Hi all,
While we wait for ‘A Night of Opposites’ to come back from being set out and made ready for publication, I have two pieces of news to tell you. Firstly, the island has just enjoyed a visit from a keen Jackson Marsh reader from the USA, who called in for a few days while on his travels. I often meet readers who come here regularly on holiday. These are kind folks who have supported my James Collins books, such as my travel tales and the Saddling series, the older novels I wrote when I was first starting out, and my other blog, the one about living on a Greek island. It’s always great to see them and chat, but it’s more unusual to meet someone who came here because of reading my books and blog. Here we are up on the roof with the island view behind us.
I’m casually dressed in my old faithful sweatshirt that was once black, I think, or certainly a different colour, and which I can’t bring myself to throw away. It’s my hanging-at-home look. The weather has been good for the visit, and here on the island, the annual summer season is starting to get underway, with Greek Easter taking place this weekend.
In the meantime, I have had an approach from a major publisher (in the USA) interested in reading a second edition of ‘Bobby, a Life Worth Living.’ In order for them to consider this, I need to a) expand and refresh the book, and b) have it represented by an agent. In this case, the publisher was very helpful and pointed me to an agent they recommended and he/she/they have agreed to take a look at the second edition when I have completed it, with a view to representation.
So, as well as finishing the Delamere series, I am now to start work on ‘expanding and refreshing’ Bobby. There is no deadline, but I intend to start on the project tomorrow afternoon. (I would start today, but I play the piano on a Wednesday afternoon.)
The mornings will be taken up with ‘The Delamere Dilemma’, the final instalment in the series, and a story which will bring the Clearwater, Larkspur and Delamere series full circle. At least, that’s the intention. In the meantime, ‘A Night of Opposites’ should be back with me soon (the guys have been really busy), and all being well, I will upload that as soon as I’ve checked it. Hopefully, it will appear within hours, as all bar one of the others has done (with one, I had to wait over a week for it to appear, and that’s very unusual).
When the chairman of London’s Thirteen Club wakes to find 13 dead rabbits in his bedroom, he hires Jack Merrit to track down the intruder. The questions are many: Why were the rabbits each missing a foot? How did someone break in through bolted doors, and what is the criminal’s goal?
Jack and Baxter face a table of thirteen suspects. Among them are Jack himself and his lover, Larkin Chase. The case becomes a personal minefield as the mystery thickens, and when a more chilling threat appears in the same impenetrable house, a disturbing story from the property’s past intrudes into the present.
As Will Merrit investigates suspicious events from thirty years ago, the other Delamere men move in on their only suspect. Except, this is a game of opposites, superstitions and deception, and when the truth finally comes to light, Jack faces the most difficult decision of his career.
So, a new Delamere out soon, the 12th in the series already started, work on ‘Bobby’ to start again tomorrow (Delamere in the morning and Bobby in the afternoon), visitors from abroad, agents, publishers, and all the while still trying to sell what I have already written. I tell you, being an indie author is an ongoing battle of adventures and challenges.
Also, I have several promos to send you to this month, and most are MM Romance, but a couple are also historical mystery and mystery/thriller reads. All are ideas for new reads. Let’s start the list with this one:
Crime Fiction – Sequels
Genres: Mystery & Suspense / British Detectives, Mystery & Suspense / Crime, and Mystery & Suspense / Thriller
You know when you read one book and want there to be another? This collection of 26 titles from a variety of crime authors tells you straight off that these are sequels or another book in a series, meaning there are others that come before and possibly after.
