November 2023 Newsletter - Hello Winter🥶

Hello from frigid, cold Portugal. No, really!

I shouldn’t complain. Winter here is mercifully brief. But from now until the beginning of March, it’s going to be pretty chilly. The Atlantic Ocean is about 200 metres across from my living room window which is beautiful, but also means the cold, humid winds blow in at this time of year. Thank goodness for lap cats.

On the writing front, this month has been a strange one. As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, I had a new novella ready to start writing for NaNoWriMo. So, I started off the month all guns blazing, and got up to ten thousand words in about ten days. The voices of the two main characters (two British sisters) were working well and the supernatural/folkloric elements were coming along nicely. I was so chuffed after the first couple days, I even shared a video with a short reading on my TikTok.

Then, a couple things happened. First, some of the moderators of the NaNoWriMo forums were found to be grooming minors for inappropriate stuff, which put me off talking much about Nano, and I got a new English course to teach here which was miles away from what was originally promised and eight hours a week has suddenly ballooned into twenty-odd, on top of my other teaching commitments, so writing has come to a grinding halt.

It’s at this juncture I should tip my hat to my wonderful Lisbon Writing Group, who not only had me out of my apartment for non-work for the only two times I managed it this week (a thanksgiving dinner and our regular writing meeting), but also have kept the creative fire burning with their own updates and creativity-related chatter. So, thanks, guys! 🙏🏼

I did manage to get some new words down on the manuscript yesterday, and I’m hopeful I will get a few today and a few more in the coming week. Cross your fingers for me, please!

All Creatives now

Paul Stephenson and I relaunched our podcast, All Creatives Now with a conversation with filmmaker Miles Watts a couple weeks back. The conversation with Miles was recorded around a year ago and, in the intro/outro sections, Paul and I talk a little bit about why the podcast went away but also, more importantly, why we’re back!

And, moving on from there, last week, I spoke to the incredible TC Parker, whose new novel, To Coventry, I am currently reading and loving every second of, about quitting creativity (and coming back). Then, this very week, we spoke to the mighty Alan Baxter about juggling creativity with running a business, parenting, etc and a little about his hybrid publishing model. Those two chats will be up in the next week or two and both TC and Alan were typically fantastic with their insights and generous with their time. More guests coming up soon, including artists, musicians and more.

Shadow of the Hidden

I do keep going on about this novel, I know, but it’s my debut novel, so please forgive me. I saw the cover art of Shadow this week and it’s a thing of beauty. I really couldn’t be happier with how it’s turned out. In the coming days, we’ll finalise the typeface and then I’ll organise a cover reveal. I’ll be sure to share a note here on Substack but, if you don’t use the app, fear not, you will definitely see it next month.

Recommendations

Reading - The Promise of Plague Wolves by Coy Hall

This was my first long form read by historical horror writer Coy Hall, but will definitely not be my last. Strictly speaking, this book follows on from his other novel, Grimoire of the Four Imposters, but I haven’t (yet!) read that and still enjoyed this immensely as a standalone. Hall’s writing style is superb. Detailed, but still pacey, his medieval world building shows off his enormous knowledge and detailed research, while the occult evil at the heart of this story is wildly imaginative. The hero, Dorin Toth, is a complex, compelling character I would follow anywhere and not only because of his dogs. Pick up your copy of this one here.

Watching - Loki Season 2 - Disney Plus

I confess that since the end of the third phase of the MCU finished with Avengers: Endgame, I’ve been less impressed with many of the movies and series. I don’t know if that’s down to a drop off in quality or just fatigue of so much content. But, after enjoying the first series of Loki, and seeing that Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead were making the second season, I decided to give it a go. Great performances, great script, a few genuinely startling moments and a great combination of drama and heart, this was everything Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV should be for me. You can see the trailer here.

Listening - Diversions Vol 2 by Kanaan

As you can probably tell from the cover, this is trippy, atmospheric, instrumental music. It’s great for tuning out the world and getting some writing done. There are electronic elements alongside the guitars, bass and drums and, if you have headphones or a surround set-up, they really throw the music around you, immersing you in it. You can listen on Spotify here.

Bargains and Freebies

In this Sci-Fi and Fantasy giveaway from author Shane Shepherd, there are dozens of FREE reads from across the spectrum of speculative fiction. If you haven’t already got my free novelette, Warding, you can find it there with almost a hundred other free books. Check out the full list here.

In this promo from Nicole of Reads 2 Love, there are a host of pre- and post-apocalyptic books, all of which are on Kindle Unlimited. This includes the wonderful anthology, A Silent Dystopia, which includes my incredibly dark tale, ‘The Courier.’

Well, that’s it for this month, other than to say a big thank you to everyone that downloaded my books for free as part of last month’s ‘Terrify Your Tablet’ promotion. Some of you have already left reviews for free books you’ve read and I can’t thank you enough for that. It makes an enormous difference to the algorithms, particularly Amazon’s, which is, for better or worse, vitally important for authors nowadays.

One more thing is to say that, with Twitter very much in its death throes, I’ve moved most of my engagement over to Bluesky. If we’re not connected there yet, you can find me here. If you don’t have an invite code but would like to join, I’ve got two spare, so reply to this message and I’ll be happy to send you one. First come first served.

As the cold months set in in the northern hemisphere, take care of yourselves, check in on those who might need it, and keep reading the dark, scary stuff.

Until next month,

Kev