The Clearwater Inheritance: Working on the first draft

The Clearwater Inheritance: Working on the first draft

I am currently at 90,000 words of the first draft of ‘The Clearwater Inheritance’, the Clearwater Mysteries, Book Ten. I thought you might like to know how it was going and what research has gone into what promises to be the longest of the Clearwater novels.

I will have to be vague about some aspects of the story because I don’t want to give away any spoilers. I’m sure you’ll understand. What I can tell you, though, is that this may be the last of the Clearwater mysteries as we know them. I have an idea for a second series of books set in the Clearwater world, but with new characters, and we will see how that develops once ‘Inheritance’ is done and dusted.

Developing the Cast

My desk this morning.

The series started in 1888 in London’s East End during the Ripper’s terror, and what started as a standalone insta-love story soon took on a life of its own. It was to be about two main characters, a street-rat renter, Silas Hawkins, and a young viscount, Clearwater. Halfway through writing ‘Deviant Desire’, however, I started to enjoy the research and characters so much, I decided to write a sequel. Andrej (Fecker’s) character took on more significance, and so did that of Thomas, the footman and life-long friend of Clearwater (and, if we are to be honest, the unrequited love interest).

For book two, ‘Twisted Tracks’, I wanted Thomas to have his own love interest and was already considering the background to book three, part of which I wanted to set around the famous Cleveland Street Scandal. Thus, when book two opens, we meet a messenger, James Wright. Each character has his own flaws and skills, but the characters develop through a series of trials, tribulations, successes and failures, and are still developing. Book seven, ‘Home From Nowhere’, introduced two more main players, Jasper Blackwood and Billy Barnett, bringing the ‘canonical five’ MCs up to seven. With ‘Negative Exposure’, the number of episodes in the series reached nine plus one prequel.

The stage is set for part ten, and it will be something of an epic.

The Clearwater Inheritance

The story starts at the end of book nine, and the challenge is set in the last few lines of ‘Negative Exposure.’
The person who holds our future in the stroke of a pen goes by the name of Cooper Raglan.’

You will find that some storylines and character’s personal journeys in book ten were started as far back as the prequel. For example, ‘Inheritance’ is set in January 1890, but one through-line has its roots in 1881. The on-going story of Archer’s maniac brother, Crispin, comes into play, as does his mother’s death, his ancestry and Larkspur Hall. The ‘crew’, now of seven main players, must employ all their individual skills to survive the story, and you’re going to find some of my favourite devices and settings.

Rasnov Citadel. I visited there in 2013.

There is a mystery, of course, and there is a code to be deciphered. Music again plays a big part in the story, as do the railways, and there is a legal element to be figured out. Although I have part-invented some of the legalities because the laws around inheritance have never been easy to understand or explain, I’ve put that matter in the hands of Sir Easterby Creswell, the barrister, because he has a knack of explaining things in one or two sentences. A castle is also involved, but not just any old castle. I have mixed fact with fiction and have sent two of my characters to Rasnov, which is now in Romania. In 1890, I believe, it was in Transylvania.

What there isn’t in ‘Inheritance’ is a love story, and so, what started out as an MM romance series with ‘Deviant Desire’, has now become a mystery series with one underlying love theme. Not a romance, as such, but something I find romantic. And that is, the love of friends, particularly, male love of male friends, what we might now call bromance. Some of my pairs are still in love with each other and always will be, but the series has always been about (mainly) gay men bonding as men. Being set in 1888 to 1890, it’s set against the background of homosexuality being illegal (and not yet even being called homosexuality). That has always been the canvas on which the Clearwater world is painted. That and the class divide, the upstairs/downstairs world, the Liberals against the Tories, equality versus snobbery, right against wrong, and acceptance.

Researching ‘Inheritance’

That’s some background. Now we’re on a research tour.

I started ‘Inheritance’ with a timeline plan because I knew that there were to be three main storylines, and I needed to keep track of where everyone was at any one time. I have used the technique of telling parts of the story through letters, as characters do in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This is a handy device for a few reasons.

One, letters can impart exposition to the reader without bogging down the action. Two, readers get into the character’s mind. Three, they give the narrative a sense of time and place – of being real. Four, letters can be intercepted or lost, thereby adding to the tension.

However, only part of the ‘Inheritance’ narrative is presented in letters, unlike ‘Dracula’, which is an epistolary novel (written as a series of documents). If you want to read one of my completely epistolary novels, then I point you to ‘The Stoker Connection.’

For realness, I have again used genuine sections from newspapers of the time which I find in the British Newspaper Archives. You need to subscribe to get the full benefit, but it is well worth it. I also find background information such as costs and times of trains, adverts for medicines and other matters, reports of concerts and events, and all these small details make the story more real.

Musical Code & Philip Thicknesse

I swear I did not make up that man’s last name!

Part of the musical code as it stands at the moment.

The outcome of Clearwater’s problem in ‘Inheritance’ relies on the cracking of a code. In this case, a musical code, and so, I needed to turn my mind to how this might be achieved. Did you know, JS Bach, Mozart, Brahms and others employed codes so they could write messages in their music? Bach’s use of code is quite famous and yet simple.

There are seven letters employed in musical notation, A to G, but in Bach’s time, the note B-natural was named H, and B-flat was B. Thus, Bach was able to score B-flat, A, C, and H (what we now call B), and thus make his name, BACH, sound as a melody. Brahms wrote the name of his (assumed) lover in one of his pieces, minus one letter, and there are all kinds of theories around what Mozart may have done in The Magic Flute.

I didn’t want my musical code to be too complicated because although it might be fun for me to be devious, overly-clever codes need explaining to the reader, which bogs down a narrative. While inventing my code, though, I turned up a book from 1772 by a man called Philip Thicknesse. This has the snappy title of “A Treatise On The Art Of Deciphering, And Of Writing In Cypher: With An Harmonic Alphabet”, and you can find it at Forgotten Books and other outlets. I’ll be honest, I haven’t read all of it yet, and it’s not an easy read, what with the letter S printed as an F and all that florid language, but it did set me on the right track for the simple code around which I could base the mystery.

Locations

Another facet of ‘Inheritance’ is the location. Rather, locations, because I have set the story in three. London, Larkspur Hall and Europe.

Austria-Hungary (ethnic, 1890, with red 1914 and blue 1920 borders)

Europe. I mean, how big does an author want their location to be? In my story, two of the characters must travel from Cornwall to what is now Romania and back, and in 1890 the way to go was by train. Actually, by several trains and a boat, plus a carriage or two, and their final destination is, of course, a remote one.

For train information, I again turned to my expert friend, Andy Ward, and asked him how long such a journey would take. In a nutshell, the answer was, It will take 107 hours to get from Bodmin to Brasov/Brasso, including a 15 hour overnight stop in Vienna. My characters then only have to travel ten miles to Rasnov castle. Coming back, it’s quicker because there are only 5 hours in Vienna, but the route is similar, total time 96 hours.

In the story, my characters stop off in Paris for a night. They are invited to the Hofburg, the Emperor’s palace in Vienna where they meet Brahms, sleep the night at Budapest railway station, put up at a guest house in Brasov, and travel through the worsening influenza pandemic which was still running riot across Europe in 1890. Oh, and it’s January, remember, so it’s cold and not at all comfortable.

London. Meanwhile, two other main characters are dispatched to London to search the Clearwater archives kept by the solicitor, Mr Marks. While there, they must interview the barrister Creswell to see if there are any archaic inheritance laws that may stop the villain from doing what he intends to do. This sees one of our MCs accidentally appearing in the High Court (because I do like a courtroom scene), and brings in a couple of other cameo characters we’ve met in previous novels.

Larkspur Hall

Larkspur Hall. The viscount’s country home is a large, rambling pile of mixed architecture and history which deserves a novel all of its own. In ‘Inheritance’, we get to meet some new staff and find out more about the Hall, which we’ve only been to briefly in ‘Fallen Splendour’ and for longer in ‘Bitter Bloodline.’ I have not yet mapped the Hall, although its basic plan is in my head, but I have used various sources for inspiration, mainly ‘The Victorian Country House’ by Mark Girouard, which has very informative text and plenty of excellent images and plans.

I have my A4 notepad beside me as I write this blog, and in it, I have several pages of notes and reminders I have made along the way. This is without the Word documents and other electronic things I have in my ‘Book 10′ folder. They include Thicknesses’ book in Pdf, maps of Eastern Europe from the late 19th century, and another book which was exactly what I needed, ‘Travels in Various Parts of Europe During the Years 1888, 1889 and 1890’ by Gilbert H. W. Harrison. (Google books.) He gives accounts of travelling from London to Paris, to Vienna to Budapest, and that’s the route I have used for my two characters, who had their journey set up by Thomas Cook and Son of the Strand. You see? I like to keep it real.

Meanwhile, my notes. Here is a snippet of what goes through my mind when I am creating one of my mysteries, as found in my scrawly handwriting.

Billy sniffing. Flu later?
Silas does this without Archer knowing. (Does what? I have no idea, I can’t remember now.)
Code? 12 major, 12 minor = 24 x two volumes = 48. 1 x P + 1 x F = 2 x 12 = 24.
1859 Archer, 1829 dad, 1800 grandfather.
Count Movileşti (real family, Moldavian).
The Hall 14th century, tower, main hall. Abbey. Celtic monks, St Crannock pre 1066.
James’ birthday, Jan 10th, he’s just turned 27.
Freiherr (baron) Kubinsky.
A B C D E F G

And then, in a box of its own: Remove Duncan from story and use later.

Onwards to the future…

Duncan is a day-player we meet briefly in book nine, and I wrote him in intending to use him in book ten. The trouble is, he doesn’t now fit, and so, I have decided I may bring him into whatever comes after book ten.

That may well be ‘The Larkspur Academy Mysteries’, but on that subject, I shall remain quiet for now, because, as I finish, I have two characters in a blizzard in Transylvania, three suffering in the Clearwater Archive in Chancery Lane, a sick housekeeper, a broken telegraph system, huge news from abroad that’s about to cause the final countdown to kick in, and somebody vital has started to feel very unwell.

My characters are waiting for me. I have left them in limbo and must go and see to them.

Jasper Blackwood at the piano.

Oh, before I do. One last thing. As ‘The Clearwater Inheritance’ includes the cracking of a musical code, the character of Jasper Blackwood plays a large part. Jasper, or Pianino as Fecker calls him, is 18 and a musical genius. This coming Wednesday, 31st March, you can find an interview with him over at the MM Fiction Café.

Character Interview with Robin Shipp

For this week’s blog, I’m pleased to introduce you to Robin Shipp. Robin is a character created by author, Glenn Quigley. Glenn is also a graphic designer and photographer who lives in Ireland and, as an author, has won a Rainbow Award for his second novel, The Lion Lies Waiting.

Today, we’re getting to know Robin Jonas Shipp, a fisherman from 1780 who appears in all three of Glenn’s novels.

First a short introduction – where do we first meet Robin, a quick background.

When we first meet Robin, he’s starting his day as he always does – aboard his beloved fishing boat, Bucca’s Call. He lives in the little village of Blashy Cove and isn’t well-liked. He’s something of a pariah due to the fact that most people think his father was a murderer. He has few friends and lives a quiet, simple life in the year 1780.

What is your full name?

 My full name is Robin Jonas Shipp. My middle name comes from my grandfather. I never knew ’im, mind you. ’E died long before I were born. ’E were a sailor, though, like me.

Where and when were you born?

I can’t say when, exactly, but it were fifty years ago. I were found on board my very own boat, believe it or not. It used to belong to my dad, you see, and one of the women ’e ’ad a dalliance with, well, she gave birth to me and left me there for ’im to find.

Tell us a little about dad…

My dad were Captain Erasmus Shipp. ‘E were at sea for years, took over ’is father’s vessel for a while, then came back ’ome to the island. ’E never married, ’e ’ad too much of a wanderin’ eye, by all accounts.

What is your occupation?

I’m a fisherman. Well, oysterman, if you want to be all technical about it, but I do a spot of pilchard fishin’ in ’igh season, so that counts.

What is your hair colour and eye colour?

I used to ’ave a lovely ’ead of blonde ’air. All gone now, mind you. Well, apart from this little tuft just above my fore’ead, but it’s white as snow these days. My eyes are sky blue.

Portrait of Robin, by Glenn Quigley

Do you have any physical traits that stand out ?

I suppose the first thing people notice about me is my size. I’m taller than anyone in the village, and wider, too. Makes it hard for me to blend in. I always stick out like a sore thumb, no matter where I am. Got a bigger belly than most, except maybe the village butcher. I’m strong, though. A lifetime haulin’ oyster dredgers will do that. I always wear my cap, too. It used to belong to my Dad and it’s got this funny little anchor pendant sewn to it. I’ve never seen another one like it. The rope is ’eld in a spindle in the crown, and winds up around it. I wonder where ’e got it from.

What does your voice sound like?  

Oh, I can’t say as I know for certain. I’ve never ’eard it. It’s deep, I’m told. Maybe a bit raspy. I like to think it’s warm. ’Ere’s somethin’ for you— people keep tellin’ me that I ’ave a strong accent! Can you believe that? I don’t know what they’re on about, I think I sound like everyone else round ’ere.

Looking back over your past, how would you describe your childhood?

Now there’s a question. ’Ow long ’ave you got? I remember spendin’ a lot of time with Dad. ’E taught me ’ow to fish, ’ow to cook, and ’ow to clean. I were ’appy, I can tell you that. I used to spend a lot of time with ’is friends — Barnabas and Morwenner. They never ’ad any children of their own and they raised me as much as ’e did, I suppose. We were ’appy, all of us. Until the night that everythin’ changed. I can’t ’ave been more than ten years old. Barnabas died and Dad disappeared, all on the same night. That’s why folks round ’ere say ’e killed ’im, you see. They say Dad killed Barnabas and ran off to join a whalin’ crew. The whaler sank a couple of weeks later and everyone on board drowned. Includin’ Dad. Worst time of my life, that were…

What is you biggest secret? Which person do you least want to know about this secret, why?

I can’t tell you that, it wouldn’t be a secret!

What did you dream of doing when you grew up?

I dreamt of doin’ what I’m doin’ now. Bein’ a fisherman. I went to sea for a few years, when I were a younger man. Tried my ’and at whalin’. Nasty business, that. Not for me. And I weren’t built for life on a ship. I’m too big, I’m always in people’s way, always breakin’ somethin’. I came back ’ome and realized this is where I’m meant to be. I just wish I weren’t ’ere alone.

 

Something a little more personal, do you have a spouse or significant other? If so, tell us a little about him.

Not these days. Not since Duncan. And ’e won’t even talk to me anymore.

Do you believe in the existence of soul mates and/or true love?

If you’d asked me that a few years ago, I’d ’ave said yes. Backalong, when me and Duncan were… Actually, I don’t want to talk about ’im. Can we change the subject, please?

Of course, who is the person you respect the most?

Morwenner Whitewater. She lost ’er ’usband and ’er friend on the same night and she never let it turn ’er bitter or angry. She’s the strongest person I know.

What is your greatest extravagance?

I treat myself to a bottle of whiskey every once in a while. George Reed does me a good price. ’E’s the landlord of the Moth & Moon. One of the few people I can call a friend.

Early sketches of Merryapple Island, Robin, Duncan, pub landlord Mr Reed and Lady Eva

In your opinion, what is the most evil thing any human being could do?

Take away a child’s parent. Leave them adrift. Alone.

What do you look for in a potential lover?

Ginger ’air. I dunno, I don’t think about it much.

Let’s talk about your likes and dislikes, what is your most treasured possession?

Either my boat, Bucca’s Call, or my cap. I wear it all the time. It were Dad’s, ’e gave it to me the day I caught my first fish.

What makes you laugh?

Oh, lots of stuff. I laugh all the time. I do like watchin’ gulls fightin’ over scraps. They’re pests, but funny ones.

What shocks or offends you?

I’m a sailor, there’s not much shocks me anymore! You should ’ear the language down at the ’arbour after a bad day’s fishin’!

How do you spend a typical night in?

I ’ave dinner by myself at ’ome by the fireplace, or at my favourite spot in the Moth & Moon, then go to bed. I’m always up before dawn so an early night is a must. Not as if I’ve much else to do, anyway.

Do you like to read?

I’m not one for readin’. It’s too ’ard. All them words crammed up tight like pilchards in an ’ogs’ead. Dad left a lot of books in the loft but I don’t look at them.

Describe the routine of a normal day for you. How do you feel when this routine is disrupted?

Up before dawn, wash, dress, then ’ead down to the ’arbour. A quick check of the equipment, then it’s time to cast off and spend all day fishin’. I’ll probably eat at the Moth when I get back to shore. Maybe a quick chat with George or Morwenner. I might pop into the bakery to see Edwin, if ’is mum isn’t about. (She doesn’t like me. I mean, she really doesn’t like me.) Edwin is my other friend. Nice bloke, ’e is. Then it’s ’ome to sit by the fireplace for a bit before bed. I don’t mind a break in routine. Livens things up a bit, doesn’t it? Not that it ’appens very much.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Maybe I’d want to be a tad shorter? There’s only so many times a man can bang ’is ’ead on a doorframe before it becomes tiresome. Edwin says that’s the real reason I wear my cap all the time.

What three words would others probably use to describe you?

Big. Clumsy. Menace.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I’ll probably still be workin’ in Bucca, sellin’ fish at the market, and gettin’ in everybody’s way.

Do you like yourself?

Most of the time. Some of the time.

What is on your bedside table?

A jug of water and a striker-lantern. That’s a lantern with a clockwork thing inside. You turn a key and it does…a thing with…another thing that lights a candle. I’m a fisherman, not an engineer, I dunno ’ow it works!

Who would you most love to share an evening in “The Moth and Moon” with?

My dad. I know ’ow it sounds but there’s no one else I’d want to talk to. I don’t know about politics, or art, or any of that stuff. What would I ’ave to talk to a king or queen about? No, it would ’ave to be my dad. I’d ask what really ’appened to ’im that night ’e left. Oh, and my mum, I suppose. It would nice to know who she is.

If you could choose, how would you want to die?

At sea, on board Bucca’s Call. I were born in ’er and I’ll die in ’er.

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We Cry The Sea, has just been released this week and is the third book in The Moth and Moon series.

The Moth and Moon

In the summer of 1780, on the tiny island of Merryapple, burly fisherman Robin Shipp lives a simple, quiet life in a bustling harbour town where most of the residents dislike him due to the actions of his father. With a hurricane approaching, he nonetheless convinces the villagers to take shelter in the one place big enough to hold them all—the ancient, labyrinthine tavern named the Moth & Moon.

While trapped with his neighbours during the raging storm, Robin inadvertently confronts more than the weather. There’s a storm coming. And it’s going to change everything.

EBOOK FORMAT https://books2read.com/u/mKyQlE

PRINT – YOUR LOCAL AMAZON LISTING https://getbook.at/themothandmoon

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSHOP Ask for THE MOTH AND MOON with ISBN 9781948608145

The Lion Lies Waiting

Winter, 1780, and the solstice is fast approaching. Four months after the events of The Moth and Moon, burly fisherman Robin Shipp is preparing for his first Midwinter festival with his lover, the handsome baker Edwin Farriner. But when a letter arrives begging for help, they must travel with their friend, Duncan, to Port Knot on sinister Blackrabbit Island for a final confrontation with Edwin’s mother. Also visiting the island are Lady Eva and her wife Iris, with a stunning proposition that could change Robin and Edwin’s lives forever.

The snow-covered harbour town of Port Knot is a dangerous place. While there, Robin, Edwin, and Duncan explore the menacing rooftop settlement known as the Roost, mingle with high society in the magnificent splendour of Chase Manor, and uncover a violent conspiracy threatening the island’s entire way of life.

Old rivalries will flare, shocking secrets will be revealed, and as Duncan’s scandalous past finally catches up with him, will it ultimately destroy them all?

The men will be tested to their limits as they discover that on Blackrabbit Island, the lion lies waiting.

EBOOK FORMAT https://books2read.com/u/mYALlp

PRINT – YOUR LOCAL AMAZON PAGE https://getbook.at/thelionlieswaiting

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSHOP Ask for THE LION LIES WAITING with ISBN 9781949909715

We Cry The Sea

After the explosive events of The Lion Lies Waiting, life has returned to normal for burly fisherman Robin Shipp. That is until the innkeeper of the ancient Moth & Moon approaches him with a surprising proposal, and an unexpected arrival brings some shocking news that sends Robin on a perilous journey alone.

While he’s away, his lover, Edwin, anxiously prepares for the birth of his first child with his friend, Iris. Her wife, Lady Eva, must travel to Blackrabbit Island for a showdown over the future of the family business. Meanwhile, Duncan nurses an injured man back to health but as the two grow close, the island’s new schoolmaster makes his amorous intentions clear.

Robin’s search for answers to the questions that have haunted his entire life will take him away from everyone he knows, across a dangerous ocean, and into the very heart of a floating pirate stronghold. Pushed to his limits, Robin’s one last chance at finding the truth will cost him more than he ever imagined.

EBOOK FORMAT https://books2read.com/wecrythesea

PRINT – YOUR LOCAL AMAZON PAGE Getbook.at/WeCryTheSea

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSHOP Ask for WE CRY THE SEA with ISBN 978-1-64890-234-5

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MERCHANDISE

You can buy a range of t-shirts inspired by the Moth and Moon books exclusively from Moodybear https://themoodybear.com/themothandmoon.html

The designs include Robin on his boat, the sign above the Moth & Moon, and some pirate flags from my new novel, We Cry The Sea!

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Glenn Quigley Self Portrait

 

 

 

Developing a Series

My Two Year Journey Through The Clearwater World

Just over two years ago, I decided to write a standalone book taking the premise: ‘What if Jack the Ripper had killed male prostitutes?’ I wanted it to have elements of mystery and romance, but essentially, to be a thriller. By the time I had finished the first draft of ‘Deviant Desire’, I had realised that the story was unfinished because ‘Jack’ was never caught. Therefore, I thought I should write a sequel, and the premise there would be, ‘Why did the killings suddenly stop?’ So, I started on ‘Twisted Tracks’, and as I was writing that, I realised I had created a group of characters and a world that cried out to be an ongoing series. Two years later, there are nine mystery books in the series, one non-mystery prequel, and I am working on book ten.

Today, I thought it would be interesting to look back over the journey from Deviant Desire to the present day and see the development of The Clearwater Mysteries.

(If you click on the photos you will open up the blog posts from along the way).


Deviant Desire, Book One

March 8th, 2019

First book in the series published

 

The standalone story was ready to go to publication. I had completed the book, found a cover designer, Andjela K, and a proof-reader, Anne Attwood, and had managed the layout of the book myself. Deviant Desire was published, and although I didn’t know at the time, it was to become my top-selling title and the first in a popular series. I’d hit a nerve, or tapped a seam, or stirred imagination or something, and because I thought it was the best book I’d written so far, I was more than pleased.

Other Worlds

As well as creating the characters and the mystery plot, I also developed a world. I incorporate fact with fiction in my historical mysteries, but I change the original world because I need to take liberties and use artistic licence. For example, Whitechapel becomes Greychurch in my imaginary London, although descriptions of the place are based on authentic sources.

Other Worlds Ink took me on a book tour

As I was writing book two, ‘Twisted Tracks’, I decided that I could do with some help with publicity, and so I turned to Other Worlds Ink to arrange a blog tour for me. This ran from April 29th to May 12th, 2019, and was the first such tour I had undertaken.

One of the guest posts they arranged for me can be seen on MM Good Book Reviews and was published on May 4th.

Twisted Tracks, Book Two

May 2019

Deviant Desire was now building momentum and selling well. Reviews were coming in, and they were, at first, a little mixed. I must admit that one was scathing, but when I read it, I realised that it was probably written by someone who was livid because they’d not thought of the idea themselves. They gave away some of the plot twists (which is unforgivable in a review), and other plot points they mentioned were inaccurate. I wasn’t daunted, however, and book sales were better than any of my other novels, and so I pressed on.

Book Two saw the momentum continue

 

The publication of Twisted Tracks coincided with the book tour, which helped sales enormously. Readers who enjoyed book one could instantly move on to the ‘to be continued’ story in book two and Twisted started to pick up sales, readers and reviews from the week of its publication.

 

Unspeakable Acts, Book Three

Book Three sees the Viscount launching his foundation to help the street boys of the East End

Come June of that year, I decided that I needed to leave the Ripper element aside (at least for now), and turn my attention to what else was going on in Victorian London in 1888. Researching the life and work of Victorian rent boys threw up little, as it is not a much-discussed topic, but I had previously read about a scandal that involved a male brothel in Cleveland Street in 1889, and had that at the back of my mind as a setting for one of the future Clearwater Books. However, I couldn’t wait until 1889. I invented my own potential scandal based in my world and employed a male brothel in Cleaver Street.

The Royal Opera House, London, one of the settings for ‘Unspeakable Acts’

Another of my areas of fascination is the theatre. So, I combined the Cleveland Street scandal (my version), the Royal Opera House (factual) and an imaginary opera into book three, Unspeakable Acts, and this was published in early June.

The series was building momentum, and I knew that I was on a roll, but what next?

 

A writing retreat

June 2019

Tilos – the perfect writers’ retreat

Not being a great fan of writers’ workshops and getaways where strangers pick apart each other’s work and someone tells you how you should write, I don’t go on group retreats. However, that year, I decided I could do with some solo time to work on the next book. I found myself an apartment on an island near ours, an island called Tilos, and booked myself a week of solitude. Tilos is home to only 200 people, and it offers peace, quiet, a village square for evening relaxation and plenty of solo-time walking and ‘chilling.’ I went there in June 2019 armed with my laptop and a book of Tennyson poems.

Fallen Splendour, Book Four

Book four and the feeling that maybe that was the end

I had so much invested in my characters by now, I wasn’t worried about books sales. It was what was going on in the lives of my Clearwater crew (as a fan named them) that was important, and the series had gathered so much momentum, it was hard to conceive it would ever finish. I sat down at my keyboard in my rented apartment overlooking the sea and laid out my tools for part four. A kidnapping, a coded message, and a race to rescue the victim. Simple, but tied up with a poem by Tennyson.

I wrote 35,000 words in the five days I was on Tilos, and work continued when I returned home to Symi. Andjela came up with another perfect cover, and Fallen Splendour was released on June 15th.

 

It was hard to think that this might be the last book. There is the feeling with the last chapter that suggests the series is ending, and, if it were a film, the camera would pull away from the five main characters looking down over the splendour of Larkspur Hall at Christmas as we fade out…. Cut.

But…

An interlude

Autumn 2019

I needed to return to my other series, The Saddling series (by James Collins, my real name), because it should have four parts, and I’d only written three. I tried to leave Clearwater alone and work on part four of Saddling, but after plotting, researching and putting together 40,000 words, I realised that what I was doing was transporting some Clearwater elements into Saddling, and they are two completely different worlds. The message-to-self here was that I needed to continue Clearwater. I wasn’t done with it yet. I was having too much fun. I’d covered the Ripper, the Cleveland Street scandal, Opera, Tennyson, kidnapping, coded messages, train crashes, what else was there?

There was Larkspur Hall.

Bitter Bloodline, Book Five

So far, Clearwater had existed mainly in London, but the Viscount also owns a massive country house with 16 bedrooms, a tower, a ruined abbey, a village and everything else that went with great stately homes of the past. I was also hooked on the idea of involving real people, and so, Bitter Bloodline (which has a bit of a Dracula influence without the vampires) was created to showcase Bram Stoker, Henry Irving and others.

Book five is published

So, during the latter part of 2019, I worked on Bitter Bloodline, broke into the Lyceum theatre, researched poisons and how the Borgia’s managed to poison dinner guests (not that the Borgia’s were in the story), planned a rough landscape of Larkspur, bought an OS map of Bodmin Moor, where the house is, and learnt a fair amount about Transylvanian wine. Bitter Bloodline was published in early November 2019.

That’s five books in only eight months. Five very successful books, I should add, and full length at an average of 95,000 words each. Clearwater was taking over my life.

Into 2020

And now we take a siding because, while I was writing approximately half a million words into five books, I had also retired. Rather, semi-retired on a private pension scheme from years ago which allowed me to take a holiday of a lifetime.

The Royal Opera House, part of our whirlwind stay in London

As Neil and I left Symi in March 2020, rumours were spreading that due to covid-19, towns and cities might have to close down, and the world was in for a pandemic. We had booked a trip to Canada and had been looking forward to it for 14 months. It didn’t feel like the best time to travel, but at the same time, our insurance wouldn’t cover us if we cancelled.

We went via Athens and London, where I could visit some of the Clearwater scenes, the Lyceum theatre, for example, and the National Gallery where book six’s opening was to be set. We had a fantastic time crossing Canada by train, but by the time we reached Vancouver, the epidemic had become a pandemic, and all those places we’d seen had closed behind us. We were among the last to have dinner atop the CN Tower, we were on the last cross-Canada excursion train, on one of the last flights out of Vancouver, and had an adventure of our own trying to get home that was worthy of Clearwater himself.

 

Artful Deception, Book Six

May 2020

Book six released

But reach home we did, and it was straight back to work for me. Book Six in the series, Artful Deception, was released on May 30th, 2020. I wanted this one to finally finish off the Ripper story of books one and two, and again, there was a feeling that it would be the last in the series. I wrote it, released it, and that was, in a way, that. I don’t know why I didn’t give it the same attention as the others, I think my mind was on what to write next, but it didn’t matter. The series had picked up so much momentum, it had a life of its own, but I wanted to write something… calmer.

Home From Nowhere, Book Seven

August 2020

Full of more historical research and one of my favourite subjects, music

This story grew out of a character we briefly met in Artful Deception – a hall boy working for the evil Earl Kingsclere. What would it have been like, I wondered, to be a young man of 17 trapped in the world of working below stairs with no hope of going anywhere? What would happen if that young man had an incredible talent from birth? How could this be a mystery? Not only did I want a cosy, not too tense mystery, I also wanted a love story.

Clearwater exists in the world of Victorian Britain when to be gay meant disgrace and imprisonment, and that is the confine of everyone in my world; all the gay characters, I mean – and most of the leading players are gay. For the mystery, I once again turned to music and real people. For the love story, I turned to two opposing characters: a cheeky, rough-diamond Cockney, Billy Barnett, and a mild-mannered slightly ‘on the spectrum,’ hall boy, Jasper Blackwood. (The name came first, and as I wanted him to be a dichotomy, I gave him a name you might expect of a Penny Dreadful villain.)

Passionate about the research and the details of historical fiction

There is a lot of historical fact in the background of Home From Nowhere, particularly around who the parents turn out to be. By now, my reference bookshelves were bulging with all the books I’d bought to inform my Clearwater world.

I think Home From Nowhere has received more praise and more five stars than any of the other books to date, and Jasper and Billy are currently playing significant parts in book ten, which is still being written.

One of a Pair, Book Eight

And still, the momentum continued. We are into August 2020 now, and as it is the month of my brother’s birthday, and as he was a chemist before he retired, I innocently asked him about unusual poisons, as you do. He gave me the idea for the slightly unlikely but completely possible twist I needed to make One of a Pair work, and once I had that the rest of the mystery more or less wrote itself. My scatter-brained character, Doctor Markland, appears in this book by popular demand, there was much research to do on chemicals and train travel, and this, like Fallen Splendour, was a book that more or less wrote itself.

Book eight released

It also competed the love story begun in Home From Nowhere and is another ‘cosy’ mystery, though with a little more tension.

A cover note: One of a Pair was also the first time I have found a photo of a character and based the character’s description around the image. Usually, it’s the other way around. Jasper Blackwood appears on the cover.

 

 

Looking forward to the past

We are up to September 2020, and I am in a more literary mood.

Slumming, just one of the subjects researched for the series

I wanted to try a book that was not reliant on a complicated, twisting mystery plot. I also wanted to know more about the two characters who began the series, Silas Hawkins and Andrej Kolisnychenko. Or, as they are known to each other through nicknames, Banyak and Fecker (Fecks). Silas is the son of an Irish immigrant, Fecker is a Ukrainian refugee. They met in 1884, lived together as friends, and worked together as renters, but when we meet them in Deviant Desire, they already have a strong bond that you might these days call a bromance. Fecker is straight, Silas is gay, and nothing happens between them sexually (not these days), yet they love each other.

So, I thought, how did that all come about?

Banyak & Fecks, The Prequel

November 2020

The prequel

That’s how Banyak & Fecks was born, and it is probably the most researched book in the series. It’s a prequel, and by the time One of a Pair (book eight) came out, Banyak & Fecks was already in the first draft stage. By now, my assistant Jenine was on board and doing all kinds of magical things to boost sales and develop my website and reputation. That’s why we now have interviews with other writers, more in-depth articles like this one, cover reveals and competitions. She keeps busy while I write books.

But for all that, I wasn’t sure where to go next. I wanted the series to continue because I didn’t feel like I was quite done with it yet, and I didn’t want to say goodbye to my characters. But was it running out of steam?

Apparently not.

November 2020

During 2020, apart from travelling across Canada and narrowly avoiding a pandemic, I had also started on a Clearwater mystery titled ‘Men of a Similar Heart.’ This involved a murder at a boarding school in 1877, and I reached the 60k word mark relatively quickly. Then, it did run out of steam and was going nowhere. I had four different openings of the story, but none of them fitted. I had some great characters, but I had seven main characters and loads of secondary ones by now. There were subplots of forbidden longing between my main couples, Silas and Archer, James and Thomas, but because I’d stepped away from 1889 and gone back in time, something was getting in my way…

Negative Exposure, Book Nine

erotic photography paved the way for book nine

It turned out to be pornography. Well, erotic photographs of the past.

There is an incident in Banyak & Fecks that moves the Andrej/Silas relationship forward. I hit upon the idea that this incident from 1886 might come back to haunt Silas in 1889, and that’s how Negative Exposure came about. Once I realised that was where the story was going, it was easy to write, and while I was writing it, I became aware that a new series was now waiting in the wings.

However, before I can get to that, I need to finish the Clearwater collection, and book nine, Negative Exposure, lays the groundwork for the plot of book ten and plants the seed for the next series.

Onwards to the Beginning 

Book nine with a new cover concept

 Negative Exposure was released in February 2021, 20 months after releasing Deviant Desire, and brought the series up to just under one-million words in total. (I have been through four keyboards in that time.) The story is more akin to the earlier ones, with a mystery leading to a deadline and a chase. It is tenser than the likes of Home From Nowhere and ends with the crew gathering for Christmas at Larkspur Hall, as they do at the end of Fallen Splendour. However, it also ends on a twist that I only decided upon when writing the penultimate chapter. It was one of those ‘light bulb’ moments, and as soon as I wrote the last line, I thought, ‘Oh bugger. How do I get myself out of that?’

The Clearwater Inheritance, Book Ten

January 2021

Manchester Weekly Times and Examiner, 11 Jan 1890, Sat Page 2

Book ten will pick up where book nine left off. What Lord Clearwater said in his last speech means it has to (damn the man!), so, as I write, I am researching all manner of things from European train travel in 1890 to personal telegraph systems, legal entails and inheritance law of the 19th century. I have several scenes plotted, some including a selection of my favourite characters from the past. I am referencing people and events from ten previous books while getting to grips with the imaginary Larkspur Hall layout and its 50 + rooms. I am also making parallels with today’s pandemic, as there was one ravaging the world in January 1890, and all the time, laying more groundwork for the series that will follow.

For this, the future of Clearwater, I have decided that my Clearwater characters will still exist and appear but will be the background to a set of new people and others who we might already know who will play larger parts in a slightly different series. I can’t say much more than that right now because this is still very much in the planning stage, and, speaking honestly, I am not 100% sure how it will start or where it will go. But it’s there somewhere in the recesses of my imagination and only needs some kind of deviant desire on my part to bring it out.

It has been two years since I wrote the first line of what was meant to be a standalone romantic thriller; Silas Hawkins was searching for coins in an East End gutter when a man four miles distant and ten years older sealed his fate. I didn’t know it then, but young Mr Hawkins had sealed my fate, at least for the time being.

The Clearwater Series, available from Amazon on Kindle or paperback

A Character Interview with James Wright

 

James Joseph Wright was born on January 10th, 1863, at the precise moment the world’s first underground train delivered its passengers to Farringdon station. As the locomotive puffed and fumed from the tunnel, James’s mother, some four miles distant, puffed and fumed through her own first delivery.

[Twisted Tracks, The Clearwater Mysteries Book Two]

_______________________________

That is the opening of the second Clearwater Mysteries novel. It introduces us to a character who is to become one of the Clearwater five, the five main characters central to the ongoing series. James makes a brief appearance in book one, ‘Deviant Desire‘ when he is a telegram messenger boy and delivers the ‘smoking gun’ telegram to Clearwater House and meets Thomas. I wanted Thomas to have a love interest but had no idea that James would take on such an important role in the series. Mind you, neither did James and since he met the love of his life, he has crashed a locomotive, foiled an assassin or two, become friends with Tennyson, borrowed Queen Victoria’s private train, rescued Bram Stoker’s son, impersonated a barrister and saved Silas’ life on more than one occasion.

James is the lead detective in the Clearwater Detective Agency, and I thought it was about time we knew a little more about him. So, I sat down with him one quiet Sunday afternoon in The Crown and Anchor pub, near his home in South Riverside, London (in January 1890) and asked him a few questions.

 

What is your full name?

My full name is James Joseph Wright. My mother calls me Jim or Jimmy. Most of my friends call me Jimmy, but Andrej, His Lordship’s coachman, who has nicknames for everyone, calls me Tato. I know, it makes me sound like a bloody King Edward’s potato, but in Andrej’s language, it means ‘daddy.’ He started calling me this when the two of us had to look after Bram Stoker’s son, Noel because someone was trying to kill him. It’s not the worst nickname a man can have. We call Andrej Fecker because Silas used to call him ‘one handsome fucker’, and in Silas’ Irish accent, it sounds like Fecker. Andrej calls my lover, Thomas, ‘Bolshoydick’ because in Ukrainian, it means ‘large penis.’ (Long story, don’t ask.) So I suppose I got off lightly with Tato.

Where do you live now, and with whom?

Clearwater House 1st floor plan (rough)

At the moment, I’m at Clearwater House, Riverside. That’s the London home of Lord Clearwater where I came to work as a footman in 1888. To start with, I had a room on the top floor opposite Thomas, the butler. The following year, when Archer (Lord Clearwater) set up the detective agency and I became a gentleman, Archer have me a suite of rooms on the first floor. I have my own bedroom and sitting room, and an inside bathroom. This is at the back of the house, overlooking the yard and the mews, and beyond them, St Matthew’s Park. I am very lucky. Thomas still has his rooms above mine but only spends time in them if there are guests in the house; otherwise, we more or less live together.

When we are at Larkspur Hall, Archer’s country house, I used to have the senior footman’s rooms by the butler’s suite in the basement. Now, though, I have a similar but much larger suite of rooms opposite Silas and Archer’s, and Thomas has the suite next door. There’s a connecting door, so we can sort of live together without anyone knowing, and it’s like a bloody palace. Archer is very generous, as you can tell.

To which social class do you belong?

Who knows? (He laughs.) I was born in South Riverside, which is a typical lower-middle-class part of London near Chelsea, full of artisans and workmen, people with their own trades and businesses. My dad is a merchant seaman, and my mother a straw bonnet maker. We have a typical two-up two-down and an outside privy in a small yard, but we always had enough to get by. When I came to Clearwater House as a footman, I suppose I shifted sideways in class and went into ‘above stairs service.’ When Archer set up the agency, I became a gentleman with my own self-generated income, though not one with land or a title like the viscount. I still consider myself working class, though I can act ‘upper’ when I need to and ‘lower’ if necessary.

How would you describe your childhood?

Apart from having a younger and very annoying sister who is never happy about anything, childhood was alright. I had to go to school, but I was good at reading and always wanted to know more, so I suppose I was a bit annoying too. They made me go to Sunday school as well, but I used to bunk off that.

Telegraph boys line up to receive telegrams for delivery at the Central Telegraph Office in London

When I was 14, I got a job as a post office runner and then a messenger delivery boy. The job came with a uniform, and we had to do drills in the yard every morning like we were in the army. I got bullied there because I was dumpy and not very fit, but when I got taller, I started to get fitter.

They (the older messenger lads and one in particular) tried to get me into the money-making scam where they’d have sex with punters for coins, but I refused to do this. I was fascinated with the idea, though, because I think I always knew I wasn’t interested in girls, but doing it for money wasn’t for me. I suppose I was after love rather than just sex, but when you want sex with another man these days, well, you could end up in prison, so I had to keep quiet about all that.

Tom

So, when it comes to my first kiss, that was with Tom. He’d got me a job at Clearwater House and was showing me around on my first day. He got me the job because we fancied each other, though he also said I’d be good at it, and we were in his butler’s pantry… Actually, that was the second time. The first was when he showed me his rooms on the top floor. It was awkward, and I wanted to do a lot more than kiss, but we couldn’t. Later, we had a bit of a kiss in his pantry (his office), but we didn’t really get much of a chance until later when we were all in the north chasing the Ripper. Archer engineered a time we could be alone in this room we’d all been using at an inn, and Tom and I had had a bit of a row (long story), and we’d not even said ‘I love you’ by then, because we didn’t know how. Anyway, we managed an hour alone and did… You know, for the first time, though, that was a bit awkward too. We’re much better at it now. (He laughs.) But be careful who you tell that too, else we’ll get in trouble.

Do you have a criminal record?

No, but I should have! I’ve always been honest, you see, and that’s what Lord Clearwater liked about me. He tested me once with a five-pound note, and there was no way I was going to rip him off, and he saw that. So, he welcomed me to his ‘crew’ his circle of trusted friends and told me the first rule of Clearwater House which is honesty above all else. Since then, I’ve crashed a locomotive train into a river, helped Silas break into a brothel, punched Clearwater’s lights out, impersonated a barrister in open court (another long story), impersonated a Metropolitan police officer and lied about who I am, but only when I’ve had to. So much for ‘honesty above all else’! But it’s all been for the right reasons.

Are you able to kill? Under what circumstances do you find killing to be acceptable or unacceptable?

I had to think about this for a minute. I’m now a private investigator and have been in some pretty sticky situations. I’ve been there when people have died, but I haven’t actually killed anyone. There was the man who was trying to murder Silas, and he fell to his death. I was there but didn’t push him. Then there was the man trying to kill Archer, but Tom set fire to him, and Silas shot the other man in the head. The blackmailer… Well, that was his own fault… I better stop there, or I might get in trouble.

But to answer your question, yes, I could kill someone, but I’d rather stop someone from being killed. If anyone was trying to kill any of my close mates, anyone on the crew or any of the boys, like Jasper or Billy, then, as long as it was to save them or in self-defence, yes, I’d put a bullet in a man. Mind you, I don’t have a gun of my own so I’d have to borrow one.

Who or what would you die for or otherwise go to extremes for?

Goes without saying. Tom, Archer, Silas, Fecker, Jasper, Billy, Mrs Norwood… The Clearwater’ crew.’ Oh, and my family, of course.

What are your favourite hobbies and pastimes?

I go for a run around the park every morning when it’s not raining too hard, and I sometimes join some lads in the park on a Sunday for a game of football. I’ve played rugby as well, but I only do all this because, without it, I’d quickly get fat again.

A few of my favourite books

I read a bit because of my job. I have a stack of old copies of The Police Gazette and The Illustrated Police News for research on cases and keeping up to date with police procedures. I like novels, the kind of ‘Boy’s Own Paper’ style of things. I’ve got a signed Wilkie Collins that Lady Marshall gave me, and a book of Tennyson poems that Lord Alfred gave me, but otherwise, I use Archer’s library, and that’s full of all kinds of stuff from Burke’s Landed Gentry to a history of the Royal Navy. So, I read a lot and do a bit of sport.

 

Are you spontaneous, or do you always need to have a plan?

When you work for Lord Clearwater, you have to get used to making things up as you go along. I plan when I need to.

Describe the routine of a normal day for you.

There’s no such thing as a normal day when you’re a Clearwater detective and live with and work for Lord Clearwater. I have a routine, though, for when we’re not on a case. Tom’s always up early, and so am I. I go for a run if I can, have a wash or a bath, then go down to breakfast. I have breakfast with His Lordship and Silas when they’re at home or down in the servants’ hall with Fecks and Mrs Norwood and the boys when Archer is away. Then I’m in my office (Clearwater library), reading, looking at requests for help from all kinds of people who need an investigator, and Silas and I deal with those letters and things. He also runs a hostel in Greychurch, so I am on my own so a lot of the time.

If I’m not working on a case, I’m reading, researching, always trying to learn new stuff, helping Billy Barnett with this or that as he’s always trying to invent things and improve things. Sometimes, I go riding with Fecker, but usually, I’m busy on a case all day. When I’m free in the evening, I spend time with Tom in our suite just chatting or cuddling up, you know. Now and then, Archer drags us all to a theatre or a concert, and we go out to eat. Pretty ordinary things really, because I reckon I’m an ordinary lad from South Riverside who was lucky to fall in love and meet a man who only sees the best in people and encourages them to be themselves; Clearwater, that is.

What are you working on now?

Well, obviously, I can’t say too much, but I’ve come up to London from Larkspur Hall to work on a case that’s to do with inheritance. I’ve got meetings set up with Marks, His Lordship’s solicitor, and I have to get to the Inns of Court to see my barrister friend, Sir Easterby Creswell (always a bit of madness involved when he’s on the case).

“The Epidemic of Influenza” Manchester Weekly Times and Examiner, 11 Jan 1890, Sat Page 2

I’m working out of Clearwater House, trying to avoid this bloody influenza pandemic, and the rest of the time, I’m slowly sifting through the Clearwater archives to try and find a document that will save Archer’s fortune from going to a very distant and undeserving Romanian relative, while also helping Archer set up a new academy for gifted young men, or whatever it’s going to be when he decides.

One thing You can say about being part of Clearwater’s world; there’s never a dull moment.

(James has just celebrated his 27th birthday.)