Keith's May Newsletter

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Welcome, One and All, to May!

I just ate two chocolate and orange doughnuts in a row (blugh) so let's have no ado shall we, let's just get on with it.

We Move Ever Onward

I'm settling in to Leeds and the new job quite well. Still haven't been out and about very much to see what Leeds is all about, but I've had the first covid jab (boy did I have a strong reaction to THAT) so it won't be long now.

I have surpassed the 250 days in a row mark with my yoga. I'm actually up to 262 now.

It's been a bit of a struggle, what with work and all that. Getting up at 5am and working til 3pm does not make you keen to do asanas when you get home, but I have kept it up (even if some of my sessions have been a bit lacklustre).

I have given up on the doing the splits for now though, which is a bit of a shame. But until I get some blocks that I can balance on so I can practise without hurting myself I don't have much of a choice.

News from the Steam Factory

The writing is going really well. 58,931 words to date. I have just completed the big fight scene at the end of book two so it's all "downhill" from here on in.

Don't ask me why, but once I finish whatever the big pivotal moment in any story is it become so much easier to write. I guess it has something to do with the pressure being off. Of course the only person putting pressure on me is me, so maybe I need to give myself a bit of a break. It's only word-smithing after all.

Actually, it's interesting how much easier writing this book has been compared to writing the first one. I don't know if it's because I know the characters already, because I know I'll self publish so I'm not trying to please anyone (my former agent was ever present in my mind during the writing of book one), because

I did a proper outline first instead of half way through this time

, or because I'm just that damn good now, but whatever it is I like it.

When I'm Not Writing

I confess, I stopped watching The Irregulars about half way through the series. It went from being a bit gruesome to just full on horror as far as I'm concerned, and that is just not my bag. My apologies for recommending something I wasn't 100% on. It won't happen again.

What I've been watching instead is

Justified

on Amazon Prime.

Now, full disclosure, I'm only a handful of episodes in on this one too, BUT, it is consistently good so far and I don't expect any major surprises in terms of what it's meant to be so I'm not too worried about mentioning it here. The reason I'm mentioning it here to you lovely folks is because, despite it looking like your average cop drama, it ain't. And the reason for that is Elmore Leonard.

If you're not familiar with Elmore Leonard you're probably familiar with some of the other things out there based on his work: Get Shorty, Out Of Sight, 3:10 To Yuma, Jackie Brown to name but a few. He is one of the most talented writers there is, in my humble opinion, and what makes him special are his characters.

Elmore Leonard doesn't do incidental characters. There's no Henchman No.2 for him. Everyone in his books is a fully realised person with hopes and dreams, be they bodyguard, driver, barman, or whatever. They may not feature much, depending on the story, but you get the feeling they could if necessary.

It's something I aspire to with my own writing, and I hope I do okay at it. It makes for better, more interesting, less predictable stories. You never know exactly what a character is going to do when they have aspirations of their own. Will they do what the boss tells them to do, or will they switch sides and and betray said boss because it will get them what they want. Therein lies the story, therein lies the interest, and, as far as I'm concerned, therein lies the fun.

If you like interesting characters doing interesting and unusual things, you'll like Justified.

I've started a new series over on my blog,

Asking Authors Awkward Questions,

where I do just that; ask my author friends the sort of cringe questions an interviewer couldn't or wouldn't think to.

First up on the chopping block is the lovely Tiffany Christina Lewis. Want to know what her crutch words are, or which bit of the publishing process she enjoys the least, just

click on the link to find out

.

And that, friends, is my news for this month. Bit of a strange one, what with all the work and change and all that, but I've still managed to do some writing, which is good, so we move ever forward.

I'm probably going to do a Kickstarter soon for a card game involving airships, I'll let you know when that happens. And I hope to go to the steampunk weekend at Blists Hill which is coming up soon too, if I can get the time off. I won't be participating as an author, I don't think I'm quite there yet, but it will give me a chance to dress up, which is always a good thing. If I do go I promise there will be many photos over on

my Instagram

for you to enjoy.

Okay, that's it from me.

Toodle-pip for now.

Keith