Keith's March Newsletter

Keith's March Newsletter

April 02, 2022

Hello Friends!

Welcome to what is going to be a very quick and slap-dash newsletter. It's been a busy month here at the Steam Factory, not to mention a productive one, so without further ado let's get into it.

Busy Busy Busy

I've been writing again, which is fantastic, and it's going so well it has taken on a life of its own!

Glunda The Veg Witch

was just meant to be a bit of fun. A 20k novella to keep my hand in whilst I worked on getting

The Dragonfly Delivery Company

ready for publication. But it's coming up on 30k now with a bit to go, so it's safe to say it's going well.

I'm working hard on it because Luna Press have an open submissions window on the 8/9th of April which I'd like to hit. It leaves me no time for editing, but it's already so tight I'm not worried about that. Either they like it or they don't, and if they don't I have a couple of agents I know of who might be interested.

The reason I'm so late in getting this newsletter out is work sent me to London this week to do some training. It took up the whole week basically, which was a bit of a pain, but I did get to see this steam train when I arrived at Kings Cross station so y'know, swings and roundabouts.

News From The Steam Factory

Speaking of

The Dragonfly Delivery Company

, designs for the cover illustration are coming along nicely. Mike and I are in negotiations about how it should look, because whilst he has many fantastic ideas, it has to work within the framework of the story.

Check out where we're at so far!

I'm looking forward to starting work on the designs for book three, as I'm going to get Mike involved from the very beginning. Since book three isn't written yet, and the design of the space craft does not affect the outcome of the story, I can really let his imagination loose! Can't wait to see what he comes up with.

When I'm Not Writing

It's been a TV month for me, with series two of

Space Force

,

Picard

, and

The Witcher

to watch, all of which I can thoroughly recommend. But I've also been doing some reading, which came as quite a surprise. My reading hat has been very much not on as of late.

by Emma Whitehall is a well-written, engaging, fun, adventure story. The characters are well-drawn, the description is concise and imaginative, and the story rattles along at an enjoyable pace. It doesn't get bogged down in excessive description, as some steampunk is prone to do, but is a book you can just pick up and breeze through a chapter or two without having to think too much.

It's probably a bit egotistical to say that I like it because it's written in the same way I would write, but that's the truth. If you have enjoyed

you'll probably enjoy

.

And there we go! That's it from me for now. Short and sweet.

Next month I'll be able to report on whether I made the Luna Press deadline or not, and we may have a finished Dragonfly illustration for you to look at, although the book isn't out til June so who knows. We're not rushing it.

Anyway, that's it from me. Toodle-pip for now.

Keith