Tag Archives: reluctant sleuth

Two questions for those who read this blog…

I need your help making a decision

Since I began publishing a newsletter called reluctant sleuth, which is distributed by Substack, I have tended to neglect this blog.

You can take a look at the home page for reluctant sleuth by following this link: https://darrowwoods.substack.com/

(In the world of mystery fiction, a reluctant sleuth is someone, usually not involved in law enforcement, drawn by circumtances into investigating a crime. They almost always have a personal stake in the outcome, and they usually feel overwhelmed, and ill-equipped.)

I started with the idea I’d continue sharing my Sunday “learning times” here, and use Substack to publish the pieces that aren’t so church oriented.

I have published a couple of my Sunday writings in a section of reluctant sleuth called Tiny Pulpit, and discovered that some readers from the mystery world like the sermon-y stuff.

I need to simplify, to focus energies and time on the two novels I have in the works.

To that end, I am considering phasing out this blog, and using reluctant sleuth to share only the “best” of the Sunday material.

Using the thumbs up or down boxes, you can click your opinion. Would you miss this blog?

Learning to “sell” a book

and finding joy in it

This is a screen shot of the Amazon listing for my mystery novel, which at the moment is “killing it” in the category of religious humour. That’s not a big category, but I am learning to take the little boosts as they come.

There are ups and downs on this ride, and it’s an educational tour.

I am now a self-taught indie publisher.

I am also learning, or stumbling my way into the world of marketing.

reluctant sleuth is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I sold one of my books the other day on the plane ride from Toronto to Thunder Bay. That was not the goal, but a heart-warming side effect of a great conversation with a seat mate on the small turbo-prop plane.

She also promised to tell her sister about “meeting the author”.

I like seeing the sales numbers slowly rise, but to be honest, the moments of interaction with people who are interested in the book, are actually more of a reward.

A note to my readers.

The dashboard for this blog shows me that a surprising number of people follow and read what I post.

I am very grateful for all of you! I really, really am.

I am also branching out.

This blog tends to be a place for things I write that are connected to church- preaching, teaching, and that kind of thing.

I’ve started another project using a platform called Substack, which is more like an email newsletter. My plan is it will be the place for writing that is more in the mystery and detective fiction vein.

The two “worlds” do intersect, and inform each other. That’s inevitable. I look at mystery fiction with the heart of a spiritual seeker, and I look at sermons with the critical eye of a fiction writer.

If you are interested in the “mystery” end of things, I would love it if you were to click on the link below and check it out, and perhaps even take a free subscription to my Substack, which is called “reluctant sleuth”.

One of my ideas for “reluctant sleuth” is to serialize my first novel as I revise it. My writing mentor gave me some constructive criticism about how to make it better, and I was thinking I could let people read it, chapter by chapter, and get your reactions.

https://darrowwoods.substack.com/p/starting-somewhere