This week’s update: I am now at 55,000 words of ‘Where There’s a Will’ and the story is progressing. For the last three days I have been rereading what I have written so far, and today, I’ll be moving forward again, having checked up on myself. This is one of those mysteries with lots of detail, some of which isn’t relevant (to the mystery) but which act as red herrings, and I need to be sure that a) there aren’t too many, and b) those that are genuine clues are pointed enough to remain in the memory without overpowering it.
What I mean: When laying down a clue for the detective to pick up on later, like when laying down the foundations of what will become the smoking gun, it’s important to ensure the evidence has been presented in a plausible but not over-obvious way.
There is an old thriller writing saying which goes something like: Don’t mention a revolver unless you intend to use it. In other words, if you introduce something big, make sure there’s a reason for it. So, in ‘Where There’s a Will’, I have several incidents from the characters’ pasts which either have to be relevant to the plot generally or important to the mystery specifically. Some of these ideas pop into my head as I am writing, and thus, get added into the story. Later, I might discover that they didn’t run, or they led nowhere, and interesting as they are, and relevant though they seemed at the time, they are now just clutter and have to go.
Which is what I have been doing these past few days. Now, I am about to leap back into chapter 18, which is a little over halfway, when the mystery has just kicked up a gear. I need to devise my next cryptic clue, put in some more backstory to deepen suspicion and have my cast prepare for a storm, both meteorological and metaphoric.
Red Herring. According to Study.com, The term ”red herring” comes from an article written by a journalist in 1807. He described a likely fictional story in which he used a red herring (a smoked herring) to distract a dog from a hare. The term caught on from there.
The smoking gun. The phrase originally came from the idea that finding a very recently fired (hence smoking) gun on the person of a suspect wanted for shooting someone would in that situation be nearly unshakable proof of having committed the crime. (Wiki.)
Or, as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle put it in ‘The Adventure of the Gloria Scott’: We rushed on into the captain’s cabin, but as we pushed open the door there was an explosion from within, and there he lay wit’ his brains smeared over the chart of the Atlantic which was pinned upon the table, while the chaplain stood with a smoking pistol in his hand at his elbow.
A selection of Historical Fiction on Kindle Unlimited – the promo runs all month
I am currently writing ‘Where There’s a Will’, the Delamere Series book four, and have just written a chapter involving a lighthouse. This reminded me of another of my older, stand-alone novels which also features a lighthouse.
“Let us go then you and I, to the place where the wild thyme grows.”
An inheritance, a ring and a church organ; three clues to the Blake family mystery. Twenty-five and fleeing a stale relationship, Ryan Blake returns home to find some answers. What he discovers is the impish twenty-two-year-old, Charlie Hatch, a homeless scamp who has a way with words, a love of mysteries, and a very cute arse. As the two set about unlocking the Blake family secrets, Ryan finds himself falling for the younger guy. But is he ready to commit again? And can Charlie learn to accept that someone loves him?
The lighthouse is where the climax of the story happens, the unlocking of the mystery and where the two main characters get a little closer – as far as I remember. It’s been a while since I read it. It’s a mystery set in the present day and concerns two guys from the same town and school. One of them, Charlie, is fond of mixing his quotes, hence the line:
“Let us go then you and I, to the place where the wild thyme grows.”
This one is a mix of TS Eliot (The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock):
Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table;
And Shakespeare, (A Midsummer Night’s Dream):
I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Charlie comes out with others throughout the book, but not relentlessly, because I couldn’t think of that many good ones. I think there’s something like ‘Come into my parlour said the owl to the pussycat,’ or similar in there somewhere. I wanted to make Charlie quirky (maybe even a bit creepy at times), and Ryan, far more sensible and grown up for his age.
Pleasingly, I received good feedback about this standalone, with some people asking if I was going to create a series with these two characters investigating other mysteries. I started writing a book two, but didn’t feel it had legs. (Not long after, I started on Deviant Desire, and that world and those characters certainly had/have legs. Three series, a total of 21 books with another one on the way.) ‘Blake’ has received some negative stars – there’s someone who invariably gives my books only one star, usually only half an hour after I post the new title, which makes me suspect, they didn’t buy it. But there have also been some good reviews, including:
“This is an amazing piece of writing which has everything in it.”
“I just finished reading this book. I just wouldn’t put it down until I finished it.”
“The more I read, the more I was gripped.”
Maybe those words were about one of my others, as this is very much an ‘early work,’ and tbh, I write much better prose these days. Still, it sells copies now and then, it’s a sweet little romance with an intriguing mystery, and it’s all yours for as little as $3.99 -= or ‘free’ on Kindle Unlimited.
I have a novel in a promo that’s running from 20th March to 24th April, so there’s plenty of time for you to browse the books on offer. As this promo is very clearly Best Friends to Lovers, I’ve put in my ‘The Students of Barrenmoor Ridge.’ This is a YA tale, mainly, about two BFs going hiking together, getting into trouble and needing the help of characters you may have met in ‘The Mentor of Barrenmoor Ridge.’ (It doesn’t matter if you haven’t, you can still enjoy The Students of…) The promo is for all levels of ‘heat,’ so you never know what you might find.
To explore more, simply click the link and take a look at the many books on offer. Click a cover to find more info (and get me brownie points for sharing), and enjoy discovering new authors and titles.
While you are merrily clicking things, click on my Jackson March Amazon page and in the next few days you will see you can download or order the next Delamere Files novel, ‘Follow the Van.’ As I write this, I am just waiting for the last of the files to come through from my design team, and then I can upload everything and publish the book. I’m hoping to do this on my birthday next Tuesday.
Here’s the blurb to keep you going, and if you want to see the full cover before the book is published, click the link at the end of this page.
Follow the Van The Delamere Files book three
Success in this business isn’t about what you know, it’s about what you don’t know.
When the eligible Eddy Hawkstone enlists Jack Merrit’s services to recover a stolen book, it seems like a straightforward task. However, the clues lead Jack into the turbulent world of the music hall, where he uncovers the unnerving tale of his father’s death at the feet of Marie Lloyd.
Desperate to prove himself to his mentor, Jimmy Wright, Jack finds himself entangled in a web of sexual temptation, loyalty, and fraternal bonds, all while grappling with his emotions for Larkin Chase.
To triumph, Jack must confront the shadows of his past and embrace the realities of the present. The path is fraught with danger and self-discovery and leads him to a twisting theatrical climax worthy of a melodrama.
Follow the Van is the third book in the Delamere Files series. The books should be read in order.
And now the cover… Another triumph from Andjela, click the Merrit brothers to see the full cover of Follow the Van which you can start reading in the next couple of days.
Today, I thought I’d put up the first paragraph(s) of each of the Clearwater Mysteries, plus a link to the book’s Amazon page. If the series is new to you, you can find out some more info about each book from The Clearwater Mysteries page, and the link is in the menu.
First, here’s a reminder of a promo that’s running via Book Funnel. Historical mystery, action, adventure, and a few select titles and authors you may not have tried before. Click the pic to see the full list.
And now, the opening chapters of each of the 11 Clearwater books starting with the prequel (which isn’t really a mystery).
Andrej
Late summer, 1881 Serbka, Ukraine
Andrej waited until the darkest hour before he untied his wrists with his teeth, and freed his feet from the knots. Leaving the children to their troubled dreams, he slipped silently from beneath the cart, and crawled towards the older men and widows sleeping beneath the trees. Alert, he fixed his eyes on Blumkin. The man had taken his knife, and Andrej was not leaving without it.
Silas Hawkins was searching for coins in an East End gutter when a man four miles distant and ten years older sealed his fate. Silas had no idea that the discussion taking place concerned him, or that it was even happening. He wouldn’t know the details for some time, but even if he had heard the conversation, he wouldn’t have believed it. It wouldn’t have concerned him if he had, because Silas wasn’t the kind of youth to shy from a challenge, not even one that might threaten his life.
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.
The Times, Thursday, December 1st, 1888 Opera House Gala
Famed countertenor, Mr Cadwell Roxton is to make his debut appearance at the Opera House in “Aeneas and Dido”, an acclaimed if unusual work by Austro-German composer, Johann Bruch. Mr Roxton was the sensation of the 1887 Paris season, following that triumph with another in Leipzig the subsequent spring. His debut at our opera house this month will herald the beginning of what this publication hopes will be an illustrious career on the opera stage for a countryman returning home from his studies after training in the conservatoires of Europe.
On the night of December 17th, 1888, a stinging north wind buffeted the city forcing all but the bravest to stay in their homes. Whether that home was a dosshouse in the East End or a villa abutting Saint Matthew’s Park, whatever protection could be found from shutters and curtains was employed to keep back the icy blasts. The day dawned with a silvery sky, but the weak winter sun stood no chance against the mass of heavy cloud that rolled in from the north to swamp the entire country before delivering, in parts, blankets of snow and ice. By the evening, livestock had frozen in their stables, the mainline railways became impassable, and in the darker, unwanted parts of the city, thirty-two deaths occurred before nightfall “From ill weather”.
Folkestone Harbour, April 1889
As he waited for his visitor to arrive, Benjamin Quill squinted at the society pages of the national newspaper with his one good eye. It was an edition from the previous week, but he didn’t require the news to be up to date, knowing that once such an announcement was made, it would remain unchanged, barring serious accident or death. Last year, he had suffered the former, and that had led him to plan the latter. Not his own death, of course, and not that of Clearwater, that delight would come in time.
London, July 1889
Henry Beddington had served as the concierge at the National Gallery since 1865 and took great pride in the fact that, despite the large number of visitors passing through its doors each day, there had never been any trouble in his foyer. Keeping watch over the entrance from his counter on a sunny morning in July, he had no reason to suspect that today would be any different.
27th July 1889. Kingsclere House,Hampshire
Jasper Blackwood’s life changed beyond recognition on the morning of 27th July 1889. The previous night, he had gone to bed unaware of correspondence exchanged between a viscount and a footman, a butler and a housekeeper. As he fell exhausted onto his straw mattress in his basement anteroom, he fully expected to wake at six, and set about the next day’s duties exactly as he had performed every day for the last seven years. It was not to be.
Clearwater House, London September 1889
Jasper’s eyes were on the clock while his hands frantically polished Lord Clearwater’s riding boots, but his mind was on Billy and an organ recital. Beyond the boot room, the clattering in the kitchen told him Mrs Roberts was rushing to stock the pantry and fill the cold shelves, the persistent clip of Harvey’s shoes passing back and forth told him the cases were coming down to the coach, and a proclamation from Mr Payne left no doubt there were only fifteen minutes left before the viscount was due to leave. Throwing down the buffing cloth, he carried the now gleaming boots into the servants’ passage in time to meet Harvey returning from the yard.
The Pall Mall Gazette, Fourth Edition December 4th, 1889
THE INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC. Two London Cases.
Thousands of sufferers in Berlin.
Something very like the influenza epidemic which is raging in St. Petersburg has now spread to Berlin, and thousands are down with it. The epidemic is (a Helsingfors telegram says) still spreading. Everybody one meets has either had or is expecting to succumb to the malady. Editors apologise for the delay in issuing their newspapers, and the scanty news in them. Letters remain undelivered, the postmen being sick. Offices are closed for want of clerks. The illness is preceded by two or three days of lassitude. Then fever breaks out at half an hour’s notice, and increases rapidly for six or eight hours, and is accompanied by delirium, headache, a swelling sensation in the joints, irritation of the throat, pain in the limbs, and a teasing cough.
Rasnov Castle, Transylvania
January 1890
Snow whipped the ancient fortification, caught in the vicious gusts of an unforgiving north wind. Stolen from the pine forests and thrown across the plain, it swirled against the castle walls where it collected in fissures and made its home, there to wait for spring before releasing its glacial grip. Some gathered in the arrow slits and window recesses, clinging to the bars and caking the shutters. Flurries torn from the masonry were buffeted to the roof, coating the tiles in peaks as jagged as the surrounding Carpathians, and some found their way through the rotting wood and mortar cracks to dust the sills and embrasures.
This is just a quick newsletter update to let you know of another book promo I’m taking part in all through December. This time, it’s a ‘Queer Reads’ promo with loads of titles on special offer and up for some attention, and all titles are, in some way, a ‘gay’ story.
I’m more than delighted to be in the company of some author friends, including some who have appeared on my blog. Check out the titles from Rebecca Cohen, Beck Grey, K.C. Carmine, and Glenn Quigley, among others. Head to the Queer Reads Promo page, and you’ll find plenty of titles to choose from, some reduced in price. It looks like there are some Christmas stories, MM Romance, Sci-Fi, thrillers, and general gay lit, as well as some historical mysteries.
Mind you, three of the historical mysteries are from me, with Deviant Desire, Guardians of the Poor, and Finding a Way on the list. These are the series starters for my three series of Victorian mysteries.
And while we’re on that subject, this is your last chance to get a free copy of my Christmas feel-good volume of shorts, ‘1892.’ Join my Facebook Group, Jackson’s Deviant Desires and in the next couple of weeks, everyone there will be able to take a free e-copy of this new set of short stories set in the Clearwater world of 1892.
‘1892’ will be on sale before Christmas and makes for a warm aside from the usual struggles of the Clearwater, Larkspur and Delamere books as five characters from those stories share a train journey from London to Cornwall on Christmas Eve 1892.
What with that, and with the Queer Reads promo taking place, you’re well positioned to stock up on Christmas reading, so I’ll take this opportunity to wish you an early Season’s Greetings, and leave you with the link to the book promo, which you can find here:
The other day, I dropped off the blurb for the new book, and in the meantime, I had a friend read the MS, because she’s a writer of short stories, whereas, I usually prefer to write novels. ‘1892, The Clearwater Tales, Volume One,’ is my first foray into short stories apart from those I have written for adult sites and magazines. As they tend to be 20% story and 80% nookie, I don’t really count them. I don’t talk about them much, other than to say, I do them as a means to a financial end, and would much rather write my historical mysteries and some romance/adventure novels.
Anyway, my friend used to work as a reader for a large London publishing house. One of those poor souls who have to deal with manuscripts from hopeful authors looking for publication. She has told me about the job, and what it entailed, and it’s not all about reading a few chapters and saying yes or no, she also worked in editing and entertaining potential authors, and she did the job for long enough to know good writing from bad. So, I was cheered to receive her thoughts on ‘1892.’ Her message included this:
Have read the short stories. A nice warm Christmas read, particularly for your loyal readers but you have managed to make it perfectly understandable for anyone new. It’s a lovely picture of that luxurious but cosy first-class carriage puffing down to snowy Cornwall with all mod cons and lashings of food.
That was good to read from a professional reader, and she summed up the overarching story of the book perfectly. Seven characters on a train heading for Cornwall for Christmas Eve. Within that are six stories, five told by the characters you see on the cover, and the other being the wrap-around story from the point of view of the stranger who is travelling with them.
To view the cover, click on the picture below and it should open separately. You will see who the cast is. From left to right you have: Joe Tanner, the antiquarian, Mrs Norwood, the housekeeper (here modelled by my friend, Jenine), Professor Fleet (as depicted by my husband, Neil), Andrej (Fecker), the baron, and Will Merrit, the detective.
I’ll have more news about the release and how you can get a free e-copy in a future post and on my Facebook page and group. The freebie is for group members only, so check out and join Jackson’s Deviant Desires to know when and how you can have a free e-copy. Meanwhile, here’s the full cover. Click the pic.
I’m struggling… Well, I’m not struggling, I’m just undecided what to call my Clearwater short story collection that I am planning to bring out before Christmas. I’ve contacted Andjela with ideas about the cover, and she has begun work on the image. I was able to give her my visual ideas, and a subtitle, but not the actual title, and she’ll need it soon. So far, I have:
Untitled
The Clearwater Tales Volume One
Jackson Marsh
Obviously, we need more than that, so I thought it was time I reminded myself of what makes a good title for a book, and for that purpose, I turned to the New York Book Editor’s checklist of tips for creating a good book title.
Remember, your book title is one of the most important marketing tools and can draw in a reader or send them away. Therefore, a good book title needs to have key elements. One of my favourite titles is ‘Deviant Desire’, so I’ve taken the NYBE’s list of recommendations and compared them to that book, the first in the Clearwater Mysteries series. These notes are my observations of my own work, and I might be overblowing my own trumpet, but here goes…
Attention grabbing.
Deviant is a ‘power word’ as they call attention-grabbing words. Mind you, Desire is also pretty provocative because it suggests sex, while Deviant suggests naughty or illicit sex, so ears are already pricking up.
Easy to understand It’s only two words, and sums up what might have been a book title in the days the story is set (1888). ‘Men with Unnatural Desires who are Considered Deviants Battle with another Deviant Intent on Killing Them.’ (Victorian writers were known for being over-wordy, and that extended to titles in some cases.)
Easy to remember I suggest Deviant Desire is easier to remember than ‘Men with Unnatural Desires who…’ It’s also alliterative, a trick which aids memory.
Unique I always run a check through Amazon and Google to see if my book title already exists. Sometimes it does, but the other book is completely off my topic, even so, I might think about changing it. Sometimes, my title is also the name of a music album or something else, but as long as I am not aping the brand or product, it’s acceptable.
For the current work in progress, I wanted to call the book, ‘My Old Man,’ because the story concerns the Victorian music halls and that is a famous line from a famous music-hall song which just happens to relate to much of the story. However, it’s also the title of an autobiography by the British former Prime Miniter, John Major, so I changed my title to ‘Follow the Van.’ That’s from the same song, ‘My old man said follow the van…’ and it’s also appropriate to the story. Phew!
Fits genre
Deviant Desire fits the genre of MM romance with a little light steam (Desire), and Victorian mystery (Deviant). My problem has always been staying in one niche, which is why I write mashups. Actually, I did it because they are more novel (get it?) and more original than traditional MM romances. ‘My Favourite Boy,’ ‘Hid Daddy’s Best Friend’, and ‘College Jock After-Game Love-In’ might be suitable for trad MM romance; Deviant Desire, though, does not suggest a budding romance between a shy teenager and the high school gym coach. I hope.
More appropriate to my story, the word ‘Deviant’ was one used in the past to describe gay men and gay sex. Homosexuals were deviants, and that theme continues in the following books which also use words for gay men in their titles. ‘Twisted’ Tracks, ‘Unspeakable’ Acts. (The phrase was often used in newspapers when reporting court cases of gross indecency.) ‘Fallen’ Splendour, as the word Fallen referred to prostitutes.
Simple
Yes, well, it’s only two words. Deviant Desire. Yet they refer to the (then) deviant behaviour of one man loving another, as well as the villain’s deviancy in murdering people, and the couple’s desire to love, plus the villain’s desire to kill.
Series and sequels
As mentioned, I used similar word combinations in the following three books, all of which have an adjective followed by a noun. Twisted Tracks, Unspeakable Acts, Fallen Splendour. I was going to end things there, but (luckily) carried on, and the titles then changed.
When it came to the second series, The Larkspur Mysteries, I was more aware of my titling and went for similar wordplay combinations.
Guardians of the Poor. That’s what those who ran the workhouses were called, and it is what the two main characters are doing; they are paupers guarding the welfare of themselves and other paupers. Keepers of the Past. The ‘keepers’ are antiquarians (archaeologists), and that is what Joe is becoming, while the villain is keeping to the rites and killings of his tradition’s past.
Agents of the Truth. This refers to the investigators, archaeologists (who uncover the truth), and those who deliver the facts to solve a case.
I could go on, and I usually do, but I think the point is made.
Provocative Hopefully, the words Deviant and Desire work together to provoke a sense of illegality mixed with longing.
The original cover for Deviant Desire. Note the original title.
Also…
This short post wasn’t intended as a way for me to say how perfect my titles are, because like all things in writing, a title can always be improved; at least until you get to the point where fiddling any longer will ruin it.
Just to prove I’ve not always been good at titles, the original title for Deviant Desire was going to be Deviant Lamplight. Say what? What does the lamp light do to make it deviant? Creep unseen from its carriage-lantern casing, and, entwined with the mist of East London, find its way into people’s homes and steal their candles?
Now there’s an idea for a fantasy novel…
For more chat about book titles, try my two previous posts:
Last week, I came up with the idea of producing a collection of short stories as a freebie for my readers. I asked for suggestions via my FB page, my group, and my blog, and I’ve now had several replies. I’ve also worked out the premise, and have gathered my five characters together on the 11.45 train from London to Cornwall, on Christmas Eve 1892.
I chose that date to fit in with the current Delamere series (which is so far set in 1892) and to follow on from the Larkspur series, which finished on Christmas Eve, 1891. We will get an update on what’s happening at Larkspur Hall, because that is where the five characters are heading, and they are heading there for the famous Larkspur Christmas Ball. This event was featured in ‘Fallen Splendour’ and then again at the end of ‘The Larkspur Legacy,’ and it’s the occasion when Lord Clearwater treats all his staff, tenants and their families to a lavish party in the great hall at Larkspur.
Here’s a rather obvious clue to one of the characters.
On the journey, each of the five characters will tell a story from their past, and so far, I have decided on one of these stories, but I still need to invent the other four. However, there will be another, a sixth in total, because although my characters are travelling in a private carriage, they are not alone. Someone else has gained a seat, but as he is sitting quietly at the back and is asleep, they decide to let him stay. Being Clearwater characters, they also suggest he might like to share in the supplies they have brought with them for the eight-hour journey if he wakes up.
Who this character is, and what he is doing there will be explained at the end of the book, which I intend to be reasonably short. I am guessing at around 50,000 words, but knowing me…
So far, I have an outline for the various chapters, and I’ve put it here so you can see who is on this journey. You’ll also see that I’ve modelled the index at least on Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, but the text will definitely not be made up of long poems in Olde English!
May 1892
Here’s who will be appearing in the index, and I’ll keep you posted on the progress of this project and ‘Follow the Van’ (Delamere part three) as the weeks roll on towards Christmas, when anyone subscribed to my newsletter and any members of my group Jackson’s Deviant Desires will get a Pdf copy for free. The book will later be on sale via the usual channels. (Anyone can subscribe to my occasional newsletters, and to my group, just follow the links.)
The Christmas Journey (not the eventual title)
The Prologue – In which five characters meet and a stranger takes note. The Detective’s Tale* The Baron’s Tale The Housekeeper’s Tale The Antiquarian’s Tale The Professor’s Tale The Stranger’s Tale – In which all is revealed and yet nothing is completely ended. The Epilogue
As you can see, each chapter will also have a sub-heading in the style of Victorian serialisations. I’ve always wanted to do this, ‘In which we discover…’ kind of chapter heading, but it’s so outdated, that it’s never yet fit with anything I’ve written. Now’s my chance!
* Btw, although James Wright was a popular suggestion, he is not the detective in this case. I have gone for Will Merrit so that we have two Clearwater characters, two Larkspur characters, and one from the new series. You can probably guess who the others are.
There were many suggestions and my aim is to include some or all of the other suggestions within the stories, though they are not the ones telling them. So, you should get a Christmas dose of your favourite characters one way or the other.
As for the stranger… You will have to wait and see.
I was planning to upload and release ‘Finding a Way’ yesterday, but discovered a couple of last-minute typos, so had the guys fix them. I’m going to upload it as soon as I have posted this blog, and the link will be on the Saturday blog, no doubt, and on my Facebook pages.
A Fall from Grace
The second book in the new series, which continues the events two weeks after book one, is now at 65,000 words (out of an estimated 100,000), and after a week of finalising book one and rereading the draft so far of book two to remind myself where I was, I am, today, getting back to the job of typing.
Before I do that, I wanted to draw your attention to another homegrown product.
Symi Dream Calendar 2024
Excuse this step away from my books. Every year, my husband puts together a calendar of shots from Symi, the Greek island where we live. He’s been doing this for years, ever since he had his photography business and shop. Next year’s calendar has just gone live, and I thought I would let you know in case you were interested.
There’s one large image per month, a grid-style layout for each month with boxes large enough for quick notes and reminders, and there are no pre-marked special days cluttering up your pages. If you want a calendar with large images of where we live, then this is for you.
You can only buy this online from this one outlet. We’ve managed to keep the price to under €20.00 (which is what they were available for back in the days of the shop), though postage isn’t included, and prices vary slightly according to your country.
I’m not, actually. Not at sixes and sevens, that is, but I am working on book two of the new series, which would be work in progress seven since I started the WIP blog, and I am also working on the first in the series, which would be WIP six. The first is almost complete, I am doing my ‘last edit before proofing’ but haven’t set a date for proofing yet, because I need to be further into book two first. So, unusually for me, I have two major works on the go at the same time. We also have family visiting, which means fewer working hours, but I’m still up at 3.00 each morning to get started and make the most of the time I have.
Where did the expression ‘at sixes and sevens’ come from?
Here’s an aside. First of all, this is an idiom, a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words. (Deducible: possible to discover based on the information or evidence that is available.)
Grammarist. Usage of the idiom over time.
According to Grammarist.com: The idiom at sixes and sevens came out of the 14th century from an old dice game where throwing a six or a seven was filled with risk and uncertainty. It appeared in Chaucer’s work “Troilus and Criseyde,” back in 1374, and the excerpt read, “Lat nat this wrechched wo thyn herte gnawe, But manly set the world on sexe and seuene.”
Those last words are six and seven in Old English. (Just in case, like me, you were asleep when they did Chaucer at school.) Good old Wonkipedia agrees that the idiom evolved from a card game, and adds: William Shakespeare uses a similar phrase in Richard II (around 1595), “But time will not permit: all is uneven, And every thing is left at six and seven“.
Meanwhile…
Currently, my desk is surrounded by pieces of paper stuck to the shelves, and beside my open notebook. This is because book two in the new Delamere (or Clearwater Detective Agency) series involves a lot of detail in its backstory, and I have to keep track. A man is missing, and it falls to the newly appointed detective’s assistants, Jack and Will Merrit to investigate. While they are doing this, Jack is still coming to terms with his feelings for Larkin Chase but is confused by his feelings towards his new boss, James.
The typing corner in my workhouse today.
The story fits into the Clearwater world, after ‘The Larkspur Legacy’ and is set in London. A couple of Clearwater/Larkspur characters have made appearances in the first and now, second, book, but it’s not about the Clearwater crew, as the previous series were. It’s about my new MC, Jack Merrit, a handsome hansom driver with a very ‘precise’ younger brother, and how they find themselves rocketed from Limehouse to Knightsbridge, poor to middle class, through a series of unexpected circumstances. As per my usual, there is a mystery to solve, action and adventure, and in this case, a slow-burn love story that, over the course of several books, will see the MC travel from longing to lust to losing, to…? At least, that’s the plan.
I am currently on 28,000 words of book two, which doesn’t yet have a title, but which is inspired by ‘Men of a Similar Heart’ a story I wanted to tell, but one which didn’t fit into the Clearwater world. Until now.
Symi Dream Blog
By the way, as soon as I have posted this, I am off to post on my other blog, SymiDream. If you want to see the non-story side of me and where I live, then bookmark that blog which I update around five times per week with all kinds of island chat and other matters. Whatever takes my fancy really. Today, I am talking about this blog a little, so it makes sense on this one to talk a little about that one…
You see what I mean about being at sixes and sevens? Lol.
