Here’s the good news: I have finished the initial draft of the Delamere Files book five, ‘A Case of Make Believe’, and am now working on the tidy-up draft. Meanwhile, Andjela has made me a cover and here’s the title…
I will show you the rest of the excellent cover nearer the release date which should be next month. Andjela is just about to have a baby so we’re sending her her all our best wishes from Greece, and I know you will too.
While I’ve been doing that, and she’s been doing the cover, Daz over in India has done me a sketch of the new Delamere detective, which is something else I will hold back for now – we can’t have all the goodies released at the same time, I must whet some appetites.
What I can reveal, though, is that ‘Make Believe’ is packed with historical detail that’s true not only to the period but also to the day on which the story starts. I have used messages in newspapers that appeared on January 10th, 1893, and I have used a programme from Maskelyne and Cooke’s Egyptian Hall mystery and illusion performances of the time, plus other headlines and details I found in the newspaper archive. Also, a couple of scenes take place in the London sewers, so I have been down there (on a virtual tour), I’ve poured over the maps, looked into the founding of the London County Council, the Board of Works and other such organisations, and have used my 1888 street atlas of the city to locate an opium den and a molly house (boy brothel). If you thought ‘Where There’s a Will’ was heading towards dark territory, you wait until you see what ‘A Case of Make Believe’ is all about. You may have to make yourself believe such things actually went on in 1893.
Remember, the promos that keep us afloat.
While you’re waiting for ‘Make Believe’ to come along, be sure to check out this month’s promos to find some new authors and new titles to read. Here are both banners with the links built in.
Mystery, thriller, and suspense novelsFind a new favourite author
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.
I’ve been working on ‘A Case of Make Believe’ but I have been going about it in an odd way – odd for me. Usually, I start at the beginning and plough on until the end, then go back and start again. This time, though, I have already written the climax in first draft form, and I have taken the story to almost the crisis just before the climax, and now I’ve stopped and gone back to the beginning. Why? Ah ha! I am glad you asked…
Something was missing. Every story should have some kind of emotional throughline that will engage the reader. In ‘Finding a Way’ and ‘A Fall From Grace’ it was Jack and Larkin gradually getting together, so it was a kind of falling in love throughline. There’s also one in ‘Where There’s a Will’, but for the secondary characters, and not so much of one in ‘Follow the Van’, apart from Jack possibly being misled. However, when we get to book five, ‘A Case of Make Believe’, Jack is settled in his love life, and Will is happy, but there was no emotional tug. Yet, there should be and there is… there was… I just hadn’t realised what it was. So now, I am going back over draft one which is 80% completed, to complete draft two up to 80%, and while I am doing it, I am adding in and highlighting the emotional throughline that was there but not there.
I know what I mean!
Hopefully, I will have the second draft/first draft completed by the end of the month, and then I will set about the other things which need to happen; cover, editing, proofing etc. So, we should be looking at September for release?
Meanwhile, I am thrilled to say ‘Bobby’ is doing very well and my godfather’s story is being widely read – so he will be happy about that. I am also taking part in another BookFunnel/Book Mojo promo, so any clicks you can give the banner below would be greatly appreciated. (No cost to you, but each click brings me a better reputation.) these promos are working really well for me, so it would be great if you could support them with a click.
I should be here on Saturday. I missed last Saturday for various reasons (having a cold and no motivation, mainly), but I’m back up and running now, and I will think of something to tell you by then. Happy reading!
Here’s an update on my current work in progress, ‘A Case of Make Believe’, which is still a working title and not yet finalised. I am up to chapter 17, around 65,000 words and it’s strange…
Usually, a story will flow in order of events, and after I’ve done the first draft, I might go back and move things around. However, I usually start writing at chapter one and wander forwards from there. With this one, I wanted to get the finale down on paper so much I have already written it, and that’s very unusual for me. I needed what was the opening chapter to tie up exactly with the finale/climax, so maybe that was why I did it that way around. Now, though, that opening chapter has become the ‘smoking gun’ and won’t appear at the beginning, it will have to slip in later on, otherwise, I will have given away too much at the start…
It’s still interesting, though, how things can be chopped and changed, and how as a writer you come to instinctively know when something is or isn’t right. At first, the opening (a piece by Larkin Chase published in a newspaper in 1893) seemed to be exactly right for how I wanted things to start. Now, though, 65,000 words in, I can see that it needs to come later. The important thing, though, is that it’s written, and as I always say, ‘Don’t get it right, get it written.’ Then later, you can get it right.
What’s also interesting about this one is that I feel like I want to get to the denouement already. I aim for around 90K to 100K words per novel these days, so the reader has plenty to get their teeth into. This one, at 65K feels like I could be done with it by 70K, and that sets off alarm bells for me. It means there’s something missing, and I know what it is. So, that will have to be written in when I get to draft two.
Still, it’s fun, there are a couple of new characters, a lot of darkness and villainy, and some not very nice things going on in the criminal underworld of London in 1893, making this one probably my darkest to date.
It will also be thrilling, I hope, and talking of thrilling… Here’s another list of over 100 titles for you that will interest you if you’re into thrillers and adventure novels. Click the banner, head to the page and have a free browse to see if there’s anything there you’d like to read while you wait for ‘A Case of Make Believe.’
That’s the title of the biography of my godfather. I started working with him on this in 2004 when I was selling my house in the UK. We spent over eight hours in interviews while he told me his life history, and it’s a fascinating one. It’s also a very gay one because he knew he was ‘different’ back in the 1920s, and left home when he was 14 (in 1933) to explore London, where he became a rent boy. He did that job, as he saw it, from the age of 14 to 19, before going to war in the Navy. There is much more that comes after too.
I am hoping that I’ll be able to put up some of our recorded interviews as audio files on my website within the next couple of months. More news about that in due course.
Meanwhile…
August Promos!
This is how I am getting my books known, and your participation is much appreciated. All you need do is click the link to the promo and browse some titles, no need to buy anything unless you want to, and it doesn’t cost a thing. What it does do is help authors like me receive more attention, and that’s always a good thing.
This is a varied selection of 27 titles including biographies.
It also runs all month.
I have entered my biography of my gay godfather into this promo in the hope it will gather more attention. I have to say, it’s done very well in its first month, and that’s because I have been able to share it on social media historical info pages and groups. Places like ‘Memories of Old London’ have been interested because Bobby was from south London and lived most of his life in the city, while his life spanned from 1919 to 2007.
That’s it for now. I hope you have a great August. Thanks as always for your interest and support.
It’s been a week of varied research for me. Just a quick look through my current work-in-progress folder shows me all kinds of images ranging from the anatomy of a cutthroat razor to the sewer system and the River Fleet. In fact, this week, I have been to so many places, my blog post will simply be a list of them. So, here you go:
I haven’t had time to prepare anything in-depth for this week’s work-in-progress update, so this is only a quick update on Delamere five, ‘A Case of Make Believe.’
I am at 40,000 words of draft one, my team are visiting the London sewers with a guide, and examining the inspection chamber beneath the Egyptian Hall in January 1893. The story is unfolding nicely, not too fast, not too slow (I hope). The new character of Ned (full name Edgar Maddiver) is settling into Delamere house where there is now also a housekeeper, Mrs Sparks. Jack, the MC for this tale, has been to Whitechapel, visited a molly house, in his quest for information, and yet, the case is only moving forward in fits and starts, despite being an urgent matter. There have already been magicians and disappearing acts, and there will be more.
That’s where I am with the book, which I shall return to writing in a moment. I was off yesterday as I had to visit Rhodes and see a doctor about my tennis elbow (which comes from too much typing, apparently), but all is good, and will get better.
Lastly today, the promos are doing me well, and it really does help if my readers at least browse some of the books on offer. The important thing to do is to click the link (the image below), because that registers that I’ve sent people over to view other author’s work, which in turn, gives me a good promo reputation and keeps me in the promos, and that means I get to sell more copies so I can afford to see a doctor about my author’s arm… and so on. Click the banner, and enjoy your reading!
Yesterday I put a post on my personal and Jackson Marsh Facebook pages – a little quiz that went like this:
Just for fun – and NO Googling, because you either know or you don’t. What on earth has all of the following:
A spine, shoulder, tail, pin, toe, face, edge, heel, point and scales?
The answer is at the bottom of this page, if you click the link, you’ll find an image with all those things labelled, and you might be surprised.
Here are a few more clues:
I came across this information while researching for ‘A Case of Make Believe.’
The thing in question is not that big.
It was used more in the 19th century than it is now.
Not everyone would have one, but if you did have one, you’d know if you didn’t use it properly.
Before I give you the answer, I’d just like to bring you up to date on the currently running Crime Story promo which is still running and will be until the end of the month. If you’re into crime novels, then there are plenty to spark your interest here:
And now, the answer to the quiz – but have one last think before you click the button…
What on earth has all of the following:
A spine, shoulder, tail, pin, toe, face, edge, heel, point and scales?
I was talking last Saturday about ‘A Case of Make Believe’ the working title of Delamere five which I am now working on. The update is that I am now over 22,000 words in and approaching the end of act one. I know how the story will end, I know certain things that will happen along the way, but I’m not yet sure how we’re going to get there. That’s the fun part as I wade through acts two and three before getting to the climax in act four.
Four Act Structure
Most of my stories are constructed this way, and a very rough outline would look like this:
Act one Ordinary day, a case comes in, everything needed is gathered
Emotional story set up
Act two We’re off into the case and encounter problems and friends
Emotional story develops
Act three After a midway twist, the story picks up a little pace
As does the emotional through line (if it’s important)
Act four We’ve hit a crisis which leads to a climax and denouement
Reflected by the emotional story tie up or make up etc.
That is a very, very basic outline of a classic four-act structure, and you will see it in about 75% of all films (I don’t know the real number, but it’s a lot). There are other structures, but this is the one I favour. The hard part is filling in acts two and three without it reading as though they are just filling. That’s why there’s usually an emotional line too. In ‘Where There’s a Will’ it was the relationship between Marisco and Newt, in ‘Finding a Way’ it’s Jack accepting he’s gay and starting to fall for Larkin. And so on.
Other Things
While I am beavering away on the typowriter, I am also promoting the books, and that’s what I have for you here. The 19th Century Historical Fiction promo has ended, and my readers contributed 40 or so hits to the page, so we may well have helped 40 books gain more publicity. There are three still running though, and they are on until the end of the month. I know I’ve mentioned them before, but that’s my part of the bargain. I participate with other authors, and we share each other’s work via these promo pages. As usual, they cost nothing to browse, and in some cases, all books are on KU while all are on Amazon.
Click the Pics
If you’re in the mood for some steamy MM romance you could try All The Feels:
If you want more crime and gritty stories from all eras, try All Crime July:
If you fancy something spooky and fantastic, then Riveting Reads is for you:
I’ve started again on the Delamere Files book five, ‘A Case of Make Believe.’ Now, things are running much more smoothly. Before, I had Jack heading off to Paris and being out of the picture, leaving Will to work alone, and that simply was not working. The two of them need to be together for the tension and humour to work, so now, Jimmy’s off to Paris leaving Jack in charge, and on the day a new case comes in too.
It’s a case of a disappearance gone wrong. A magician performing at the Egyptian Hall, made his young assistant disappear, but unfortunately, the boy never came back. Where he went, and how and why he vanished becomes the mystery Jack and Will must solve. The boy’s older brother comes to them from the Cheap Street Mission (because he is/was a rent boy and is reforming), and the case may well involve some underground work at a brothel, on the Whitechapel streets, and in among the mesmerists and magicians of the Egyptian Hall. I say ‘may well involve’ because I’m not yet clear exactly where the investigation will take them. I know it has already taken me on a journey into the world of Maskelyne & Cooke at the Egyptian hall, Piccadilly, in 1893 – or as close to that date as I can find material. For example, here is the inside of a programme from 1872.
And here’s a poster (not sure of the date).
The Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, was an exhibition hall built in the ancient Egyptian style in 1812, to the designs of Peter Frederick Robinson. The Hall was a considerable success, with exhibitions of artwork and of Napoleonic era relics. The hall was later used for popular entertainments and lectures, and developed an association with magic and spiritualism, becoming known as “England’s Home of Mystery.” In 1905, the building was demolished to make way for flats and offices. [Wiki]
I have found a book by George A. Jenness called ‘Maskelyne & Cooke’ which is, as far as I can see, the only book solely about them and the hall, and contains as much information as I could hope to find, down to the colour of the curtains. As for the stage tricks and the magic, I managed to find another well-out-of-print book titled, ‘Magic: Stage Illusions and Scientific Diversions, Including Trick Photography.’ Although this was published in 1897 (my story is set in 1893), the way the illusions were done would have been the same. I now know how they made people vanish, managed to decapitate people without cutting off their heads, and how fairies appeared on stage – among many other things.
In ‘A Case of Make Believe’ the magic trick that goes wrong is the ‘trunk trick’ where someone is locked in a trunk by the audience, and after a moment, the trunk is opened to reveal it empty. The assistant is then supposed to come back in a reversal of the trick which is managed by way of a… Ah ha! That’s a secret, for now, at least.
I am also using newspapers of the day so I can be as accurate as possible. In one early chapter, Will tuts about the weather report in the newspaper, not at the weather, which was bitter and frosty, but at the way the report was written. I’ve set the opening of the story proper (after the ‘prelude’) on January 10th 1893, which is a date that may ring bells with readers who have started at ‘Deviant Desire’ and worked their way forward. (January 10th is a special day for one of the main characters.)
Here’s the weather over New Year 1893.
And here’s where the Egyptian Hall used to stand. I took this off Google Earth yesterday. Good to see it’s still called Egyptian House. It’s just about opposite the Burlington Arcade if you want to take a look.
So, background work continues as I bang out draft one and delve into the mysterious world of illusions and all things magical. Which is a good way of introducing you to another promo:
Riveting Reads is a collection of mysteries, weirdness, horror, magical and all things spooky and dark, and there are many new titles and authors for you to discover there, with all books being in Kindle Unlimited and for sale. Click the banner to see the full collection.
