Keith's July Newsletter

Keith's July Newsletter

July 01, 2021

Hi Folks! How are we all? Good, I hope. All jabbed up and raring to go?!

As I write this my second covid jab is busy marinating in my arm. In two weeks I'll be fully protected and ready to go out in the world, which is good because...

Summer's Coming

I've got my ticket booked for the fourth

, the steampunk weekend at Blists Hill run by the guys who do the Asylum Festival.

I went to the second one three years ago, had to skip the third one because they changed the date and I couldn't get the time off, and it didn't happen last year for obvious reasons, so I'm really looking forward to this one. It'll also be the first proper event I've been to since this whole covid thing happened, so it'll be nice to do something normal for once.

It's a great family event full of creative people in quite frankly the best location for something like that,

. I've been there many times over the years, to soak up the atmosphere and get a bit of steampunky inspiration, and I'm sure I'll go there many more times before I die. Hell, I hope one day to do a full on book launch there! I mean, I'd love to be part of the festival, and I'm sure I will one day, but I'd also love the whole place to myself, lol.

NB: The photo in the header of this newsletter was taken at Blists Hill. Also, part of

The Dragonfly Delivery Company

is set in Iron Bridge Gorge, where Blists Hill museum resides, along with many others.

News from the Steam Factory

Whilst my second Hammersmyth novel,

The Dragonfly Delivery Company

, is resting (I'm going to start edits after the steampunk weekend) I've been working on a silly little side project called

Glunda the Veg Witch

.

It's a bit of nonsense that came out of a random Twitter conversation which has born fruit (pun intended, although you don't know why, lol). Basically it's about the Veg Witches, who get their power from eating vegetables, and the Drupe Mages, who get their power from eating fruit, and what happens when you throw greenhouses into the mix, meaning the Drupe Mages can get fruit all year round.

It started off as a joke, but now it's taken on a life of its own. Check out this bit I wrote the other day:

***

In the parlour Glunda put on her best worst boots. They were old and scuffed and practically falling apart but Glunda wouldn't have changed them for the world. A witches boots told the story of her life. They showed how she traveled o'er hill and dale, in good times and in bad, ministering to the sick, the elderly, and the permanently confused. They showed you where she'd been, where she was going, and what kind of a witch she would be when she got there. And, most importantly, they were proof that said witch was not someone to be trifled with. She was to be listened to, and obeyed, and yes sometimes even feared, because her wisdom was hard earned and her wrath swift and mighty. They would have to be, for her to have lived in such boots for so many a year. No one trusted a witch in brand new boots, and rightly so as far as Glunda was concerned.

***

As you can see, I'm having a lot of fun with Glunda. I've no idea how long it will be or what I'll do with it when it's finished, but for now it's just great to be knocking out words and seeing where they take me.

When I'm Not Writing

A book, blue cover, the london skyline at night, with a small dark figure leaping from rooftop to rooftop. The text bright yellow, Out of the Smoke by Matthew Wainwright. The book lies on grass, next to a glasses case, with a red leafed tree far in the distance, next to a red brick university building, the University of Leeds.

I had hoped to be finished with

by Matthew Wainwright before sending this newsletter out but a week of night shifts followed by a week of recovery have put paid to that. I am however far enough through to say that it's a great piece of historical fiction full of lots of detail about the main character Billy's struggle to survive in Victorian London, it's criminal underworld, and the real historical figures trying to do something to change the lives of those involved for the better.

It's gritty without being gruesome, and unflinching without being lurid. A good read for any teenager or adult who might be into that kind of thing. And if you're a teacher who wants to do a course on working class Victorian London Matt has a number of

for free that you can use. Honestly, if I was teaching history to a bunch of teenagers I'd be all over that!

Six characters, all in Victorian dress, superimposed in a line in front of a reflected London skyline. A black male doctor, strong and stoic, his sleeves rolled up. An older woman wearing black in a wheelchair, haughty and confident. A blonde woman in a brown dress, her hair tied back, gentle and intelligent. A dark haired woman in a red dress with an umbrella on her shoulder, wary and tough. A black woman in a bowler hat, a defiant look on her face, conjuring fire with her hands. And a mysterious woman with long dark hair in a white dress, looking over her shoulder at us.

Something I have been able to finish though is the first series of The Nevers, a new steampunky series available on Sky in the UK, and HBO Max in the US.

I won't got into too much detail about it here, I've done a

on what I think are it's good and bad points, but if you like semi-gritty, semi-silly, semi-funny adventure stories (and if you're reading this then I know you do!) this could be the thing for you.

Being a cable show it suffers a little from what you might call Blood and Boobs Syndrome, the need to be more lurid than necessary (thanks, Game of Thrones) but we won't hold that against it. Hell, I imagine for some of you that'll be a selling point, eh?

And there you have it my lovelies, that has been my June. Not bad as far as Junes go, with the possible exception of the night shifts. Could really do without those.

I also got to go on a wee walk, which was nice. First one of those in a while. Check out

to see what that was like. Also, there'll be pictures from The Town That Never Was going up there soon. Gimme a follow if you want to be first to check those out!

Right, see you all in August.

Toodle-pip for now.

Keith