Keith's February Newsletter

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Hello All

Got a real mixed bag for you this month, with game updates, mental health advice, interview information, and a new short story to enjoy.

What can I say? January has been kinda weird.

Take Care Of Yourself

It's easy to get lulled into a false sense of security on Twitter. You can go for a long time having reasonable interactions with people, forgetting completely that it's the online equivalent of walking into a crowded pub, exclaiming your opinion, and asking random strangers to weigh in. Then you run into some complete psychopath who takes something you say completely out of context and goes off the deep end at you, forcing you to put your phone down and back away slowly for your own good.

I had a week off from going online this month, whilst I rejigged my priorities. I literally turned my phone off for a whole week, only dealing with the voices inside my own head for a while rather than the voices inside other people's. If you get a chance you should give it a try. It's very therapeutic.

Taking some time off has allowed me to reintroduce a bit of meditation into my life. For those of you that don't know, I am a trained yoga teacher. I also spent several months working at an ashram in Austria, where I got to practice yoga and meditation on a daily basis.

If you've not done meditation before I can thoroughly recommend it. It gives you a sense of calm that stays with you throughout your day, helping you stay relaxed and at ease even when things start going off the rails.

It's not a cure for all your ills, but the benefits far outweigh the fifteen minutes a day it takes to start building up a regular practice.

And it's nowhere near as hard as you think either. You just sit and concentrate on your breath, it can be as simple as that. Do that for fifteen minutes and you will feel the benefits almost immediately. When your mind wanders just bring it back to your breath, following without judgement as you breathe in and out, in and out, relaxing with each exhalation.

If you've got Netflix and and want to know more there's a great series called the

Headspace Guide To Meditation

, which can teach you the basics. Each program introduces you to a different technique, with a short meditation at the end. I'm loving their little 20 minute videos. Very calming in and of themselves.

News from the Steam Factory

One of the benefits of cutting down on my online time has been more time to work on my own stuff. As of this newsletter the writing on the sequel to

Dexter & Sinister

,

The Dragonfly Delivery Company

, is at 40,000 words (approximately 130 pages), and progress on my board game, Steam Machines, is moving along at a reasonable pace.

I've begun testing on the game, and have changed the rules half a dozen times already. I'm getting there slowly, but I still don't know yet if it's going to be any good or not. I have to work on the scoring and then try it out on some other people first, then I'll have an idea of what we're dealing with.

As well as all the making I've been doing I've been lining up some promotional opportunities as well. I have an interview with the Alternate History imprint

Sealion Press

coming out on the 11th of February, and there should be a first chapter "sneak peek" appearing on the

Steampunk Journal

site some time soon (along with a review, eventually) although I've not been given any definite timings for those yet I'm afraid. Still, exciting things are happening. It's always nice when other people show an interest in your work, don't you think?

What I've Been Reading

My reading this month has been bitty, mainly because I've been too busy making my own stuff to read anyone else's. And when I have read anything it's been very random and brief, as evidenced by the low percentages shown above.

So far this month I've dipped my toe into a variety of books, and whilst I haven't finished any of them, I can recommend

Nophek Gloss

by

Essa Hansen

, a new bit of sci-fi, and

Out Of The Smoke

by

Matthew Wainwright

, a historical boys own adventure, as being both well written and engaging.

If you're looking for something new to read they're both worth a try. Hopefully next month I'll have a review of one or the other that I can share with you (although, to be honest, if that means me being less productive, then also hopefully not).

It's funny when an idea you had appears in the real world, all by itself. It makes you think there's something to this whole collective consciousness idea after all.

There's a new series out on Amazon called

Lower Decks

, a Star Trek-based animated show, that reminded me of a short story I wrote a while ago called

Committee on the Bounty

, about what would happen if the red shirts (the ones who always get killed whenever anyone beams down to a new planet) were to unionise.

I wrote it for a bit of fun, and since the idea is out there now I thought I would share it on my blog for others to enjoy too. If you've got a spare five minutes do check it out. I'm pretty pleased with it, and I think it'll give people a chuckle if nothing else.

And that's it from me. Hope all is well with you and yours. See you again in another month, when I will be a year older, and (hopefully) a little bit wiser too.

Toodle-pip for now.

Keith