Hi. This is a quick update about the next novel and finding a title. I thought I had settled on ‘An Act of Faith’, and then I thought about ‘Acts of Faith’ because of what the story is about, but I found ‘Acts of Faith’ the reading equivalent of a tongue twister for some reason. Now, I am thinking of the title as being, ‘A Question of Faith,’ but that’s not 100% there. It should be ‘Acts of Faith’ as that makes most sense to the story, so I may go with that for now even though there are a few of the same titles out there. Having said that, the ones I’ve seen are all about religion, not murder in 1893, so I might get away with it.
Talking of getting away with it, we were away yesterday. I wet to see a chiropractor about my back and shoulder, and now have some different exercises to do which should, over time, alleviate the pain I suffer when writing, walking, sitting… I also have to do less writing and sitting but do more walking while things improve, but that’s okay. I’m, meant to be retired anyway. I also bought a new mattress and a new laptop which I am away to set up now – the laptop, I mean; the mattress should arrive at the end of March as it has to be handmade in Athens. Sounds glamorous.
I’ll give you an ‘Acts of Faith’ update on Wednesday, and leave you with these two shots from yesterday in Rhodes.
Hello! I am making this my last blog of the year so that I can take a whole two weeks off. Obviously, I want to take the opportunity to thank everyone who reads these pages, and my printed or otherwise pages, and to everyone who connects via my FB page. Mostly, here’s a big thank you to everyone who leaves positive reviews and who shares my links and titles. Thanks to you, I’ve had the best year ever, and I am very happy about that.
Now, let’s start the random photos of the year…
Things I’ve done this year, 01: had some new banners made.
I just went to my shelves and checked what I’d published this year. Turns out, it’s been a five-book year; Follow the Van, Where There’s a Will, A Case of Make Believe, Grave Developments, and Bobby – a Life Worth Living. Mind you, I’d been working on Bobby off and on for about twenty years, so… Still, that brings the total of titles up to 45, though I don’t write because I want to reach a magic number of books or anything.
Last winter. View from home.
I was just wondering what I could mention as other things I’ve done this year… If we can count New Year’s Eve last year (because it went on into the first day of this year), then 2024, for me, brought: Watching the Greek National opera perform Sondheim’s ‘Into the Woods’ (in Greek), a few days in Athens, missing the Nutcracker because of being ill, spending time with my godson building model cars and things from kits, hanging out a lot with visitors, a couple of trips to Rhodes for bits and pieces, mainly for health checkups because it’s so easy and cheap to see a specialist you may as well, having my mum and nephew come to visit for two weeks, our niece for a few days, doing some walking but not enough, trying to sort out my RSI, a lot of resting away from typing (boo), and not very much else of note, really. As you’ll see, this last post of 2024 carries several photos taken throughout the year, mostly of scenery when I have been out and about on the island.
Havings said that, this was in Rhodes last March.
What about next year? Plans?
The husband getting his arty shots in the Old Town of Rhodes.
Well, assuming all remains as well as it can be in the world, our plan is to stay where we are, only moving house if/when this one gets sold. We currently have no plans to go anywhere next year, and I intend to write at least three more books. Hopefully more, but it will depend on the shoulder, back, neck, elbow, and arm situation and how many hours I can do at the computer without again becoming a cripple. So, I’ll keep on writing. On which note, I have just had an idea for the next book, so I want to go and write that down before I forget it. I’ll leave you with more photos, and wish you a happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year, and, once again, thank you for reading!
And now, a load more photos taken through 2024…
We repainted the courtyard.Another day over in Rhodes.Neil had bad vertigo in March, so we went to an ENT specialist, where he had a full examination which I watched from the Doc’s office.Found this in my folder and thought of Sir Easterby Cresswell.Boys’ nights with the godsons, always hilarious.Walking…One of the near-finished model kits (Harry’s work).The courtyard in summer.If you’ve ever wondered what my characters mean when talking aboujt making a few bob, or half a crown…Early morning walks.Traffic jams.Explored the wilder parts of the island with H.Some more new banners.Tourist watching.Family walks.Some homework for you.Getting ready for Christmas.
The pieces of paper have come down from around my desk because the story is complete. The notebook is crammed with scribbles and things to check, but otherwise, the desk is more or less clear. Until the next time.
My view this morning
Things I have to do next:
I want to change a couple of names in ‘A Case of Make Believe’ because I want to use the names Fox and Sheridan.
I want to check over chapters 19 and 27 again because the point of view shifts and so does the tense, and I want to be sure it works.
Then, I must send off a copy of ‘Bobby’ to Shirley Bassey’s admin address in case she’s interested to remember him and her time in London in the 1950s.
Meanwhile, I must prepare the ‘Make Believe’ MS to send to be proofed.
But before that, I must come up with the final blurb and the author’s notes so they can be checked too.
Along the way, we need to apply for Neil’s Irish passport renewal, because it only contains two of his names and his UK one has all three, and the UK office won’t renew his UK passport until he’s changed his Irish one to reflect theirs, and it’s all very petty but has to be done and needs a covering letter.
(Must write a covering letter for Dame Shirley’s copy of ‘Bobby’ too.)
I need to get the ISBN number of the next book, and set up the front matter details.
Which reminds me, I must change the ‘Where There’s a Will’ files now the guys have added the title of the next book to the very end of that MS – this won’t affect sales or reads.
What else…?
Must get a newsletter ready as I have a couple of promos to announce for September.
I think that’s today’s list of things to do once I’ve posted this post.
Some writers sit as a tray in a shed, some writers use libraries, hotels and other public places. Then, you have writers who have garret rooms, use the kitchen table, or scribble in books when in the park. Me? I am lucky enough to have a room large enough to house a desk and a corner PC unit. I do my reading research, reading, plotting, noting and handwritten work at the old desk, and everything computer-wise in the corner.
Today, I thought I’d show you around my writing corner as I’ve not done this for a while, and recently, I have had many new readers buy and enjoy my books. So, here’s a welcome to them, and a quick tour of where the hard work happens.
First, the long shot
This is a wide-angle photo taken from my office door, to give you an idea of the layout. Just off stage to the left is a bookshelf (the contents of which could be a blog post or two on their own). The trunk I’ve had since I was eight and went to boarding school. Apparently, it was donated to my grandfather first and then to me, and it is an original Louis Vuitton from around 1912. The little case on top of it is a modern filing cabinet Neil bought me. The windows are open because it is 32° (at 3.30 in the morning – I couldn’t sleep), and the lights beyond are the masts of a ship. The fan on the trunk is already doing its work.
I will come back to the corner unit in detail in a moment. First, skip to the right and the door leads to Neil’s office/a spare room where our nephew stays when he visits. Then, we have a printer where the ink costs more than the machine, so I only use it for scanning, and have someone else print documents as and when I need them because it’s cheaper. Bottle of water? At this time of year, I get through about three of these a day, that’s 4.5 litres. The poster and pictures on the wall? The poster is all the Clearwater Mysteries front covers printed out, a gift from my PA, Jenine, and above it is a photo of Neil and me not long after we first met 27 years ago. Moving left, behind the lamp is a print of one of my mother’s paintings, and a map of Kent, my home county.
Now, Closer.
Okay, so on top of the desk, left to right, we have an old school bell I bought for a production of my musical ‘Time and Again’ back in 1997. The three photographs are 1) my godfather, whose life story you can read in my recent release ‘Bobby.’ This photo was taken in WWII, probably around 1940. 2) is a photo my cover designer, Andjela, put together for me. It’s Neil’s face on an old photo body, and I used the same image for Professor Fleet on the cover of ‘1892.’ 3) That’s our godson, Harry, the day after his 16th birthday when Neil took him SCUBA diving. (He’ll be 17 on Tuesday; tempus fugit!) The tiny image beside it is the Serbian National Theatre in Belgrade. We were there. I saw this old postcard, liked it, bought it, and then found a street artist drawing the same building, so bought that sketch too. I just liked it.
As you can see, there are several pieces of paper stuck to this corner unit. On the left, those pieces are my notes about my Book Funnel group promos, the things which are keeping us fed at the moment. There’s a banner at the bottom of this post linking to the currently running ones in case you’re looking for more good reads. These pieces of paper remind me of my dates and obligations. I have two running this month, three in September, and have lined up one for October so far. On the right, those pieces of paper are my notes for ‘A Case of Make Believe’, and they go along with the notebook that’s there beneath my arm support, currently in use because I have tennis elbow thanks to spending so long each day in repetitive typing mode.
Dotted around the desk, you can see on the left, a glow-in-the-dark model of the witch from the Aurora model kit (remake, not original). If you look closely you can see, top shelf left, my one and only remaining Dartington crystal glass beside one I bought in Prague in 1995, Bohemian crystal, and beside that, a small bear, a present from my husband. Then, I have my other glasses and some tablets, a beaker of water, and a cup of tea (must go and make another shortly).
Centre, obviously, is the computer just waking up and giving me a daily dose of how my AVG security is kind of ‘Meh,’ but it’ll do. AVG begrudgingly tells me that, and they’re doing it because I’m not giving in to their demands and buying every last and unnecessary security add-on. Then, finally, to the right of all that, my reading/writing glasses, some electrolytes because it’s summer, and some notebooks.
Perhaps not the most fascinating of writing corners, but it works for me. I can turn my head and look at the sea and sky, or I can stare straight ahead at the screen. Beyond it is a magnetic noticeboard on which is currently pinned a list of my favourite typos (to remind me to check them when an MS is complete), a certificate to say I adopted a Galapagos penguin in 2020, and out of sight (is out of mind) a reminder of what bills have to be paid when.
That’s me. That’s where I sit sometimes for eight hours a day banging our stories and researching the past. Today, I shall be doing just that and, as I have an early start, may even finish draft one of ‘A Case of Make Believe’ by the end of the working day – which will be around 10.00 a.m. as I was up at 2.00.
Here’s the link to one of the currently running promos. Feel free to give it a click and browse the books.
It’s time for a roundup of what’s going on in my Jackson Marsh world right now, and life’s a varied bag of pick-n-mix, to say the least. Here’s the roundup.
Where There’s a Will
The draft is with the proofreader, and Andjela and I are working on the cover. The first thing to get right is the face of Will Merrit, and here’s one of the mock-ups she’s managed to produce from the original photo.
There are things to tweak on that draft version, but we’ll get there.
Delamere Files Book Five
I have started researching the history and details of the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, and in particular, the world of Maskelyne and Cooke’s mysterious entertainments. The magic shows as we might call them these days. I did some work in this area when I wrote ‘Seeing through Shadows’ in the Larkspur Series, because it’s where Chester Cadman met the man who duped him, and ‘Shadows’ is about Chester cracking the case of the Larkspur Ghost. I am currently thinking about writing an investigation that takes place in the world of onstage magicians.
The first thing I need is a title because I want to add that to the end of book four.
Bobby
This is my late godfather’s life story, which is a lot about growing up and being gay during the 20th century. I am now working on the section which is my reminiscences of the man, while the rest of the text is being read and checked by Neil and others. I will have to ask Andjela to do me another cover, and the layout may have to wait until July when I will next be able to afford to pay for the work, but the book should come along in the next couple of months. Meanwhile, here’s a photo of me and Bobby, taken, I reckon in 1971 when my parents had not long bought the house behind us.
Here’s a strange numbers thing. I have a godson who is currently 16 while I am 61, and pointed out to him today that the phenomenon of our ages being reversible will not happen again. He was born when I was 44. My godfather was also 44 when I was born, so when I was 16 he was 61, and that phenomenon never happened again.
Promotions
There are several excellent promotions running at the moment, and I am in them. They are a mix of Academy Series Starters (all genres but in an academic setting), Mayhem and Motives, a collection of great titles in the mystery, action & adventure field, and Pride Month, which is all to do with general LGBT fiction including Sci-fi and Fantasy, and in my case, historical mystery.
All of these promos cost you nothing to view and there are loads of new titles and authors for you to check out, so plenty of ideas for summer reading. Many of the books, or all of them in some promo cases, are available on KU, so if you’re signed up for that, you now have a new and exciting library of gay lit to see you through.
The Strange Case of the Missing Man
We are living through a local mystery right now here on Symi, because a TV presenter and journalist has mysteriously vanished. Last Wednesday, Michael Mosley set off to walk back from a beach via a well-used and open route and hasn’t been since. We’ve been doing what we can to help, and that’s mainly been deflecting journalists and pointing them towards the authorities, and guiding some of the family around the village to show them the lie of the land as the search continues.
And Onwards
So, for me, it’s now back to the typo-writer, and onto the final chapter of Bobby, while thinking up a title for book five, doing a jigsaw to free up my mind, trying to stay cool (nearly 40 degrees again yesterday), drinking lots of water (at least five litres yesterday), and looking forward to a family visit that starts next weekend. As usual, it’s all go.
Thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who’s been clicking on the promos and getting me a good referral reputation, and to everyone who is currently reading and buying the books. It generates a small income, but as it’s the only one I have, it’s very well received!
Hello! For the Saturday blog spot today, I thought I’d give you a quick catch-up on what’s going on over on my other blog. You might already know that I run two blogs. This one is for my Jackson Marsh antics, research discussions, book promotions, and writing, while my other one is about life here on a Greek island.
A lot has been happening here in the weeks since New Year. The weather has been mainly fine and the temperatures are in the mid-teens. It’s not always sunny in Greece, and it’s not always warm. I’ve known my office to take all morning to warm up to nine degrees, and we’ve had icicles on our rosemary bush before. There have been storms that have washed away parts of buildings, we rarely have snow, but we had that a couple of years back, and now and then we’ll get an earthquake.
Our main town and harbour, Yialos, yesterday.
Sometimes, there’s not a lot to talk about but I try and write something five days per week, leaving the weekends free so I can update this Jackson blog and have a day off from blogging. The most popular things on the Symi blog are the photos. I’ve put in a random selection here today. When there’s not much happening, as there isn’t in the winter months, the images tend to be of views, but they are pleasant enough. Right now, the greener parts of the island are in flower, and everything is starting to grow back. In the height of summer, everything will be dry and brown.
Recently, I’ve noticed a fair few travel enquiries on some Facebook pages, so the blog has been about where to stay on your way over to the island, what boats there should be for the summer, and now and then, I try and put up travel news, though I make it clear I’m not a news site. As I was in Rhodes recently, there are also posts about spending time over there (it’s our nearest bigger island), with some photos, and I put that up because travellers often have to spend time there before coming over here; it depends on the boats. I’ve also been blogging about day-to-day life at home, a friend’s birthday party we had here the other night, the models I am building with my godson, his piano lessons, my husband’s antics at the gym, walks and strolls, and anything else I can think of to a) publicise the island and b) publicise my books, as I have four books about moving to Greece and living here as we have done for the last 21 years.
View from the top of the 400 steps that connect Yialos to the village.
If you want to know more about where Jackson Marsh lives and what I see from my window every day, then click over to Symi Dream. There, you will see the list of books in the side column. These were put together a long time ago, so long ago that I’ve lost the original files so I can’t even pop back in and update them or their typos (they were released before I invested in a proofreader).
Now, I am heading into the final chapter of Delamere Three (Follow the Van). I have a long list of ‘things to tie up’ to check and make sure I do indeed tie them up, and then I have a final read-and-fix before sending it to be proofread. There will be more of an update on Wednesday’s blog, so tune in for that.
Click the cover to reach my James Collins author page on Amazon
Hello everyone. I hope you had a good holiday season and New Year and are back ready to give 2024 all the attention it deserves. I am. We’ve been away, as you probably know, so there’s not been much writing going on, but I am, today, getting back to it. I left ‘Follow the Van’ at 41,000 words, which is only a slight worry because it’s only about a quarter of the way in – but that means there will be lots of juicy bits to cut when I get to draft two. I’m back at the desk now and will be ploughing on and getting back to…
1892
One of the main reasons for us going away was to see the Greek National Opera’s production of Sondheim’s ‘Into The Woods’, my favourite of his musicals. This, we did before I got ill (I had to miss our trip to the National Ballet later in the week), and what a production it was. I have always been mesmerised by the way a simple stage, lights and humans can transform a space into a world and tell a story; like putting together a good book and making something special from nothing. A fabulous New Year’s Eve treat followed by a dinner with our godson and his mum with whom we were travelling, fireworks over the Acropolis viewed from our dinner table, and generally, a great time had by all.
It included trips to the barber, a music store, a model shop, a musical instrument museum, various restaurants, a shopping mall, a proper cinema, a bowling alley, and many other treats and fun times. You can read more about them on my other blog this week; click over to my personal life blog at www.symidream.com and you’ll see many more photos.
So, I am back to work, and the work-in-progress blog will be here every Wednesday while the other general chat and research blog will be here every Saturday. Normal service can now be resumed as we steam ahead into 1892 during 2024.
I usually do a work-in-progress update on a Wednesday, but today, I thought I would update you on the current WIPS and other matters. Let’s start but going back to the future, and 1892.
1892
This will be my next release. A set of short stories that currently has this draft blurb:
Five characters from the Clearwater, Larkspur and Delamere Mysteries find themselves taking the train to Cornwall for the 1892 Larkspur Hall Christmas Eve ball. To pass the time, they each tell a story from their past.
Sitting in their carriage is a stranger who listens to their stories of detection, mystery and prophesy, and recognises some of the people involved. As they near their destination, the stranger realises he is more involved with his fellow passengers than they know, but who is he? Where is he going, and why?
Here’s a snippet of the excellent cover as designed, as always, but the marvellous Andjela V.
You can just see the top of the head of the five characters, so you may be able to guess who appears in this collection if you don’t already know. There are two characters from Clearwater, two from Larkspur and one from Delamere, plus two other characters. One is the railway steward who caters for his passengers in the private-hire saloon, and the other is the mystery man who appears in one book attached to the Clearwater series and is mentioned a couple of times in others, but he’s from a long way back, so hopefully, you’ve forgotten about him and will get a nice surprise at the end of the book when his story becomes the sixth. Actually, his story is the whole journey, but… Well, you’ll see in time.
Follow the Van
Meanwhile, I am beavering away in the same year but on a different book, the Delamere Files Book Three, ‘Follow the Van.’ I’ve been doing some research into Victorian music halls and theatre for this one, and one day, I’ll do a blog post about that research. I’ve almost finished reading about the Gaiety Theatre (now gone), and am about to start on another which, although a novel, is written by a historian, and it’s about the music hall artist, Dan Leno (1860 to 1904), real name George Wild Galvin. That’ll be interesting background.
Symi, Greece
Meanwhile, here in the real world, we’re approaching the winter months, but so far, have been very lucky with the weather and temperature. The island is quieter now there are very few tourists about, and many businesses have closed for the winter, but enough remain open for us locals to carry on regardless. We’re now discussing bringing the duvet out of summer hibernation, and dusting off the heaters, though I’d rather keep them unplugged for as long as possible. Fuel costs and all that. (We don’t have central heating or gas, so everything is electric.)
View from the balcony on Thursday.
In a week or so, Neil’s off to visit his brother in Vienna, leaving me home alone with two books to work on plus my daily freelance work, and we’re both off to Athens for New Year with our best friend and our godsons. There will no doubt be more about that adventure when we get back, and in the meantime, if you’re interested to read more about where we are, and what we do here all year round, you can check out my five-day-a-week blog, Symi Dream. Just click that link and you’ll be in my madcap, sometimes lively, sometimes rather mundane, life here on a small Greek island.
And now… Back to the future (publications) and more work on Follow the Van. Everyone sing along: My old man said follow the van, and don’t dilly dally on the way…
Hello, and Happy Easter from here in Greece, which is celebrating Orthodox Easter a week after Western Easter. I have had both. Last weekend I was in Prague, where it was Easter, and now, I am back at the desk and ready to pick up where I left off.
Prague and New Experiences
I’ve put up a few photos of my recent trip, not the best, but my old camera/phone is getting on a bit. I went, via Rhodes and Athens, to Prague with my godson, Harry, the perfect travelling companion and my music student.
Among our experiences were:
Harry’s first time out of the country and his longest flight to date, using a different currency, the museum at Athens Airport (yes, they have one, it shows you what was there before the airport was built), the usual Prague tourist sights like the astronomical clock and the Old Town square, the castle, St Vitus cathedral, the Lobkowicz Palace for a lunchtime concert, lots of eating, seeing two Canaletto paintings and other treasures such as Beethoven’s original parts for two of his symphonies, a piano that one belonged to Franz Liszt, and a wild Nutria (coypu) that we thought was a beaver (and boy did we laugh about that; sorry, but boys will be boys, and so will some middle-aged men). Also, some underground cellars from medieval Prague and a tour with alchemy and a torture chamber thrown in, another cathedral, a funicular railway, the top of the Petrin Tower at 64 meters — and I don’t do heights anymore, but I managed — the observatory, the Museum of Music, the Lego Museum, and a night at the opera to see ‘The Magic Flute,’ Harry’s first opera and theatre experience.
On the next day… sightseeing and shopping around the Old Town, the Agricultural Museum and the Technology Museum for the science, cars and, for me, locomotives, more walking and shopping (averaging around 7 miles per day on foot, 10 on one day), rode trams, sat on a police motorbike (H might want to be a policeman one day), visited various street markets, ate lots, and in the evening, went on a river cruise with a dinner and live jazz music included. Then, on the way home, stopping for a night in Athens/Piraeus, we visited the warship, the Averoff, before catching our overnight ferry home.
The Next Book
Before we set off, I’d written the first chapter of a new book, which I hope will spark a new series. On my first day back, having had virtually no sleep because I don’t sleep well on moving objects, even with a cabin, I returned to the chapter, read it, edited it and continued. Yesterday, I laid down the start of the story proper and began writing some backstories which may or may not stay in, but which will be useful in some form. What is this book?
Good question. I have recently read a true account of a journalist meeting a London cabman, and the story the cabman told him sparked an idea. All I can tell you right now is that it is set in London in 1888, starting on the night of the (possibly) first Ripper murder, Martha Tabram, but has nothing to do with the Ripper. If the story gathers momentum and it turns out as I want it to, it will be taking place at the same time as the Clearwater Mysteries books one to four, and onwards. Who knows, some of the Clearwater and Larkspur characters may even turn up in this… whatever it is to be. It will involve mystery, a slow-burn romance, bromance, friendship, hardship and fun, like my other historical novels, but it’s going to take some time to put together.
On which note, now I am back into typing, I may go and take a look at what I wrote for chapter two. I’ll give you more info on Wednesday’s Work in Progress blog, so, see you there.
That’s something of an unanswerable question because each PA will undertake different jobs for an author, depending on what the author needs. The most common tasks are administrative ones such as book marketing, social media updates, and communicating with other interested parties on an author’s behalf. Other tasks might include the graphic design and layout of a book, entering competitions, writing and sending letters to agents and publishers, and keeping track of the entire process. It depends on whether the author is self-published, trying to find a publisher, or is already published.
I took on a PA in June 2021, and as you will see from the sales graph, she immediately started making a huge difference.
Marketing and social media aside, I am lucky enough to have a PA who goes the extra mile. It was her birthday yesterday, and on the same day eight years ago, she was helping Neil and I move into a new house. In fact, she cleaned the place as we went along behind painting it. Yesterday, she spent her birthday helping out at our local supermarket because the owner had to be away for the day. She also helps run the cat welfare programme on our island, and has raised money for that and her children’s schools over the years. All this while running her own business and bringing up our two godsons, probably the greatest gift she has given us.
So, rather than witter on about how Jenine edits and uploads my blog posts, beta reads my drafts, keeps my Jackson Marsh Facebook page running, helps publicise my books, takes my place at launch parties and other social media events, cooks me six types of potato for my 50th birthday (and buys me a limited edition reprint of Bram Stoker’s Dracula), cleans new houses, cooks for us, finds us plumbers when needed, translates, orders things for us from Skrouts, bids for us on eBay, and makes us laugh… Apart from all of that, what else has my PA ever done for me.
This post is simply to say thank you for everything. We hope you had a great birthday working in the maddest supermarket on earth, and we’ll see you later for your favourite roast (with Yorkshire puddings), which Neil is already preparing. Mwah!
Wonder Woman…Basket case…And family.
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