Newsletter: M.J. Downing’s Desk…

Greetings Friends! My desktop–the actual thing, not a computer–is a mess these days.  I’ve been working on several projects, so there’s a welter of paper, pipes, and other litter surrounding me.  However, I’m not swamped yet! The picture of me above shows confusion, true, but that’s because I was watching a Cricket match at the time!  True, I am often confused, but I have it on good authority, M.L. Johnson, MFA, that Bradbury kept a sign above his typewriter which read “Don’t Think.” So, I try not to think too much and just write!

Today, though, I am excited to share the news that my side project, a novella, called The Best I Got, has undergone a further revision and will soon be available (this week on my Amazon self-publish site) with a new Anthony Nowicke cover! I am excited to see this, hoping it draws more readers and hoping, as well, that it means more Nowicke originals showing up on my website.  Anthony’s illustrations and cover designs have been popping up on Facebook feeds for some time now. His compelling designs entice readers with visuals that reveal the beating heart of a story.  The story’s words are only the blood moved by and moving its images. Anthony’s work is the icing on the cake. We go back quite a few years, Anthony and I, so I am delighted that we have yet another occasion of working together. It’s good to work with friends! “Make new friends, and keep the old; the one is silver, the other gold!”  That is certainly the case in The Best I Got.

In other news, my publishers and I are working on the final draft of the third Dr. Watson novel, Sherlock Holmes and the Ghosts of Savannah, the final installment in this series, which explores Watson’s journey through the years 1888-1891 and the supposed death of Holmes at Reichenbach Falls.  These works delve into an imagined series of occult adventures that Holmes and Watson share as they work on Department Zed cases.  Unlike the usual Holmesian fare, we see more of John Watson’s growth and changes through these Department Zed’s cases.  Watson’s D.Z. operates as part of The Logres Society, an ancient, secret, beneficent organization founded upon Arthurian ideals that promote the growth of free societies everywhere. These cases call upon Holmes’ cunning and Watson’s dutiful bravery to defend the public from occult forces that disrupt the peace and freedom of people everywhere.

The final draft of Ghosts is still some months away, but it is on its way! And if you want to get news of its release, please sign up on my email list! I promise to not share your email with anyone, and I will not overload you with messages.  However, you will get updates on my work, as well as some free fiction now and then. I will try and keep up with my Tolkien Fan Fiction, as well,  the ongoing adventures of Hilds and Stapa, which I am calling Beyond the Mountains. All of these, along with many other stories are currently available on the website.  Who knows? I might even get Anthony to illustrate some of these!