Tag Archives: Pennsic

Conventions, Music, SCA, Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Tired Rob Is Tired

Leave a comment

Week of 6-12 August

One of my favorite Pennsics ever comes to a close today.

The weather has been incredibly nice. Cool, with only a little rain, and yet still lots of cloud cover. The merchant booth has been profitable, productive, and fun. I’ve had a great time singing, and got to see some wonderful things given to fun people.

But at the end of two weeks, especially with packing in all sorts of stuff in the final few days, I must say I’m ready to be home.

It’s been so busy here that I’ve barely had time to write, so I’m only about 10000 words into Brief Is My Flame, but since that means more sales, I am quite pleased. I’m also pleased where the story lines are going. Yes, I’ve done more plotting than usual, but that doesn’t mean the plot is static.

As I did with Where Now the Rider, I’ll be steadily adding a few entries to the Wiki each week. I think these might be a little more revealing, though, as some of the new storylines are coming from different places. We’ll be exploring more of Svellheim, the Seven Kingdoms, the Western Isles, and the Kreisens, so we’ll all get to find out interesting stuff about those places as the plot takes me there.

I love Shijuren. It’s a fun and interesting world and there’s so much more to come.

Quote of the Week

One of my favorite aspects of Pennsic, and the SCA in general, is the opportunity to sing at bardic circles. This week’s quote comes from a Kipling poem which we have turned to song.

For we hold that in all disaster
Of shipwreck, storm, or sword,
A Man must stand by his Master
When once he has pledged his word.
– Song of the Red War Boat, Rudyard Kipling

News and Works in Progress

  • Brief Is My Flame (About 10k)

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

I watched Consortium of Genius perform at ConFluence. They were a lot of fun and surprisingly metal. Most bands at SF/F cons are acoustic in nature, but these guys played their music loud and hard. I had a blast, though I think some of the other people were a bit bemused. I especially enjoyed Think Tank and Middle-earth Needs Me.

Let me know if you have any suggestions on the website, this email, or cool story ideas at rob@robhowell.org. Especially let me know of suggestions you have for the Spotlight section.

Have a great week, everyone.

Rob Howell
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Personal, SCA

Pennsic Musings

Leave a comment

The last few days of Pennsic are exhausting for me, but they’re also some of my favorite days of the year.

Pennsic generally runs from the last weekend of July to the second weekend of August. The two weeks are named Peace Week and War Week, and they are both wonderful but for completely different reasons.

I often say that Peace Week is the only vacation in the SCA. For those who have never come to an SCA event, you may not realize just how busy and full these events are. You get up in time to do whatever your daily activity might be, which includes classes, projects, fighting, fencing, archery, and equestrian events. Then you shower, get some food, and get ready for whatever the afternoon brings, and this can be laid back (I often take naps), but often involves camaraderie and story-telling. In the evening, the king and queen have a court where they give people stuff, and there’s often a hand-made feast. Then you get to the serious socializing.

That’s a long day, and that’s merely the schedule of a day-long event. Pennsic and other longer events stack similar days, though the royalty only has court on some days, not all. There are other ceremonies though, and every night one group or another hosts a party or a bardic circle or some sort of gathering.

In Peace Week, all of the things that make the SCA fun are available, but it’s far more relaxed. You *can* do anything. You also can choose to not do anything. The Pennsic after I went to Macedonia and England in 2006 I was exhausted, and one night I went to bed at 2:30pm. Not a nap. “I’m going to bed, see you guys in the morning.”

Of course, there was the time that I ran into a close friend I only see at Pennsic at around 5:30am on the way to the port-a-johns and after we did our business, we went back to my shade fly and opened a beer. Then we had another. Then someone else came by and had a beer. By around 9am we’d started doing projects… and drinking. I don’t know that anyone actually got drunk, but I finally went to sleep at 4am. A good day, and the kind of thing that happens in Peace Week.

War Week, on the other hand, is full of all the things and you want to do everything. Sleep is for the weak… next week.

For me, the real busy time begins on Wednesday, with Midnight Madness. That’s an exhausting, but fun and profitable evening.

Thursday is even busier. This is the day that Calontir’s king and queen hold Their court. Following court, we host our yearly party. Over the last dozen years or so I’ve been one of the ones primarily tasked with  arranging the bar. I got lots of help, but it’s still a goodly amount of work.

Also, I volunteered to be the herald for court, which means I called in people for Their Majesties and read the scrolls. This is one of my favorite jobs in the SCA, and is a fun honor, but another task on what is clearly a busy day.

Today, we recover from the party, but at the same time we start packing up. My plan is to be on the road at some point on Saturday. What I have to get done between now and then is take the kegs back to the distributor, get my books and booth packed up, and then tomorrow tear my tent down.

Fortunately, I have no specific time or place to get to on Saturday, so I will just do the work and not hurry. Earlier is better, of course, but even just staying at a hotel down the street makes the drive doable.

The end is nigh, and getting nigher by the moment. Thank goodness.

Aesc & Thorn Publishing, SCA

We’re MADDDDDDD!

Leave a comment

At many of the big SCA events like Pennsic, Gulf Wars, Great Western, and Estrella they pick one night, usually Wednesday, to have Midnight or Moonlight Madness with the vendors.

This is an eminently practical thing in many ways, as these events are filled with things to do during the day like fighting, fencing, archery, classes, and the making of many different items. Frankly, many people hardly have a chance to shop during the day, so we pick a day where every merchant is open until midnight and we offer a variety of specials.

On nights like last night it can be magical. It was cool, mostly clear, and the moon was almost full. About as lovely as a night can be, in my opinion. On such a night, thousands of people roam the merchant areas chatting, shopping, and generally having a good time.

As I say, magical.

As I have mentioned before, Master Andrixos graciously allows me to sell from his shop, Calontir Trim. Last year we had fun playing up the MADDDDDDD! of Midnight Madness. We had so much fun, we wanted to get even MADDDDDDDER.

So we did.

One of Andrixos’s personal traditions is that Midnight Madness actually begins when he puts on this hideous Hawaiian-print Byzantine-style tunic of the reign of King Ragnar Kamehamehason. It is embellished with a trim that has longships sailing in front of a island with palm trees. He’s been having fun with this running joke for over twenty years now.

This year, he requested that I provide a tunic of appropriate MADDDDDNESS to match, and he provided the shop girls with their own outfits as well.

This is the result:

Midnight Madness
The uniforms of Calontir Trim at Midnight Madness

So, last night we were especially MADDDDDD! at Midnight Madness.

I had a great time selling in my little section of the shop, as you can see here:

Midnight Madness Setup
My setup at Midnight Madness

It’s a lot of fun, I meet lots of people, and sell lots of books. What more can I hope for?

So, when you see me post something about impending MADDDDDNESS, now you know.

Conventions, Music, Rush, SCA, Shijuren

ConFluence AAR

Leave a comment

Greetings all

This weekend I left Pennsic and went about 45 minutes south to ConFluence. It was a very busy weekend for me.

It started with panel about genre blending. Obviously, this provided me an opportunity to talk about the fun of adding mystery to swords and sorcery, as I do in the Edward series.

Following that was a reading. Again, I did the portion from I Am a Wondrous Thing. It went well, better than the last time I did it. I know I got some sales from it.

Friday evening was generally laid back. Much of my time was spent in the TV Gods: Summer Programming release party chatting with Lee Hillman, an editor of the TV Gods series and a friend of mine. It was a very enjoyable time, especially since they got a pack of various IPAs to share.

Saturday morning started with my signing session at 10am. At that hour, I didn’t expect much, but this was the most successful signing session I’ve ever had.

After that, I had a bit of a break until my next session. I spend much of that time trying to write. Not my best writing session, mostly because my mind kept wandering, but it wasn’t completely unproductive.

Starting at 2pm, I had three sessions in four hours. The first was perhaps the most intimidating for me, a discussion of exoplanets and how we can use them in our fiction. It was intimidating because everyone else on the panel were astrophysicists or geologists, except for the guy who was both a scientist and an artist. Then there’s me. Still, I held my own, because to a certain extent, the philosophy of things is always relevant, and I am a philosopher.

One fascinating thing came out of the discussion that I must mention. I do not generally like elves and dwarves and such in my worlds. For someone who writes fantasy, I don’t like magic to be, well, magical. I want everything grounded in a scientific basis. This, by the way, is why I was chosen for the panel in the first place.

However, one person at the end, and I’m sorry I didn’t get her name, pointed out that throughout the panel we’d been focused on the macro side of things, not the micro end. As often happens for me, the right thing said at the right time helps my mind make a jump and I finally have a justification for elves.

What if elves are the result of a micro-organism that causes a mutation? That makes sense to me, and maybe I’ll add them to Shijuren after all. I’ve already got some plans from interesting mutations that already exist in the human genome, but it’s nice to have more options.

I moderated my next panel. This one discussed writing in someone else’s sandbox. Since I’d like to turn Shijuren into a sandbox, I wanted very much to participate in this so I was happy to moderate the panel. I think the most important thing we decided was that all participants need to respect the sandbox and its contributors. People who just jump in without that interest and respect show up all too obviously.

At 5pm I participated in a whimsical panel where we created Vogon poetry. This year’s theme was the limerick, so we created a number of those. Yes, we had one that started, “There once was a Vogon from Nantucket.”

The one limerick I can remember off the top of my head went:

There was a Vogon named orange
Who gurgled one morning in purple
He heard a mime rail
About the slime trail
Amidst callipygian silver

I will say, it didn’t make my intestine want to strangle me, so I think we’ll need to do better.

Saturday evening I watched Consortium of Genius’s show. They were a lot of fun and surprisingly metal. Most bands at SF/F cons are acoustic in nature, but these guys played their music loud and hard. I had a blast, though I think some of the other people were a bit bemused. I especially enjoyed Think Tank and Middle-earth Needs Me.

I had met the lead singer and the bassist earlier in the day because we are all Rush fans. In the category of small worlds, I found out they are friends with Beth Waggoner Patterson, who I’ve met at other cons who is also a Rush fan. Had I not known ahead of time that the bassist was a Rush fan, I would have guessed after hearing his complex bass lines. Good stuff.

Sunday morning involved two sessions. The first at 10am discussed the Ten-Volume Trilogy. We all shared our own experiences with our worlds taking a life of their own. Yeah, that means lot of stuff to come in Shijuren.

The last thing I did at the con was a Kaffeeklatsch where I discussed the Martin Koszta Affair again and how I can use it to inspire fiction. I was shocked to have so many attendees, actually, as the way they set these up they were designed to be intimate discussions involving less than ten people. I believe I got a full dozen, who seemed to really enjoy what I did. I’ll keep doing this panel as long as people keep enjoying it.

After that I got back on the road to return to Pennsic as quickly as I could. I enjoyed ConFluence quite a bit, but I was ready to get back to the Middle Ages.

Conventions, SCA, Shijuren, Sports

Rob’s Update: Pennsic’s First Week

Leave a comment

Week of 30 July – 5 August

It’s been a wonderful first week of Pennsic. Part of that is the weather. It’s topped out at around 85, which is hotter than I like but is certainly not unbearable. In fact, it was so nice on Friday and Saturday that I got all of my setup and nesting done. Usually, the heat makes it a slower process and I still have work to do on Sunday.

My traditional Monday night bardic circle went very well. The first song started around 8:30 and I shut off the big torches at 3 or so. There was a good solid crowd of about 30-40 and we never stopped performing. That’s not shabby.

Monday was also Dad’s 77th birthday. I took a moment during the bardic circle to tell some stories about him.

I will freely admit that Tuesday was not my most active day, since I actually fell asleep around 5:30. I did come into the shop and arrange all of my stuff and lay all the electrical cables out. Tonight, we actually run all of the lights. Then I basically went and napped. I got up for dinner, but that was about it.

Yesterday, I got some serious work done. I’ve decided that the best way to write both Brief Is My Flame and None Call Me Mother is to focus on a single thread at a time. I wrote I Am a Wondrous Thing straight through, and I ended up re-arranging everything. This time I’m going to write a thread until I the returns diminish, then go off to another. Presumably, the next thread will inspire ideas in other threads, and eventually I’ll weave them together.

The first thread I’m working on is Eleonore in Demmen and Demmenkreisen. I’ve gotten a few thousand words written in that thread and its prompted my next thread, which will go through Svellheim.

Tomorrow, I’m off to ConFluence, where I have a busy weekend planned.

Friday 4pm: Genre Blending Panel
Friday 6pm: Reading
Saturday 10am: Autograph Session
Saturday 2pm: World Building with Exoplanets Panel
Saturday 4pm: Playing in Someone Else’s Sandbox Panel
Saturday 5pm: Vogon Poetry
Sunday 10am: The Ten Volume Trilogy
Sunday noon: The Martin Koszta Affair

It will be weird leaving Pennsic for this long, but it’s going to be a good time.

Quote of the Week

This weekend is the NFL Hall of Fame weekend where the 2017 enshrinees are inducted. This week’s quote comes from one my favorite players of all time, Dan Fouts. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1993.

“Now that I’m retired, I want to say that all defensive linemen are sissies.” – Dan Fouts

News and Works in Progress

  • Sent in a short story in for an anthology. I’m waiting for a response. Waiting is hard, that is all.
  • Several thousand words into Brief Is My Flame

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

One of the people I’ll meet this weekend as I’ll be on panels with him is William Keith, Jr. He’s written several military SF series, including some under the pen name of Ian Douglas. I’m a big fan of the Star Carrier series and the Heritage Trilogy. You can find his stuff at: https://www.amazon.com/Ian-Douglas/e/B001IGLZMC/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1501810168&sr=8-1

Let me know if you have any suggestions on the website, this email, or cool story ideas at rob@robhowell.org. Especially let me know of suggestions you have for the Spotlight section.

Have a great week, everyone.

Rob Howell
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

SCA

Rob’s Update: The Elephant and Castle

Leave a comment

Week of 23-30 July

Greetings all

I’m writing this at the Elephant and Castle pub in Grove City, PA. This is my normal place to visit the night before Pennsic. It’s got decent food, wifi, tables with outlets, and good beer on tap. Oh, and it has a dozen or so hotel rooms attached to it.

This place rocks.

Anyway, I will work and relax before heading over to Pennsic tomorrow. Hopefully, by tomorrow evening, my tent will be set up, though I won’t completely nest until Saturday, maybe Sunday.

I talk more about my Pennsic plans in this blog post. Suffice it to say it’ll be two weeks of working all day and singing all evening. I might drink a beer or two.

Speaking of blog posts, my Random Musings after my birthday was one of my favorite posts. If you haven’t read it, it’s here.

I’ve teased that I’ve been writing a short story for a while. It’s in the final crafting phase now. I’ll talk more about it soon.

Other than that, my life has been focused on moving. We’ve found some great houses and will probably put in a bid next week. Exciting stuff. Obviously, I’ll talk about all of the house shopping stuff in a blog post, but I want to wait until a contract has been accepted.

Yes, I’m superstitious about announcing stuff until I know things for sure, why do you ask, Two Dogs?

Speaking of announcing stuff, they have Victory’s HopDevil IPA, one of my favorites here at the Elephant and Castle…

Quote of the Week

Of course this week’s quote had to be about elephants.

One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I’ll never know.

– Groucho Marx

News and Works in Progress

  • Major progress on a short story
  • Plotting for Brief Is My Flame

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

I’ve spotlighted her before, but Cedar Sanderson and her husband Sanford Begley let me crash at their place last night. I had a delightful evening sitting and chatting on a dark porch drinking Tullamore Dew with cool people. She is a writer, artist, and photographer and you can find her stuff at http://www.cedarwrites.com/.

Let me know if you have any suggestions on the website, this email, or cool story ideas at rob@robhowell.org. Especially let me know of suggestions you have for the Spotlight section.

Have a great week, everyone.

Rob Howell
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Conventions, Personal, SCA

Pennsic Plans

Leave a comment

I leave for Pennsic on Wednesday. Yes it’s a bit early, but if I take my time on long trips I can also stop for writing.

This will be the third Pennsic (along with a Gulf and a half) that I will sell my books at Calontir Trim. Many thanks to Andrixos for giving me the space.

At this point, we kind of have an idea how things will be arranged and how things will go. I will have a table just big enough for my wooden display box and my laptop. I set my phone up as a wifi hotspot (as I’m doing right now at Brewbaker’s) and basically have full functionality.

I then spend from about 10am to 5pm in the shop, selling to whomever comes in, and writing when they’re not there. I got a huge chunk of Where Now the Rider written there last year, and I hope to get a ton of progress on Brief Is My Flame done this year.

This year will be a little funky, however, as I leave on Friday morning to go to Pittsburgh for a Confluence (http://parsec-sff.org/confluence/), coming back on Sunday night. I’ll be doing a full convention description and AAR while I’m sitting in Drix’s booth, actually.

In many ways, this is one of my most enjoyable and productive times. I’m sure it will seem odd to most of you who work a 9-5 kind of job, but having a designated time and place to go to work for a couple of weeks is actually quite enjoyable for me. I’ll freely admit I don’t want a permanent 9-5 schedule, but for stretches like this, it can be brilliant.

Plus, after working, I get to relax a bit and then enjoy some of the Pennsic fun with my friends. Pennsic may never be solely a vacation for me ever again, but that doesn’t mean I won’t have fun.

With that, I should do some writing. I know I owe you a full update, by the way, and I will do a combined two week one tomorrow.

Have a great day, everyone.

 

Conventions, SCA, Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Empire of the Clouds

Leave a comment

Week of 9-16 July

Greetings all

I treated myself to the Iron Maiden concert this past weekend. I put up a longer review on my blog, but for those who prefer the the TL:DR version, I loved it.

I’ve been focusing on a short story that has to go out the door by the end of the month. I will talk more about it when the draft is done, but I’m getting excited about it and its successors.

I’ve been throwing a few words here and there at Brief Is My Flame, mostly in the nature of plotting and ideas and less in terms of finished prose. Basically, by the time Pennsic comes around I need to have much of it laid out in my head, or even outlined on a page, which will make me much more productive. If I basically know what I’m writing about, the words come. If not, then I fight them. Shockingly, planning helps, even if those plans don’t survive meeting characters.

By the time Pennsic comes around, most of my house packing will be done. Things are progressing, though not as fast as I’d like in some areas. Still, I’m looking forward to getting settled at some point in the fall.

Quote of the Week

It has to be an Iron Maiden quote, right? So let’s do something from a song they didn’t do this weekend, Empire of the Clouds, which describes the R101 tragedy. More died in it than in the Hindenberg, but it’s far less remembered.

Here lie their dreams as I stand in the sun
On the ground where they built, and the engines did run
To the moon and the stars, now what have we done?
Oh, the dreamers may die, but the dreams live on
– Iron Maiden, Empire of the Clouds

News and Works in Progress

  • Short story for an anthology
  • Brief Is My Flame

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

I traded my books for Gray Rinehart’s CDs at LibertyCon and had a chance to listen to them on the way back. Very fun, which is to be expected when Dr. Demento plays your music.  Here’s his website: http://graymanwrites.com/

Let me know if you have any suggestions on the website, this email, or cool story ideas at rob@robhowell.org. Especially let me know of suggestions you have for the Spotlight section.

Have a great week, everyone.

Rob Howell
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Conventions, Personal, SCA, Shijuren

Pennsic 2016 AAR

Leave a comment

On June 14 I left for SCA 50 Year. Exactly 2 months later, 61 days, I’ve returned from Pennsic. In the intervening time I have been home for 8 days. It’s so nice to be in *my* chair.

I took some extra time on the trip to do something important, and that was have a wonderful picnic with my apprentice Judith. Between my schedule and her health we haven’t had much time since she accepted a belt from me last November. We went to a park and watched ducks and talked about all sorts of things. She’s been working on lacework. Beautiful, intricate, and something I could never do. She’s amazing.

Also, by traveling slower I can stop and work along the way. If I schedule an extra day or two I really don’t suffer much loss of productivity.

It’s important to get to Pennsic early for me because of the bardic circle I sponsor on the first Monday at Pennsic. I can’t remember if it’s been five or six years since I decided to do it, but it’s been something I very much look forward to. Apparently, I’m not the only one, as this year the circle was huge. Lots of great performers. Lots of great people.  So many people I ran out of chairs. Many thanks to His Highness Atlantia for sending his people for spare benches. So many people I ran out of water. Many thanks to Her Excellency Belanna for loaning me a flat of water.

Really pleased so many people showed up, though, and I’ll have more of both next year.

On Tuesday the 2nd, we opened Drix’s booth. From Wednesday through Friday the 12th I spent most of my time there, arriving 10ish each day and leaving 6ish most days.

Overall, my time there was extremely productive, though I did not reach my sales goal. There is context, however, last year was Drix’s largest year ever and this was towards the slow end so I probably had much more traffic last year. Also, last year had significantly better weather, and book sales at events are affected dramatically by the weather.

I got a lot done when I wasn’t selling, though. I worked through what I’m discovering is the hardest part of writing books, the 5-20k word range. This part involves a lot of writing – cutting – rewriting – cutting – and so on. I’m taking the basic idea and forming the exact pattern with all of this rewriting. I think I have the structure for Where Now the Rider going.

I have to take this moment to thank Nicolaa. She reviewed The Eyes of a Doll in the Pennsic Independent. Last year, she gave me a great review on ALMD in the Independent right when I needed the emotional boost. I was pleased to receive another good review from her, and I had at least one person buy a book because of it. Thanks much, Nicolaa.

As traffic increased in the second week, I shifted to retrofitting  ALMD and TEOAD to include links to wiki entries for all the people, places, and weird stuff on the e-book versions. I completed ALMD and it is now live in updated form. I also made progress on TEOAD. The feedback I’ve had both from people who have already bought I Am a Wondrous Thing and those looking at it has been, without exception, positive. I’ve been really anxious to get these done, and editing wiki entries is great for higher traffic days as I can step away at a moment’s notice.

A side note. My new package through Verizon is expensive, but I now have a ton of data and the wifi hotspot feature allowed me fast wifi even at Pennsic. I’m excited about some of the possibilities that this freedom will give me.

As for Pennsic as Pennsic, I had a reasonably good time. I’m really glad I’ve lost some weight, as between my job, my responsibilities to help around the shop, and the things I contribute to the party, I was swamped. I did not have energy to go out and seek parties after working, but I did have the energy to hang out in the Royal Pavilion most nights. That’s perhaps my favorite part, anyway.

My big highlight of the war was the opportunity to herald TRMs Logan and Ylva into opening court. As we chatted beforehand, I made a whimsical comment, and Logan said, “I like that.” and so I heralded them into court as “Logan the well-beloved and Ylva the one we actually like!”

Prior to court, in the waiting for things to start, was another highlight when Ealdormere and Calontir sang songs back and forth at each other. Really good time, especially since Garraed made a cameo.

Wednesday through Friday was still extremely hard. I was in the shop for 14 hours on Wednesday because of Midnight Madness (We’re MAAAAADDDD!). I really like Midnight Madness, but it *is* exhausting. Thursday I tried to work, but barely had an hour and a half there. I came back in time to see Dongal beg the boon for Gavin, which is wonderful.

The Calontir Party is usually a lot of work for me, and this year was no exception. I cleaned the lamps, organized the incinetrons, and set up the bar. There’s no way I could have done all of this if I had not had help. Jack brought me lamps. Ian put them back. Tim Leatherhand helped move the heavy stuff. Emma, the baby huscarl, got the alcohol on Wednesday so I didn’t have to. But my big hero was Demetrios, who volunteered to do the town run to refill the propane bottles we use and get ice. This gave me the chance to get a nap before court.

I needed the nap as I was also TRM’s herald for court. Really happy to see Halvgrimr get created a Laurel in a drive-by ceremony. The best part, I have to admit, is watching Sibilla’s face the moment she realized Fionnuala was begging her boon to make her a Laurel. One of the highlights of being a herald is getting to know what is coming so you can know where and when to look.

After court was the Calontir party. We think it wasn’t as well-attended as some, and the potential for rain might have been a reason, but we still had a great time. Wohlgemut got there fairly early and, as usual, were awesome. We had a good singing circle later on. Really liked Gwen’s new drink, which consisted of lingenberry juice, vodka, and tonic water. I’m calling it the Ikea. Next time we need to garnish it with a meatball stuck on an Allen wrench.

Friday was tough. I was still tired from Wednesday, and I had gotten to bed at 3am after closing the party. I was hoping for a lot of traffic of people following up on their plan to buy books later in the war. However, I only got a few doing so. Ah, well.

I knew I was going to pack down on Saturday morning, so I went to bed fairly early. Unfortunately, I couldn’t sleep and barely got two hours of sleep before waking up 7ish. I was packed and ready to go by 10ish, but I was exhausted. I never once had the idea I would make the drive in one day, though I have done so in the past. I took a nap in Mansfield and I got to Terre Haute at 7:50, just in time to get a hotel so I could watch the Cowboys v. Rams pre-season game. Perfect timing.

Today, I drove the last 7 hours and now my car is completely unpacked. I’ve a ton to do to clean up after a wet, humid Pennsic, including a boatload of laundry, but progress is being made.

Overall, I would call Pennsic another moderate success. I’m definitely making progress in sales, but it’s still tough sledding. I can’t thank Drix enough for giving me the space.

Looking forward, WorldCon is this week. I’m hoping for some sales there, though I don’t anticipate much. I can still hope. After that, I’ve got a few events scheduled, but I’m going to plan out my schedule for the next year. I need to get west of the Rockies to both SCA events and cons, and I need to do so as cheaply as possible.

So I had a good time when I could, worked as much as I could, and got to see cool things happen to good people. I’ll take it.

 

 

Conventions, SCA, Shijuren

Pre-Madness Post

Leave a comment

Midnight Madness at Pennsic is almost upon us.

I must be MAD! because I love these kinds of sales. It will be a night of constantly being on stage and talking to people. Tomorrow, I’ll be exhausted, but hopefully with fewer books and more money.

Pennsic so far has been extremely productive. It’s hard to judge sales compared to last year, because I did such a poor job of tracking sales. My processes are getting better every time I do a show. I haven’t sold what I did last year, but I seem to recall sales picking up the last 2 days. Which will start soon.

Mostly, I’m writing this post to talk about Where Now the Rider and A Lake Most Deep. I’ve made good progress on Where Now the Rider, especially since I’ve gotten past the hard initial steps of a book. I like where it’s going, though I need to add more action. Six chapters in and only one murder? What am I thinking?

As we’ve gotten busier and writing has become more challenging, I’ve switched to adding the wiki links to A Lake Most Deep. It’s now complete and the new electronic version is available.

If you have already purchased A Lake Most Deep and want to be able to go to the wiki entries while you are reading the books, you can get the new version downloaded to your Kindle by asking Amazon to send it to you.

To contact via phone:
http://www.amazon.com/clicktocall

To contact via chat:
http://www.amazon.com/clicktochat

Be warned, however, that if you have Amazon update to the latest copy, it will erase your bookmarks and notes. This, by the way, is why Amazon will not force feed the updated version.

Remember, the only change I made is in the electronic version of A Lake Most Deep. This change adds links to the wiki at www.robhowell.org/shijuren the first time a name or place or new word is mentioned. If you will never use the wiki, don’t worry about the update.

In the coming week, I’ll have finished adding these links to The Eyes of a Doll.

I’m adding these links because the response to the links in the electronic version of I Am a Wondrous Thing has been overwhelmingly positive. These links will be standard for all of my e-books in Shijuren.

With that, it’s time to prepare for MADNESS!!!