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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Banged up and back on the job. Gordon distracted him. Bailey swept his legs. An aluminum can did the rest. Chapter 24 of Motte & Bailey Mysteries is live. What's the best partner dynamic in crime fiction, for you? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Some thoughts to help all writers. markbellauthor.substack.com/p/six-things...

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Motte's upside down in a field. Bailey shows up anyway. www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

She found them in the creek. Dirty, shivering, carrying a locked box with Mary's initials on it. Chapter 22 is live. What hit you harder, the reunion or that apology scene? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

David's got a broken ankle, Wendy's arm is wrecked, and the phone is at 9%. But they found something that changes everything. What do you think is in that box? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Upside down, one arm gone, a cracked phone, and sheep. Motte makes the call. Four words. Chapter 21 is out. Do you think Bailey heard him? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

David's not home. His coffee cup is still in the sink. Matilda keeps sniffing at the door. Maggie poured the wine down the drain and called Jackson. She has a plan. She just has to make it to morning. Chapter 20 is live. How are you holding up? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

This dawned on me the other day. Tattoos are everywhere in real life, but in cozies, they're almost nonexistent. And the rare times they do show up, it's usually to signal that someone is edgy or suspicious. One of my secondary characters in the Blackstone Mysteries has sleeves on both arms.

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

A dozen reader comments rolled in on this week's chapters. One reader: "I was yelling at them not to go down there!" That's the reaction I write for. Real suspense, no gore, nobody has to look away. A few favorites, and what I learned from them: markbellauthor.substack.com/p/6fdf1d0f-e...

My Readers are yelling at my characters.

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Bailey's holding it together, running the arrest, covering for a partner who won't pick up. Then Motte's voice comes through the phone. Three words. A dead line. What's the last thing that stopped you cold? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Readers permanently changed one of my detectives. Bailey started as a sidekick, someone to hand the lead his coffee and nod along. I rewrote her because they told me she deserved better, and they were right. Listen to your beta readers.

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

David and Wendy found a hidden tunnel under the Macleroy farmhouse. Then the storm took the house apart around them. Chapter 19 is live. Would you have crawled in after her? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

"Is this really cozy, or too dark for me?" A reader asked, and it's a fair question. My answer comes down to three lines I won't cross: violence stays off-screen, language stays G-rated, and no manufactured romance drama. markbellauthor.substack.com/p/is-this-re...

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Motte alone in the dark, no signal, a lorry bearing down on him. Chapter 19 does not pull its punches. Did you see it coming, or did it blindside you too? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Three women cornered the right guy for the wrong crime. Greg Wilson isn't the murderer, but Campbell Fork might lead to who is. And David still hasn't messaged. Chapter 18 is up. What are you thinking? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Zara got through to Angela, right up until Liam's fist hit the door. Chapter 18 is live. Did she do enough? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

David's book event was supposed to be a good night. It mostly was. But someone in the crowd had a question for Maggie that none of us were ready for. Chapter 17 is live. What moment hit you hardest? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Someone asked if a monthly subscription is worth it versus just buying the finished book once. But you'd be giving up a say in the story, a free copy down the line, and a comment section full of theories. It's book club without the annoying sister-in-law. markbellauthor.substack.com/p/book-club-...

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Arthur Wellington didn't wait for his appointment. Turns out he had a reason. Chapter 17 is a quieter kind of heartbreak. When did you last feel that kind of alone? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

“It’s certainly a gay-looking speed-wagon!” Oh it’s that kind of hardy boys book! #gaylookingspeedwagon #hardyboys

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Favorite Pic Of Last Week! Met a book fan at a comic shop event!

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Serial writers have a bad rep. They hook you, then vanish. Or the story never actually ends. I won't do either. Chapter 16 drops this week. What unfinished story still haunts you? markbellauthor.substack.com/p/the-t…

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Chapter 16 is here. Maggie, Laura, and Gwen sit down for lunch and end up somewhere much darker. Greg Wilson just moved to the top of a very short list. What's your read on him so far? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

No prints on the murder weapon. The artifacts are clean. And Arthur Wellington just showed up early, visibly anxious. Chapter 16 of Motte & Bailey Mysteries is here. What do you think he's about to say? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Finally finished @gbralph.com ‘s “Murder on Milverton Square” and have like a zillion thoughts and questions. Definite recommend read and I will be right on to the next one. Learned some craft from it too.

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Four months ago, I decided to write two novels at once. Serially. One chapter at a time. Every expert would call that a terrible idea. So far it's working, and readers are gobbling up chapters faster than I can write them. Read about it here: markbellauthor.substack.com/p/so-i-seria...

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Maggie held herself together with both hands today. David made butter chicken. Wendy showed up on a motorcycle. And somehow the three of them landed on a semi-illegal Friday night plan. How are you feeling about this crew? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Gordon makes it home. Music on, fire lit, Mrs. Mcathey's chicken stew in the oven. Then Bailey calls with something he should have caught himself. Chapter 15 is out now. Do you trust Arthur Wellington? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Eric Monroe showed up in Maggie's doorway. What followed was equal parts terrifying and heartbreaking. Chapter 14 is live. Did you trust him? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Chapter 14 is live. A vodka bottle, a frightened mother, and a young man who almost said too much. Zara and Gordon got out with more than they came with. What did you make of Angela? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Maggie just wanted coffee and answers. She got both, plus a crooked tie, a hug, and the name Eric Monroe waiting in her darkened doorway. Chapter 13 is here. What do you think Eric wants? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

They have a name. Liam Gibb. And Bailey already knows exactly how to play him. New chapter, new suspect, and the partnership is clicking into something real. What kind of character detail pulled you in most this chapter? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

David came over to look at old documents. He left having joined a standing Thursday game night. Something about men in doorways used to mean trouble. Not tonight. Chapter 12 is live. What pulled you in this week? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Bailey set up the incident room before Motte arrived. He stared at it and said nothing for a long time. Chapter 12 is up. Are you a talk-it-out person or a silence person? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

This is the right image for today's chapter

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Maggie told herself it was just a dog walk. Reader, it was not just a dog walk. Chapter 11 of The Blackstone Chronicles is live. Have you ever rationalized your way into a terrible decision one small step at a time? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor #TheBlackstoneChronicles #SerialFiction

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

The peril problem: how to write cozy mysteries with real stakes without the buckets of blood. I'm genuinely uncertain about where the line is. Do you know? Read this and tell me. open.substack.com/pub/markbellautho…

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Ava's kitchen changes things. Tea, a hurt farmer, a tattoo Zara wasn't meant to see, and a whispered ask she wasn't expecting. Chapter 11 lands differently. What did you make of the laugh at the end? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor #MotteBaileyMysteries

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

David sat with a 95-year-old man who still remembers waiting in the dark as a child. No death certificate. No grave. And now, a construction sign where the farmhouse used to be. The clock just started. What do you think happened to Mary? #TheBlackstoneChronicles #SerialFiction #CozyMystery

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Long day, new lead, and then one more thing. Chapter 10 is out now. Which thread are you most curious about following? #MotteBaileyMysteries

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Maggie didn't plan on crying in the back bedroom. She didn't plan on finding a lead, either. Chapter 9 is quiet, warm, and moving fast under the surface. What did you make of Lawrence showing up? #BlackstoneChronicles

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

One of my mystery series is set in a made-up Kent village. The other is set in the real Bloomington, Indiana building where I actually work. Two very different creative problems. New post on the differences. Which setting would you rather visit? open.substack.com/pub/markbell...

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

Gordon and Zara are finally inside the trench. The mosaic, the artifacts, the shovel in the weeds. Chapter 9 is where the case gets real. How are you holding up with these two? #MotteBaileyMysteries #BritishCrime #SerialFiction #CozyCrime #IndiePublishing #PlagueDoctorPress

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Monday mornings look different when you write mysteries on the side. Coffee first, day job second, murder third. The order matters. How does your week start? patreon.com/markbellauthor

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Mark Bell @typewritermark.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

No death certificate. No grave. Not even a name in the cemetery records. Mary Macleroy has been erased. Chapter 8 of The Blackstone Chronicles is up. What do you think that means? www.patreon.com/cw/MarkBellAuthor #TheBlackstoneChronicles #SerialFiction

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