The Magic of Writing

Cranking up the internal word generator once again

Hello there,

“Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.”

—Stephen King

Thanks to Judith for sending that quote to me.

I still haven't got around to reading a Stephen King book, but I have read his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft several times, and got a lot out of it. I believe the above quote comes from that book.

This quote was apposite for me, because I’m knee-deep in the new DC Spiller crime thriller. The plot is rolling along, and the characters are popping up thick and fast. I’m about halfway through the first draft already, and that’s because the story is moving fast, and the detectives are busy asking questions. Suspects are grilled, potential witnesses are nudged to come up with the goods, and so on.

But I haven't forgotten the families of the victims. I’m a fan of crime fiction, but I think it’s important to remember that crime is devastating and shatters lives.

Even so, writing still feels like a kind of magic to me. Conjuring up characters and locations and scenes feels like a game in which I get to invent the rules. In essence I’m playing a seriously in-depth version of make believe, and I get to share it with you which, for me, is a privilege.

I’ll move on to the photos, but first some words of thanks.

Thank you very much to these paying members:

aussie**, sachi**, Celia

I shall be raising a mug of tea in your honour - decaffeinated at this time of day, I think, but tea nonetheless. Thank you.

I don't have first names for 2 of you because you haven't claimed your postcard and bookplate - there was a link in your welcome email. Celia, yours are in the post, so if the mail has made its way to you, I hope you liked the card and bookplate and I’m sorry about my awful handwriting

Care to join them? You can upgrade for only one month if you wish.

There are still some lovely people sending support on ko-fi.com, and I do appreciate your kindness, but you may like to switch to supporting me via substack instead - it keeps things neat.

Featured Photos

Three ways to enjoy the photos: a collage in the email, separate images in the substack app, an interactive gallery in the online post.

Landscape photos of Sidmouth in Devon

A collection from the seaside town of Sidmouth in Devon. Most are self-explanatory. I included the white hotel because it looks like the scene for a murder mystery, and the old red phonebox because it’s being used to show artwork which I think is a nice idea.

More photos soon. Until then, happy reading.

Behind the Scenes

I’m recording these videos almost every week as a thank you to paying members. There is a free preview via the ‘Read the full story‘ link below, and that gives a flavour.

BTW when I sent this video out via email, I hadn’t realised that substack would email the free preview to everyone. That wasn’t my intention, so I’ll have to see if there’s a way around that. I don't want to become a nuisance.

Book News

A Shamefaced Murder

A sneak peek at the cover for the upcoming Devonshire Mystery, A Shamefaced Murder. I predict it will be available in April in ebook and paperback. I hope to produce hardbacks for the whole series and for my other books too.

Find me on non-Amazon stores?

I’m trying to fight the good fight by selling my ebooks on as many stores as I can, and also in public libraries, because I believe that books are for everyone. But it’s more work and I have to forego the advantages the big A would give me if I only sold my ebooks with them, e.g. availability for readers who use Kindle Unlimited.

In other words, I could use some help. So if you use another retailer or you’re thinking of using one, please search for my name and see if there’s anything you might enjoy. You might also save some money, e.g. as a reader, I pay a small sum each year to be a VIP member of Kobo and I get a percentage off each ebook I buy. They also have a subscription service similar to Kindle Unlimited called KoboPlus. Here’s a link to the US store, but KoboPlus is available in a long list of countries: kobo.com/us/en/plus

I also run price promotions on Nook, Smashwords, Google Play and others.

I’m not anti-amazon, but I am fiercely pro-book, and that means choice, it means libraries, it means availability.

Signing Off

Writing may be magic, but I’ve been at the keyboard all day having a serious kind of fun, and my built-in word generator is getting warm and venting steam. That mug of the British cure-all, tea, is waiting, so I’ll wish you a great weekend and pop the kettle on.

All the best.

Happy reading and take care,

Mikey