Keith's April Newsletter

Hi All

A couple of days late with this newsletter. Sorry about that. Life gets in the way and all that. Juggling a lot of balls trying to get two projects finished so I can start on a third, something had to give. But anyway we’re here now.

Out And About

Had myself a wee bit of a holiday this month. I was in the Lake District for a couple of days, mostly to see an old friend but also to go up the odd hill or two (which technically I might consider old friends also).

If you’re in the area there’s a great circuit you can do from Ambleside via Rydal Caves to Loughrigg Fell and back again.

If you’re familiar with The Dragonfly Delivery Company you’ll recognise a lot of the locations too, like Rydal Caves above, which is where the Western Riders call home. And if you want even more detail on ‘what happens where’ in TDDC check out this video on Instagram where I explain the flight path of the Dragonfly and how the fight between the Dragonfly and the sky pirates goes down.

I also did an Intro to Copywriting course this month, to see if I might be able to add another string to my bow. It was interesting, and I learned a few things, but it was quite light on the “how to find work” part. Facebook groups and Linked In? Is that the best you can do?

Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be becoming a copywriter anytime soon, but the course will help me spruce up my blurb and blog posts etc. so I can’t complain.

News From The Steam Factory

As I mentioned at the beginning, there’s been a lot of work going on here this month. My rewrites on The Journeyman ended up a little more extensive than expected, with my word count going up another 1000 words. And then, just when I thought I was finished, I had the idea for a robot companion for my main character, Kochi, and hence Bebo the robot was born.

I’ll admit I was a bit annoyed about this as Bebo appears on page two and is peppered throughout the book, meaning a lot more work for me, but as he makes the book ten times more desirable as a film project how could I say no?

He may also add another couple of thousand words to the book. 57,000 has always been my goal for The Journeyman, I consider that a respectable length for a book of its kind. I’ve finished the rewrites, but I haven’t typed them up, so I don’t know if I’m there or not, but I must be damn close. I’ll let you know at the end of next month.

I’ve also booked in Glunda the Veg Witch for an edit in July. I’m going ahead with my plans to get it published, either as an ebook or possibly in a magazine if I can find one that’s willing. I’m in negotiations with an illustrator for something for the cover, so all being well I may be able to bring it out in time for Halloween. It’s an arbitrary, self-imposed deadline but you’ve got to have something to aim for, and nothing says Halloween like a book about revolutionary vegetable eating witches, eh?

Now that The Journeyman is done I intend to start back up on ATTACK MARS!! although I’ve still got a bit of plot to sort out. And very excitedly I’m talking with someone in work who has his own sound studio about an audio book for Dexter & Sinister, which would be amazing. It’ll be a while before we get into it proper, but if I can bring an audio book out of that and TDDC I’ll be well chuffed!

When I’m Not Writing

I’ve sprung for a month of Prime to watch Picard 3 and Carnival Row 2, but so far all I’ve managed is the second season of Vox Machina.

If you haven’t seen it Vox Machina is the animated version of the Critical Role D&D campaigns that were streamed live on Twitch. They’re very good and very funny, so if you like your animation with a side of violence, swearing, and general mayhem and debauchery I’d give it a try.

Speaking of which, I saw the D&D Movie: Honour Among Thieves while I was in the Lakes. It too is very good and well worth a watch. There are plenty of in-jokes for those in the know, but you don’t have to be familiar with D&D to enjoy the show. It too is very funny and superbly over the top, and Hugh Grant’s turn as the corrupt politician is delightful in the extreme.

And there we have it. A pretty packed month I think you’ll agree. This month will be less so I hope, with a bit of relaxing, a little bit of overtime, and a chance to get all my ducks in a row. But there’s also a visit to Manchester on the cards, to have a look at their set up and to see if I might want to work there? I’ll be able to tell how that went in the next newsletter.

Take care of yourselves, take care of each other, and don’t let the bastards get you down.

Toodle-pip for now.

Keith