Tag Archives: Promos

Chapter 15

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I am now at chapter 15 of the first draft of ‘A Depraved Indifference.’ Chapter 15 is usually what I consider the halfway mark. Roughly. As I’ve said before, I aim to make each of my mysteries around 100,000 words in length, and it just so happens that, at the end of chapter 14, I am up to 47,000 words, so another three thousand through chapter 15, and I will be stepping over the threshold into Act Three. Or that may happen in chapter 16, depending on how Jack’s meeting goes with Inspector Smith of the City of London Police, which is about to happen.

The Four Acts

If you were wondering about the four acts, it’s a very common film structure, particularly for action/adventure films.

Act One, there’s no problem, everything’s as it should be, and then there’s a call to adventure, and the hero takes it, or deliberates, then must take the adventure.

Act Two, he’s now got a problem to deal with, so the question is, what is this problem?

Act Three, after a halfway twist or turning point, he now knows what the problem is, but not how to deal with it, so Act Three is about ‘How do I solve this?’ This can involve gaining emotional as well as physical strength.

Act Four begins around the crisis of the story, when the final obstacles are in his way and he must overcome them in order to succeed. He must go ‘underground’ as it were in a ritualistic rite of passage to he can emerge victorious at the climax. There’s then a denouement or rounding off of leftover themes, and that’/s about it.

So, my Chapter 15 is happening around the time of the end of Act Two, and we’re just about to have a twist. Kind of. Anyway, that’s where I am with ‘A Depraved Indifference.’ And now…

Promos

Aug to Sept SPY Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense Sales Promotion

This one runs until the 20th September. There are 46 titles covering all aspects of mystery and thriller, and my three series starters are in the list.

Monthly Menagerie of Menage

This promo is open to steamy books with two or more love interests. As you might tell from the title, there’s a heat element to this collection. That’s why I put in my only really ‘hot’ title, ‘The Mentor of Wildhill Farm,’ which, tbh, is often more heat than anything else! There are 17 books here, but they include str8 novels, box sets and collections.

Mysterious Variety

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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.

This Month’s Promotions

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In case you missed the newsletter with the latest ideas and promos, here’s the list of what’s on offer for you to click and browse.

May Kindle Unlimited Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, & Crime Reads

Genres: Mystery & Suspense / Crime, Mystery & Suspense / Psychological Thriller, and Mystery & Suspense / Thriller

I have my three series starters on this one, otherwise known as: Deviant Guardians Finding a Way. (lol)

https://books.bookfunnel.com/May-KU-mystery-thriller-suspense-crime/7oxdjxd06c

Love In Bloom: M/M Romance in Kindle Unlimited

Genres: Romance / LGBT

Lonemarsh House features in this one, one of my Mentor series of older/younger romance novels.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/love_in_bloom_mm_romance/zdtdtk7tqh

May Historical Romance in Kindle Unlimited Copy

Genres: Romance and Romance / Historical

Finding a Way is probably the only romance in the Delamere series.

https://books.bookfunnel.com/mayhistromku/7zn4eqwz1j

MAYHEM & MOTIVES: Mystery, Thriller, & Suspense Reads – May Edition

Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Mystery & Suspense / Cozy Mystery, and Mystery & Suspense / Thriller

I have gone all out with Book Mojo this month. Not only am I in their fantastic mayhem & motives monthly promo as Jackson Marsh, but also as James Collins. Added to that, they are doing a cover of me in their newsletter at some point during the month.

Finding a Way, A Fall from Grace, Follow the Van, Where There’s a Will, A Case of Make Believe

The Saddling, The Witchling, The Eastling

https://books.bookfunnel.com/mysthrillsus-may/2258rjb4jp

May is for Memoirs! Plus Biographies, Self Help books & more!

Genres: Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction / Biography & Memoir, and Non-Fiction / Self-Help

Again, I have gone into this one under both names, so you can find Bobby, and also, a memoir of my own titled: Symi, Stuff & Nonsense

https://books.bookfunnel.com/mayisformemoirs/mwrcqy68ar

Kindle Unlimited First In Series: May

Genres: Mystery & Suspense / Mystery, Mystery & Suspense / Suspense, and Mystery & Suspense / Thriller

Finding a Way finds its way into this one (as I could only add one title).

https://books.bookfunnel.com/KUFIRSTINSERIES/q7aqou0x5u

The Mentor of Lonemarsh House

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Hi. Today, I am taking a quick break from talking about the Delamere Files and my other Victorian MM Mystery series, because I want to highlight a book I published back in 2018.

The Mentor of Lonemarsh House

Here’s what one review begins with:

Having read all four novels in author Jackson Marsh’s “mentor” series this, the third book on the surface seems to be the most straightforward m/m romance but believe me it’s not, the story has so much depth to it I am still thinking about it.

The blurb:

Burnt out from his life as a musician and record producer, 35-year-old Matt Barrow takes on Lonemarsh House, an isolated manor in the Kent marshes. When he meets 23-year-old Jason Hodge, a brilliant violinist, Matt knows this is the young man he wants to share his new life with. But Jason is closeted and at the mercy of his treacherous friends.

Jason is trapped by fear and Matt may be his escape, but should he jeopardise his safety for the love of an older man?

I’ve no special reason for mentioning this MM romance today except as a way of highlighting a promo that another of my romances is taking part in. This selection of titles is all Romance, and why I didn’t put Lonemarsh House into it, I cant remember. Maybe I will push that one next month. For this month, we’ve got ‘The Students’ highlighted over at the Friends-to-Lovers: Romances promo. There, you will also find roommates, boyfriends, firefighters, sportsmen, athletes, students and billionaires falling into friendships that lead to love, which is kind of what happens in Lonemarsh House.

Click the banner to find all the books on offer

My romances (and I admit, they are not full-on MM heat and humping ‘romances’ of the naked-chest-on-the-cover ilk) tend to be more about plot than simply boy meets boy etc. Lonemarsh house not only takes the older/younger theme, but also burn out, prejudice, and isolation. As that review says, there’s some depth to it and, to my mind, it’s my most romantic book to date, as in typical romance, rather than romance as a general style.

The Mentor of Lonemarsh House

Friends to lovers romance promo

See you back here on Wednesday!

A Question of a Title

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Sorry I missed the blog last Saturday, I am still trying to rest my arm as much as possible, though I am still writing. It’s a little frustrating, only putting in half a chapter a day or around 2,500 words when I am used to writing 4,000 or so, but it has to be done. Anyway, I am not complaining!

Newsletter & Promos

If you want to check out loads of new titles and authors across various genres, then sign up to my newsletter. I have got into the habit of joining three or four free promos per month, and sharing the details with newsletter followers, pointing them towards a whole series of mystery, thriller, MM Romance, and LGBT stories, novels and collections. These are all free to browse, and I’ve picked up some great new reading from them. Each month, I send out a newsletter to announce that month’s promos, so if you want to be in on it, simply sign using the two boxes over there on the top right. >>

Here, for example, is a promo that covers: General Fiction / Contemporary Women, General Fiction / Historical Fiction, and Non-Fiction / Biography & Memoir.

Click the banner

A Question of a Title

While that is happening in the background, I am still working on Delamere Six. I am at around 60,000 words, and the story is coming together nicely. It’s one of these where I know the climax and outcome, and am working towards it along planned lines, when one of the characters throws me a bombshell twist and I have to get myself out of his predicament. At least, that’s how it feels. This book’s subject started off as being about photography, and although that is involved, it’s now more about graverobbing and gay cruising grounds of the late 19th century.

What’s missing still is the title, and I have a few to consider. As it’s me, I like a play on words and thus, am thinking go ‘Grave Developments’, as that brings in both photography and the other theme of the novel. Actually, having spoken to you aloud about that possibility, I think I will stick with it! I also had in mind, ‘A Grave Affair’, but that sounded like ‘The Eyre Affair’ by Jasper Fforde (which I couldn’t get through, sorry), and I also thought of ‘A Very Grave Shock’, which is a line from the story, but which sounds too twee.

So, Grave Developments it is – it kind of fits with the early Clearwater in that it’s two words summing up the novel’s theme; ‘Deviant Desire’, ‘Fallen Splendour’, etc.

And the images today are relevant in that they are parts of what I have been researching recently. The Invalid Asylum for Respectable Women in Stoke Newington, and more photographic background.

A service that might put Dalston Blaze out of work.

Where There’s a Finished Will

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Well, maybe not exactly finished… It’s still to be proofread, and then I need to have another look and maybe tidy up before I go to layout, but… ‘Where There’s a Will’, the Delamere Files book four, is now drafted and ready to be typo-checked. Hopefully, if all goes well with the cover and any rewrites I might do, I will have it available by the end of the month. Watch this space, and, as usual, my Facebook page.

Meanwhile, I am also closing in on a book I’ve been trying to get out there for about 20 years. I mentioned it before, I think, the biography of my gay godfather. I have now been through the version I compiled several years ago, and while doing that, I had a choice. I could either rewrite the thing as I might write it now, and it’s around 50,000 words, or I could leave it as it was. I decided to leave it, because it is more authentic. Okay, so it’s not brilliantly written, but that’s because all I’ve done is copy my godfather’s words from the tape recordings to the page. I’ve done some tidying up and some fact checking, but otherwise, what you read is more or less how he used to tell his stories to anyone who would listen.

I’ll give you more news on that soon.

Meanwhile, meanwhile, there’s another promo that might interest you if you’re up for books set in an academic setting. They look to be mainly straight romances, but Guardians of the Poor is on the list too, because these books are all book one of a series. So, if you fancy sending the page to anyone you know who might like some suggestions for new reads, then feel free. The three others are also still running, so here’s the full list of this month’s promos for you to choose from. Remember, it costs you nothing to click and browse, and by doing so, you’re helping a lot of indie authors (and me).

Academy Series Starters

LGBT Reading Party (only until 8th June)

Mayhem and Motives

Pride Month

News and Updates

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Usually on a Wednesday, I give you an update about my current work in progress, and I will, but today, there is a little more news than that…

Follow the Van has just been released and the paperback version should be available in a few days. This is book three of the Delamere Files series which follows on from the Larkspur Academy Mysteries, though takes us away from Larkspur while keeping us in the Clearwater world. The first three books focus on Jack Merrit, his first love and his new job as an investigator. With him is his younger brother, Will, and book four takes Will’s point of view of the world. So…

Where There’s a Will has begun, and I am already on chapter three. I must admit, I’m not sure where the story is going, as I only have a rough idea, but I know it’s going to be fun and intriguing, though like the others in this series, not particularly steamy. Meanwhile…

The Students of Barrenmoor Ridge is in a special promo that is celebrating the best friends to lovers trope. In my contribution, two 18-year-old besties go camping, one is determined to come out to his best mate, but then, they are attacked, and in trouble, and the two characters from The Mentor of Barrenmoor Ridge have to come to their rescue, both physical and emotional. Yorkshire Dales, mountain rescue, nerdy teens, crush, best mates, and ‘fade to black’ sex, so suitable for anyone who’s around 16 and upwards.

Click to see all the books in the Best Friends to Lovers Promo.

Meanwhile…

The special Historical Fiction available in the Kindle Unlimited promo is still running, and you can find the books listed here until the end of the month.

And soon…
Another promo will hit the screens and you’ll get another newsletter reminding you (if you are signed up for my newsletter). This one is called ‘Spend Easter with Queer Romance,’ and there are plenty of new titles available. Or, there will be soon as the promo doesn’t officially start until March 29th. However, Click Here and you will be able to see the covers, and after the 29th, you’ll be able to click them and find out more info. I have all three series starters in this promo.

That’s the news for now, and as you can see, there’s a lot going on!