What the Stone Roses have to do with Simon Keegan's writing career & crime author Will Carver guests on Booky Pod
Plus news, events and opportunities for writers and journalists including CrimeFest awards shortlist, Words from the wards, Northbound book award & Regional Press Awards
My dear wordsmiths,
As you read this I am winging my way across the world. I’ll share where to next week but it’s a long flight - that’s the clue. Update: I was going to Dubai but the trip was postponed due to the unprecedented weather event - sending positivity out to anyone impacted. But I’m going somewhere else instead! (Shorter flight)
So I’ve had to schedule this a little in advance but I have a great newsletter for you today featuring my journalistic colleague Simon Keegan who is editor of the fabulous NW Business Insider magazine. He’s well known for his journalistic and business acumen and is extremely experienced but he’s also a prolific author (five books and counting) and what’s more a martial arts instructor - I’m not sure where he finds the time.
Booky podcast
But before we chat to Simon just to flag my guest this week on the Booky podcast is crime writer Will Carver who pulls no punches in dropping some home truths about writing and publishing and explains why he is no fan of cosy crime’ - preferring the more realistic variety. It all started when he an ‘angry young man’ he explains. You can download and listen via all your favourite podcast providers via the link below.
Meet.. Simon Keegan
In today’s chat here on Write Reject Repeat Simon drops some fascinating information about how he started his journey as a published author and why he’s even stocked in the historic royal palaces, no less. His winding road to getting published involves The Stone Roses’ former manager and Sex Pistol Sid Vicious’ former girlfriend. Life is sometimes stranger than fiction - which is probably why Simon writes non-fiction.
“‘It’s your book. Be a diva.”
Simon Keegan
Who?
I’ve been the editor of NW Business Insider for almost eight years. Prior to that I worked for the BBC, Daily Mirror, Daily Express and Metro among others. I started as a journalist in 1997.
As an author, I published my first book in 2016 (Pennine Dragon: The Real King Arthur of the North) with a follow-up soon after (The Lost Book of King Arthur). I have been a martial arts instructor for 25 years, and so my next two books were Karate Jutsu (history of Karate) and Bushido (a history of British Jujutsu).. My fifth book was DNA of the Celts which is about how DNA testing can be used in your family tree research and how it can even trace back through ancient history.
What is your goal?
As an author, my goal is always on “big picture” stuff. For example when my first book came out and I identified King Arthur as coming from the north (the area around Yorkshire and up to Hadrian’s Wall) I pinpointed Slack near Huddersfield as his base. In Roman times it was known as Camulodonum (like Camelot). After my book was published the site received full heritage protection for archaeology and Guy Ritchie did the UK premiere of his King Arthur film nearby.
My book was sold by English Heritage and it was on the reading list at Historic Royal Palaces. Maybe archaeologists will find something at Camulodonum and I will have saved King Arthur….
As a journalist, I really enjoy my job at Insider because it allows me to get out and about and meet people in real life, not just sitting behind a desk. It's strange but interviewing people on stage has become my happy place.
Where did it all start?
I have always written about my hobbies. I think I have some kind of ADHD and so I get “hyper focus” where I will become obsessed with a subject where it be martial arts, King Arthur or DNA and before you know it, I’ve written 100,000 words on it. I started researching King Arthur when I was about 10. I watched the original Dr Strange movie (the psychedelic 1970s one not the Benedict Cumberbatch version) and the villain in it was Morgan Le Fay whose adversary and Dr Strange’s mentor was Linmer (Lin-mer = Mer-lin). My dad told me that Merlin and Morgan Le Fay were ‘real’ characters in folklore and I became fascinated. I dipped in and out of it over the years and in 2016, a friend told me it wasn’t actually that hard to get published, and so I did.
I was rejected by a number of publishers, and one day I was talking to a guy called Garry Johnson, while interviewing him for the Mirror, who used to manage the Stone Roses. He introduced me to his publisher, who was the ex girlfriend of Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols. She had previously only done music books mostly from the punk era (Debbie Harry, Suzy Quatro etc) but I was able to sell her on King Arthur being from Huddersfield…
Why?
As an author, I think I’m naturally inquisitive and like solving mysteries. As a journalist, I think I just found my niche early. I started as a journalist when I was 18.
Where can we buy?
All my books are available on Amazon, Waterstones or WHSmiths
Tips
Understand your publishing model. My books are print-to-order which means there’s no massive outlay before you get into positive figures. I would also advise to know what you want and insist on it. It’s your book. Be a diva.
What are you reading?
I’m trying to read stuff by people like Brian Cox on quantum physics at the moment. I often listen to him on podcasts and I feel like I want to understand the universe more but it’s possible my brain is at capacity.
Thanks Simon!
News, events and opportunities for writers and journalists
Northbound Book Award: Rozie Kelly has been announced as the winner of the NorthBound Book Award for her manuscript Kingfisher,which will be published by Saraband as part of the prize. The NorthBound Book Award is produced by New Writing North in partnership with the University of York and Saraband, as part of the Northern Writers’ Awards. The award celebrates the innovative spirit of independent publishing and the richness of writing from the North of England.
Edinburgh International Book Festival - Words from the wards: Local residents have been invited to share stories and memories of the former Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, which is now the University of Edinburgh’s Futures Institute. The Institute will be and will be the new home of the festival.
Northern Book Lovers Alliance: Is looking to hold its first event in Manchester in August. It’ll be a mix of bloggers, readers, authors and publishers plus a chance for everyone to chat about how they can support one another. If you’re an author interested in being at the event, please get in touch via email: northbooklove@outlook.com\
Regional Press Awards: The Regional Press Awards for 2024 took place in London with the Belfast Telegraph emerging as the big winner with eight awards including a hat-trick of individual prizes for journalist Sam McBride. For all the winners, see the website, linked above. ( Random fact - During the Nicola Bulley inquiry, I was interviewed for BelTel Podcast here)
Crimefest awards shortlist: Crimefest has announce its award shortlist including the Specsavers Debut Crime Novel Award for authors first published in the United Kingdom in 2023. The winning author receives a £1,000 prize. They include:
Stig Abell for Death Under a Little Sky (Hemlock Press/HarperCollins
Jo Callaghan for In The Blink Of An Eye (Simon & Schuster)
Megan Davis for The Messenger (Zaffre)
Jenny Lund Madsen for Thirty Days of Darkness; translated by Megan Turney (Orenda Books)
Natalie Marlow for Needless Alley (Baskerville)
Alice Slater for Death of a Bookseller (Hodder & Stoughton)
Thanks for reading! Please like and subscribe and share, this is all done for free away from the day job and I appreciate the support. Nicola x
