Keith February Newsletter

Hello Friends

Y’know that meme where Captain Cod is sitting at a bar looking haggarded and he goes “What a week, huh?” and Tintin replies, “Captain it’s Wednesday.” Well that, but for the entire year.

Sometimes It’s Just Struggle

It annoys me that you can be sitting there minding your own business and the world comes along and f*cks with you anyway. This month (this week actually) I not only got a tax bil for £1000 which I don’t owe, but I also may have fallen for an Instagram scam because I was looking at something while I was in work, I was tired, I was stressed, and I didn’t think about what I was doing. Now I have two things I have to deal with which I shouldn’t have to when all I want to do is write and sleep. Oh, and I’m STILL trying to get my heating fixed.

Speaking of work, it sucks and I hate it. Don’t be surprised if one of these newsletters lands and I’ve up and quit. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility.

I had hoped to go for a walk tomorrow to clear my head a bit, get some nice photos, but I literally just had a call saying the plumber is coming tomorrow, so for now here’s some pictures of the Manchester canal near me. Next month I should have something better.

Oh, and I turned 51 this month. The less said about that the better.

News From The Steam Factory

Writing continues at pace on The Night Mayor Of London. I’m at just over 40k words, which is 14k words on from last month. At this rate I should be finished the first draft by the end of April. It’s getting kinda dark, with people being attacked, but that’s how things have to go. It’s always darkest before the dawn, eh?

I don’t want to go too dark with it. I find the Rivers Of London books a bit grim which spoils them a little for me, so it’s something I want to avoid, but you’ve also got to have real peril for your characters to overcome. Whether it’s action based or social, something has to be at stake for the story to remain interesting. Spirited Away isn’t ‘dark’ by any stretch, but the main character’s still in danger of losing her parents if she doesn’t truimph. Those are some hefty stakes right there.

Here’s an exclusive snippet just for you guys, so you can see what I’m talking about. This is what happens to someone when they’re attacked by a beast from the Great When.

When I’m Not Writing

As is usual during the winter months my media consumption becomes bland and repetitive. I’ve completed the main storyline in Assassin’s Creed Origins, but the other day whilst I was waiting for my computer to run a 3 hour system check I finally had a go at Vacation On Planet Glor, LA Guettler’s choose-your-own-adventure book. I recommend it if you’re into that kind of thing. It’s a lot of fun.

I also finished (at some point) My Good Friend Dr Debaucherous by Daniel Aegan. It’s a fun read that zips along at a gratifying pace. I don’t like books that hang around. Strong characters and an interesting storyline (instead of wanting to become a superhero the main character wants to become a supervillain) I don’t know if this book is classed as ‘villainpunk’ (mostly because I’m not sure what villainpunk actually is) I just know I liked it and will be reading more by Daniel in the near future.

And that’s it for now my friends. I wish there was more to give you but the Life Lethargy has me. I won’t be perking up until the sun comes back. Hopefully by then I’ll have finished drafting Night Mayor and can go outside more on my days off. For now stay warm stay safe, and stay lucky OY OY!

Toodle-pip for now.

Keith