I was just wondering what I could tell you this morning, and coming up with nothing, so I have a photograph of some chickens and a panoramic view from the balcony. It makes it look like it’s an odd shape, but the plan was to show you the clear October skies and flat sea. What we seem to have are a lot of buildings and a bent balcony rail. Hey ho!

It’s been a week of the usual for me, with the added attraction of a rainstorm that watered the sitting room quite nicely because the shutters weren’t shut, and left the air crisper, though it was still 18 degrees in the courtyard this morning at four. Neil was let off the island to go to Rhodes, where he had a successful day, and I’ve published another book in my new Victorian mystery series, The Delamere Files.

I know that some readers of this blog are also readers of my other-name novels, the Clearwater Mysteries and the Larkspur Mysteries, and for that, I am very grateful. Those readers, though, may not follow my Facebook page (for Jackson Marsh), so may not see what I am about to post there later. Therefore, I’ll put a similar note here, so if you are interested, you can contact me and join the fun.

My idea is to produce a short novella in time for Christmas, and this will be given away to everyone on my newsletter list long before I publish it, if I ever do. What I am thinking of is a collection of five characters gathered together, each one telling a short story about themselves. We’ll end up with five short stories set inside another one where these five characters are together for some reason. The whole thing stays within the Clearwater world, and the characters can be whoever you want. Doesn’t have to be one of the principals, it can be one of the minor ones, like Mr and Mrs Killhaddock from the Larkspur series who are as mad as hatters, or one of the real people who make cameo appearances like Bram Stoker, Tennyson, or Henry Irving. It could even be one of the villains. So, the question to you is this:

Which characters would you like to see appear in this novella? You can select up to five from the Clearwater, Larkspur or Delamere series, and I’ll pick the most popular.

Obviously, if you’ve not read the series, then you’re on a sticky wicket, as Doctor Markland would say, and you’ll either need to read all 20 novels in the next couple of days, or not join in. But if you do know what I am talking about, drop me a line through the email address (at the bottom of this page), or by whatever means you usually contact me, and I’ll note your suggestions.

There, that’s something for us all to think about over the weekend, during which I shall be continuing with book three of the new series while trying to promote all the others, sweeping up the leaves from the courtyard, drying towels, and generally looking forward to not much else. I’ll see you back here on Monday. Oh! Here are the random chickens, plus a bonus cat.

It doesn’t take much to get the newshounds stirring around here, and I suppose yesterday’s downpour constitutes news. I’d just done some washing, of course, and all the windows and shutters were open, as it’s still not cold enough to close them. Then I looked out of the window and saw this…

Looks like it’s blowing in from the north, I thought, and it was, more or less directly from that direction. Better bring the washing in. No sooner had I done that, than the rain started. Better close the bedroom window. That done, it was raining harder, and the wind whipped up a little. Better close the office shutters. They’re a bit ropey and bang around at the slightest breath. I was on my way when I thought to check the living room windows which face directly north, only to find the window shelf already covered with water which had started to drip onto the floor. The balcony door area was the same, so a quick dash to the kitchen for tea towels as the scenery began to disappear.

Towels down, the shutters needed to be closed, so windows open, a blast of rain and wind later, and the north side of the house was protected. Then the kitchen window started to rattle, so I nipped along there to close that (faces west), and all was dry. Ah, but the window looking onto the courtyard (east), already starting to drip, so open that, another blast, close the shutters, and all was sealed. Including where I had repaired the gaps between tiles and sloping roof over the porch, except that was still leaking a bit. And then there was no view from the front of the house at all.

But on the inside, everything was dry, apart from the towels which remained to soak up the aftermath of a few minutes of rain. It was heavy, I’ll give it that, but the plants probably enjoyed it. A little rain makes the paving stones shine, the air smells fresher, and it tops up people’s sternas, so, all for the good.

In other news… My next book is out and you can find the details here: The Delamere Files – a series of Victorian mysteries.

I’ve just received the ‘final files’ for my next book, which means I have a couple of jobs to do this morning. Checking the files, and unless I notice any obvious errors, uploading them to Amazon so the book will ‘go live’ as soon as it filters through its process. This can take anywhere up to 72 hours, they say, but I’ve never known it take longer than a couple—a little longer for the paperback version. To check if it’s available, you can look at the series page on Amazon. The book is titled ‘A Fall from Grace’, and the series is called The Delamere Files.

Book one, ‘Finding a Way’ is there already, and the second one should be there in a day or so. Meanwhile, I can continue writing book three, currently called ‘Follow the Van.’ It’s another mystery, of course, and set in the same world of London in 1892, but book three takes the music halls as its background. Book one was the work of a London cabman, book two, an incident at a public school in 1880, and all feature the main man, Jack Merrit, a young hansom cab driver who accidentally becomes a private investigator along with his brother who has a condition they call ‘preciseness’ who is really the main sleuth.

I doubt I shall be doing much writing of book three today, though. I have some other typing that has to be done first, and then a short story to write for a magazine, followed by watering the plants in the courtyard, some washing and housework, and those other mundane things which fill the time before you know you’ve spent it. Meanwhile, Neil is off to Rhodes for an appointment and will be out from 5.15 this morning until this evening, so he also has a busy day ahead.

I can’t remember the number of times I’ve had a list titled ‘Things to do in Rhodes on Wednesday.’ You head off on the ferry with seemingly, 101 things to achieve in the limited time between arrival and when the shops/businesses close, usually around 2 p.m., and you spend the morning rushing from A to B as if your tail was on fire, only to discover you get everything done within two hours. This leaves you the rest of the day to mooch about, take a walk in the Old Town which doesn’t take as long as you thought it would, have another cup of coffee, look at another shop (or the same ones for a second time, it’s optional), sit in the Plaza bar watching the world go by, walk around the peninsular, always watching the time so you’re not late for your boat, and then, two hours ahead of schedule, taking a very slow walk back around the coast towards the ferry, only to arrive with an hour to spare. There, having waited until you’re about to board, you realise you forgot to do something and now it’s too late and you’ll have to come back.

Ah well, on with my day.

Four images today, each one taken from the same place over the last four years and around the same time, this week in October or as near as I could find. As you can see, it’s the view from the balcony, and things don’t change much.

October 2020

What the photos can’t show is the temperature, and I can’t remember what it was, but I can tell you it’s currently decent, though the hoodies and long trousers have come out of hibernation. It’s that time when the fans needed for summer are put away, and the duvets and covers, curtains and heaters are coming out of storage ready to be used. We’ve had to revert to warming the water before showering after three months of not needing to because it was so warm. The up-to-date electricity bill has just come in, so for the next six months I will be turning off as many things as I find left on, and leaving alone the on button on the heater for as long as possible.

Pre-winter preparations continue. Neil repainted the bathroom ceiling the other day, one of those jobs that’s been waiting six years and only took 20 minutes to accomplish. The chilli harvest is in, and even the plants that are dying off gave a good crop. They’ve now been cut back (we think they were overwatered as they weren’t looking too happy), and the vine is next to be cut right back… one day… soon.

Meanwhile, out at sea, we see fewer boats moored along the end of the harbour, and fewer anchored out in the bay. The sea generally remains flat, cut through by the wakes of the ferries and day-trip boats, fishing and pleasure boats, and recently, more coast guard and border patrol boats than we’ve had before. Troubles further afield and moves by other countries have led to an increase in people seeking shelter, safety, or a better life in Europe by coming via Greece. As far as I hear, the Poseidon and maybe the other excursion boats are packing up this week, and some summer businesses are preparing to close down.

The sea remains, though, and the view, and with a season of not much to do coming up (for me), it’s a view you might have to get used to on these pages as we head into autumn and winter.

You know how I’m often on the balcony having my early morning cup of tea, listening to the sounds of the darkest hours, and planning my day ahead… Well, it seems it’s a good time and place for random thoughts, such as:

The other morning about an hour before sunrise, the moon was coming up in the west, just a sliver as it was on the wane, and the rest was in shadow. How does that work? I thought. If the sun’s about to come up behind it, how come the front of it is in shadow?

That was one, and I know there’s an explanation somewhere. Another one occurred this morning, and that was, ‘Why don’t computers work on weekends? Is there some union rule that says they can’t? If I set up a bank transfer, say, to pay the rent on a particular date, and that date is a weekend, the payment won’t be actioned until Monday. The same happens if I transfer funds from PayPal to my bank. Can’t do it at a weekend, computer says no. ‘Your transaction will happen in the next two business days,’ it says, as if automated computer systems pack up their desks on a Friday and hot foot it down to the Chip and Anchor for a few pints before picking up a curry on the way home.

What do they do all weekend, these algorhythms? What keeps them so busy?

‘Sorry, I can’t process your automatic payment today, I’ve got to take Tabitha to violin, and Baxter has football at ten.’ Surely these things are automatic. Or, maybe, someone has to sit with them as they do their thing, and there are not enough sitters to go around. I imagine a lone worker in a vast cubicle farm in the Arizona desert, sitting at his desk watching a screen and coaxing along millions of bank payments and card transactions. As he’s working the long weekend alone, he can only allow so many to pass, none of them mine.

I don’t know, but what I do know, is that while musing on the pointless, I also saw some bats. I don’t know much about bats, except you use them in cricket and gothic novels, and I wondered why I am only seeing them now? Is it the time of year? Do they move house? We used to see them a lot when we lived up at Triada, but not so much here. Recently, we’ve seen quite a few, or the same one going around in multiple circles trying to find a crumbling castle or silly mid-wicket.

Tits, too. Coal tits are back (above), and they are something else we only see around here in the winter, as are robins, though I’ve not seen one yet. We’ve had the usual run on pigeons, doves, blackbirds, thrushes, sparrows, warblers, a couple of kestrels, the far-away eagles and buzzards over the valley, and seagulls, though not as many as you might think. Oddly, and for the first time in over eight years, I’ve also seen a pied wagtail on the roof of the house in front. I noticed one in the village square the other day, and now it seems to be exploring around the house. I only say ‘oddly’ because I’ve only ever seen them down by the sea or up in the hills and forests.

Anyway, those are the kinds of random things going through my head at 3.30 while I listen to the sea lapping at the quayside wall, the screech of the little owls that live nearby, and a high-pitched drone that’s coming from some boat down below. Random? Yeah, that’s me.