The Awkward Squad
A Readers' Group by Michael Campling
Hello
“Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he isn't. A sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is.”
― Horace Walpole
Thank you to Sarah for sending that quote to me. Imagination is my bread and butter, and I know that my sense of humour has seen me through thick and thin.
I was interested to see that every reference of this quote used what I consider to be the US spelling of humor, but while there's probably an interesting reason for that, I know an internet rabbit hole when I see one.
Well, sometimes I see those rabbit holes coming and skip over them, and sometimes I jump in with both feet. When I was writing Murder Between the Tides, I had to read up on vintage typewriters, and since those machines have long held a special place in my heart, it was some time before I emerged from that particular swamp of information.
In the book, Alan makes a reference to getting bogged down while researching the same topic, and this is one of those little Easter eggs that I drop in now and then. I like to think of a keen-eyed reader stopping for a moment and thinking, "I bet that comes from personal experience".
Ultimately, real life is where stories are born. The facts may change, but stories grow from the seeds of experience. A phrase here, a word there, an unguarded look between two people who don't realise they're being observed. These things are like gold dust.
I'd better get this newsletter moving along, but before we get to the photos, here are some words of thanks:
Cheers!
A special thank you to these kind people who have sent me a mug of tea via ko-fi.com. I'm raising a mug of Earl Grey in honour of these recent supporters:
Charlie and Kathy
Chriss
Kim
Lisa
Cynthia
Lara
Rosemary
Lynn.
Thank you for you encouragement and support.
Want to join them?
Featured Photos
The appropriately named Parke Estate near Bovey Tracey is now owned by the National Trust, and the grand old house is now the headquarters for the Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA).
The estate also hosts the weekly ParkRun where Mrs C and I, along with a hundred or so other brave or foolhardy folks, run a 5K route every Saturday.
While running this uneven track up hill and down dale, I'm usually too preoccupied with the mud, stones and bits of stick on the ground to take in much of the natural beauty, but the other day, we took Lottie for a leisurely stroll, and I got to appreciate the landscape. Just after we arrived, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and a double rainbow appeared.
As always, there are more photos on the site. especially if you take a minute to register as a member (which is free):
Book News
Thrillers ebook bargains on Kobo
Running throughout November 2022, some thrilling ebooks on Kobo, including Valley of Lies, are in a buy two, get one free promotion.
The offer is available in Canada, the UK, the USA, Australia and New Zealand.
Murder Between the Tides
18 November for a limited time, Murder Between the Tides has 40% off.
This is on all stores, but I've only just made this change and it sometimes takes stores a while to apply a new price, so please check the price on on your usual retailer before buying.
If funds are tight...
You can borrow many of my books and audiobooks for free if you request them at your local library and they order a copy for you via OverDrive or one of the other library distributors. You'll need to contact your local library to arrange this.
What's Next?
As I mentioned above, you can ask your local library to order many of my ebooks and audiobooks, but so far there hasn't been much interest from libraries. I've heard that libraries particularly like hardback books, and this makes sense. I expect the hardbacks last longer. I hope to make my books available as hardbacks soon, and I'm also looking at a new-ish company that produces paperbacks and ships them to customers. I'm told that the quality is better than the paperbacks made by Amazon, so I'm keen to try them out. If all goes well, I might set up a new online store, as my current payhip store can only sell digital products.
If you haven't tried my current store yet, and you'd like to support my work by buying direct, it's here:
I haven't produced a podcast episode for a while. A bad cold stopped me from recording. No one wants to hear me coughing and croaking. I'm still thinking about the idea of turning the podcast into an audio serial. We'll see.
But what you really want to know is how the new book is coming along.
I'm picking up the pace, and I've passed the hump in the middle. It's currently at about 62,000 words, but there's quite a way to go before the stories are brought together and resolved, so I think it's going to be another big one, like Accomplice to Murder.
One of these days I'll write a simple story with one thread.
Possibly.
Until that day, I'll embrace the art of juggling progressively complicated situations, and I hope I'll be able to make it look like I knew what I was doing all along. Thankfully, I have my imagination and my sense of humour to fall back on.
Happy reading and take care.
All the best,
Mikey C
PS: Want More?
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