than the sum of their parts and some of the most incredible reads out there.

Maybe I should change my end-of-novel tagline from ‘You keep reading and I’ll keep writing,’ to ‘You keep reviewing, and I’ll keep writing.’ I’ll keep writing anyway because it’s what I love to do, and these days, what I have to do if I want to eat. On which note, I must get back to chapter 10 of ‘Where There’s a Will.’

I will leave you with a photo I took yesterday showing the entrance to our harbour. I show you this for no other reason than to show off, lol. Then, there’s a not-so-subtle reminder of the current promo. Clicking over there and exploring other authors’ work really helps me and my sales as much as it helps theirs, even though it doesn’t cost you anything.

Taken during a good walk and a good plot & plan session in the open air.

I’ll be back on Saturday with other news and updates.

Mardi Gras LGBTQI+ Romance Promo

Posted on 14/02/2024 by Jack Marsh

Yup, I have another promo to tell you about, and this one is the Mardi Gras LGBTQI+ Romance Promo.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/lgbtromancemdp/mxgjqlwf49

There are 75 titles in this promo, with all books being available on Amazon, Kindle, and some on other platforms too. Each has an info page that you find by clicking the book cover, and those pages come with a summary or blurb.

I have two series starters in there, Deviant Desire, and Guardians of the Poor. I expect most of you have read them already because you are lovely, loyal readers, but there must be plenty of titles and new authors in the list waiting for you to discover. Looking at those covers, you can see there is an eclectic mix of niches, including friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, contemporary, fantasy, MM romance, FF romance, and, of course, historical fiction. Among the authors, you will find Addison Albright, Anne Barwell, and Ann Lister.

There is even one that features a model I used on one of my covers. T.L. Travis has ‘A Little Christmas, Orion’s Secret’ in the promo, and the guy on the cover is the same one who appears on my Dracula-related mystery, ‘The Stoker Connection.’ We share the same taste in tasty main characters!

Check out the list, click a few covers to explore further, and recommend your favourite authors on my Facebook Page.

There’s another massive promo coming next month, and I’ll be sending out a newsletter about that at the start of March.

Follow The Van

As Wednesdays are my work-in-progress update day, here’s a quick update on Follow the Van (The Delamere Files book three).

This novel has probably given me more hassle than any other I have written. Why? I am not sure. One reason is because of interruptions, but another is having too many ideas. There are so many threads, I am worried they have led to a lot of repetition. That will all be fixed, and the repetition is me reminding myself of what happened when I last picked up the pen two weeks ago, or even yesterday.

Fear not! It will be fine in the end, and the end is what is in sight. I have started on the climax/finale, though I have left the build-up to it until I have finished the climax, so I know how to start it… You see? It’s one of those that needs a good, long re-look once I’ve stumbled to the end. I’ll keep at it and am aiming to finish the first draft (in whatever form) by this time next week.

December Book Promo

Posted on 02/12/2023 by Jack Marsh

Queer Reads Book Promo

Hello, everyone

This is just a quick newsletter update to let you know of another book promo I’m taking part in all through December. This time, it’s a ‘Queer Reads’ promo with loads of titles on special offer and up for some attention, and all titles are, in some way, a ‘gay’ story.

I’m more than delighted to be in the company of some author friends, including some who have appeared on my blog. Check out the titles from Rebecca Cohen, Beck Grey, K.C. Carmine, and Glenn Quigley, among others. Head to the Queer Reads Promo page, and you’ll find plenty of titles to choose from, some reduced in price. It looks like there are some Christmas stories, MM Romance, Sci-Fi, thrillers, and general gay lit, as well as some historical mysteries.

Mind you, three of the historical mysteries are from me, with Deviant Desire, Guardians of the Poor, and Finding a Way on the list. These are the series starters for my three series of Victorian mysteries.

And while we’re on that subject, this is your last chance to get a free copy of my Christmas feel-good volume of shorts, ‘1892.’ Join my Facebook Group, Jackson’s Deviant Desires and in the next couple of weeks, everyone there will be able to take a free e-copy of this new set of short stories set in the Clearwater world of 1892.

‘1892’ will be on sale before Christmas and makes for a warm aside from the usual struggles of the Clearwater, Larkspur and Delamere books as five characters from those stories share a train journey from London to Cornwall on Christmas Eve 1892.

What with that, and with the Queer Reads promo taking place, you’re well positioned to stock up on Christmas reading, so I’ll take this opportunity to wish you an early Season’s Greetings, and leave you with the link to the book promo, which you can find here:

https://books.bookfunnel.com/queerreads/a46ac0114v

Jackson Marsh

Newsletter

Snake Hill Update

Follow The Van

Mardi Gras LGBT Promotion