Romney Marsh is a large, flat expanse of land on the southern coast of England overlooking the English Channel. Criss-crossed by a seemingly endless maze of dykes and water-filled ditches, and dotted here and there with Medieval churches and old farm buildings, it can feel isolated and cut off from the rest of the world in both time and place.
On a day when the weather is pleasant it is possible to find yourself a quiet little spot where you can turn your face to the gentle sea breeze and listen to the cries of the seagulls arcing overhead or the calls of the blue tits flitting from one weather-gnarled tree to another. As you do so, you can look out over the flat, open canvas as it runs off to the distant horizon, where it meets with a vast, blue sky, streaked in places with whispers of clouds. It is a place where it is easy to feel the beauty of nature.
But pay a visit at a time when the weather is far less friendly and your experience will be altogether different. Then, especially down on the shifting shingle of the shoreline, the wind screams in off the sea, hurling salt-laced water in your face as it attempts to knock you off your feet. And, should you dare to set foot there on a storm tossed night, it can feel as if the land and the sea, the sky and the weather has consorted to crush you in their grasp.
Into this alien world, on the eve of World War One, steps the inexperienced British Secret Intelligence Bureau agent, Alexander Templeman. Isolated and alone, while there appear to be enemy agents everywhere he turns, the desolate nature of the Marsh seems to him to be a fitting, if terrifying, match for the desperate position he finds himself in.
Time is almost up and he is about to face the greatest challenge of his life, one that, until only days earlier, he would not have thought himself capable of meeting. Here, as the darkness of night falls and a raging storm hurls itself against the land, he must prevail, or die in the trying.
The Meyer-Hoffman Affair is published on January 30th and is available for pre-order now.
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I'm sure you know this but this is wonderful writing, Ben. I'm so used to reading things on Hive that are somewhere between good and totally, incomprehensible rubbish. Fantastic writing is rare. So thank you. Thanks for sharing your fantastic gift with it. This post was truly a pleasure to read.
Caroline, you've made me blush! Thank you so much for the kind words. I've been writing for many years now but comments like this are rare and put a real spring in my step. I do try to make sure I put as much effort into my posts on various platforms as I do my fiction, but it is a different type of writing and one that doesn't come as naturally. I guess I've set the bar for myself now and will have to ensure I reach it every time or else risk disappointing you.
Ah, fear not Ben. I'm far from consistent in following anyone, so it's more likely I'll trip over your stuff from time to time. I'm not much of a reader of fiction so I'm even more likely to be infrequent! (But @samsmith1971 you love fiction, right? Have you seen Ben's work? Might be worth a follow!)
Ben, you do you. And simply notice, as a far better writer than myself, when I made spelling or grammatical errors, when I use a word incorrectly or have chosen poorly when trying to describe something. And know that when I do see your words that they're going to be far supreme to anything I'm writing. (Though maybe follow me here and read anything you find vaguely interesting just to see how I'm using the platform. If/when you comment on my posts I'm far more likely to remember to click across and see what you're up to!)
Followed you, I have!
And if you have questions about how to make the most of this platform let me know. I've learned a lot in the last 2 1/2 years.
I'm always happy to do some learning. One thing I have found interesting and a bit of a challenge is that in order to get eyeballs on your posts you seem to need to post to a community. I've approached Hive on the basis of building my own blog to help attract Web3 readers to my writing (I'm kid in a sweet shop excited about the range of creative opportunities NFTs bring to authors). I'm pretty happy with the way follower numbers are building but that has mostly come from posting to communities. Am I missing a trick here?
Hmmm, yes. It's an interesting one. Yes, you're definitely more likely to gain followers by posting in Communities. I'm sure that building your own blog is possible to some degree through posting here on Hive. How much and how well is going to depend, to some degree, on how well you gently, and persistently promote your work. I feel like you did it well here.
I'd suggest watching out for people who promote their (other) stuff (blogs, products, etc) here in their posts on Hive, and see what you can learn from them. I'll see if I can remember to tag you in some good examples when I trip over them. (No one immediately springs to mind but there are some photographers who sell their photos who I've seen do this really well). I think that learning from what them and their method can be applied well to you and your aims here too.
So, I suggest testing out a few Communities where you like the vibe and feel like it's a good match for your posts and share you work there, seeing what hits you get as you share consistently over time. Ideally, you'll find one or more Communities where you also find posts by others you enjoy reading and you can give some love back to that group. Not only for the benefit of the group and therefore the whole of Hive, but also because I've found when I pay attention to others posts they pay attention to mine. If that's your primary reason, people will feel that intention. But if you do it in a genuine way then genuine attention will flow back from some people.
Also consider "curating" (reading, upvoting and commenting on) posts in Communities where you are an interested student and reader but where you may not share posts. Like if you're interested in NFTs but don't want to write about them, that Community may have many people who like reading what you're writing.
Okay, that's enough. Play with anything in there that feels fun, supportive, aligned for you. And if you want to know who else to take advice from here on Hive look for people with reputation numbers that are a chunk higher than you (65+ is pretty reasonable) and who are engaging on the platform in a way that you think is helpful, authentic and ethical.
!LUV
Thanks for that fulsome reply, Caroline, there are some really helpful tips in there. Really good suggestion to follow and engage with NFT communities even if I don't want to post any specific content there myself. I know I also need to build up a better understanding of what people will tolerate on this platform by way of promotion. Direct promo is not my reason for being here, rather it's to build up a community of interest, but I'm still keen for people to know I've good books out there looking for readers. Also, I hadn't clocked that the number next to your name is your reputation score! Definitely good to know that. And please do tag me in whenever you find someone you think I could learn from. Thanks again.
You are welcome, Ben 😄
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@consciouscat told @samsmith1971 and Sam told me... and I shall also help spread the word that we have a wonderful writer that we need to
chain to the wallembrace. 🤣Like these two, I am thrilled to have another delight to read!
But like consciouscat, I too wander around and stumble! lol
but hopefully we can get a few more eyes on you so you feel welcome and start to find your audience/community/tribe!
and where is your book available for pre-order?
nevermind just scrolled up and realized it was a link ! ☺️
'Chained to the wall'. I like that 😄I'm seeing plenty of posts on X encouraging people like me to give Hive a try so hopefully there'll be lots more of us before long. It's been a great experience so far for me, but always happy to have more people cast an eye over my posts.
I shall look out for this, @benwesterham - sounds intriguing and you write well. I dropped in on another of your posts after reading this one. Looking forward to reading more from you.
Thanks and always happy to chat about my writing, your writing, writing in general, books, reading etc. There's a short story, Harry Minch, posted to my blog if you want to get an idea of what my fiction writing is like.