Category Archives: Shijuren

Posts related to the world of Shijuren.

Catching Up

Today was a day for cleaning out my email, working on promotional stuff like my website, and planning on new conventions. Let’s see if I can remember everything I did:

  • Registered for World Fantasy Con in October.
  • Registered for WorldCon in August.
  • Registered on Goodreads as an author.
  • Updated my Amazon authors page.
  • Updated my website. More images and general coolness.
  • Made a new banner for the website.
  • Put a bunch of links to my wiki for the World of Shijuren.
  • Sent information to LibertyCon for two of my Authors Alley books.
  • Updated my WordPress blog site with some new images.
  • And, oh yeah, actually did a blog post.

Not a bad day’s work. Lots of important things taken care of.

My favorite, as you will find out, is the Shijuren wiki at http://www.robhowell.org/shijuren. Basically, this will ultimately be the entire repository of all my Shijuren world-building. There are only 170 or so entries right now, but I’m adding them consistently. There are also snippets of the novels you can find by searching “From the Books,” including snippets of I Am a Wondrous Thing, which will be released in June. So if you want to find sneak peaks, you can search for “IAAWT” for the pieces I’ve put up already. More is coming.

I keep learning things. Like I didn’t realize Goodreads was attached to Amazon, so I never made an author’s page there. I’m fixing that. I also learned that Amazon doesn’t necessarily link new works to an author’s page. Fixed that too.

I also added a few more images to my Amazon page and my official website. If you watch my Facebook page, you might very well have seen them already, but they’re some of my favorites of me. I also made a new banner image for the website and this blog, including one of the images I added. I think it’s pretty snazzy, if I do say so myself.

I should take this time to thank Patrick McEvoy. I keep finding new ways to use the cover art he did for A Lake Most Deep. He did a fantastic job, and I’m really liking what’s coming from it. I’ll be unveiling a new actual banner this weekend at Kansas City’s ComicCon that is also based on that artwork and I think it will look fantastic.

I’m clearing the decks because Kellie has given me the next edits of I Am a Wondrous Thing. I’ll be pounding away at getting that ready for publishing as soon as possible. I have to say, I really enjoy working with Kellie. She’s not only great at catching mistakes, but also places where I’ve not necessarily made a mistake, but could use strengthening. I can’t recommend her enough.

I’m also really excited about ComicCon this weekend, but I’ll talk about my excitement on a post later this week.

Now, I think it’s time for some lounging and thinking about how to execute all the directives Kellie gave me.

Cheers all

 

Ad-Astra AAR

When the only thing I didn’t like about Ad Astra was the printing snafu that messed up the locations on the mini-schedule attached to my badge, then it’s probably safe to say it was a successful con.

I was on 4 panels, went to a meet and greet, and had a reading. All of these were firsts for me, and generally went very well.

The first panel discussed the relationship between a self-publisher and their editor. This was probably the panel I contributed the most, because Kellie Hultgren has trained me well. We have worked out a good system, generally speaking, and I was able to discuss the things that have worked well for us. Beverly Bambury moderated the panel well, and I was joined by Charlotte Ashley, Jennifer Jaquith, and Ness Ricci-Thode. Jack Whyte, yes that Jack Whyte, complimented me afterwards, which was quite a thrill for me.

My second panel was not quite as smooth, and that panel talked about food and cuisine in speculative fiction. Why did it not go as smooth? I think it’s because all three of us hit our main talking points so well and quickly that, for the last 20 minutes or so, we floundered a bit looking for things to talk about. Mostly we repeated some of the things we had already said. Still, it went pretty well, just I think our panel of me, Costi Gorgu, and Erik Buchanon might have gotten boring and repetitive at the end.

My third panel covered books signings, festivals, and conventions. Basically the nuts and bolts of getting involved with these as a self-published author. I actually felt a little out of my depth here, as I don’t have a ton of experience. However, I do have experience as a moderator from academic conferences, so I claimed that role since the con did not assign that to any one person. My two co-presenters, Mark Lefebvre and Sarah WaterRaven, did a really good job and I definitely learned a number of things I’m looking forward to implementing.  I did a pretty good job of moderating. Were I to have been assigned the task ahead of time, I would have done a little better, nevertheless, we covered the topic well, filled the time, and flowed well. I’m pleased.

My fourth panel was on Sunday at 1pm, and it talked about marketing and publicity. I again felt a little out of my depth at first, but Beverly, who had moderated my first panel, did a real good job of steering things in my direction and I definitely contributed. I probably took things off the rails a bit as I talked about my wiki at www.robhowell.org/shijuren and my plans for it, but otherwise it went great. Especially since it was Sunday at 1pm and I was tired. Also on the panel were Sarah WaterRaven and MJ Moores who both gave me some nice ideas.

On Saturday, Sarah WaterRaven hosted a meet and greet of self-published authors. While the authors outnumbered the readers, I was still pleased with this event. I got to talk to a few people, sold a couple of books, and released a couple more in the drawing.

Finally, my last official involvement was on Sunday at 3pm for a reading. Four people showed up. More than I expected actually. Three other authors were there, Brandon Draga, Catherine Fitzsimmons, and Cameron Currie.

I’m not surprised that I can do a reading well, given my theater background, but I definitely need to get a better plan of attack. The part I chose to read was the part where Edward enters the Gropa Mansion in the end of A Lake Most Deep and the start of the final Agatha Christie-style get all the possible suspects together and reveal the villain scene. I like my choice in many ways, but it was a little long for me to get the most impact. However, I have a much better idea of how long it takes me to read a chunk. I’ll do better next time.

I did some other socializing in the Green Room, and a little in the Con Suite, but not much. I came down with a cold on Thursday, and I dinged my foot at Ard Chreag fighter practice on Monday, so I was pushing hard to bring the energy to my panels. I need to work on my stamina in general, but also to get full value out of my convention appearances, especially if I’m not at my best.

I need to also do a better job of planning how to sell my books at conventions. Basically, I just need to get my ducks in a row and know the plan. What are the con rules? The laws of the location? That sort of thing. Then, I need to make sure I actually mention my books are on sale when it is appropriate. I’m not good at that. I would have sold many more had I had a better plan.

I also need to make bookmarks with www.amazon.ca QR codes for Canadian conventions.

Still, it was a productive con for me. I handed out a bunch of business cards and met a lot of people. Also, I’m learning that my approach to this profession is correct, even if I haven’t sold a ton yet. I’ll be an overnight success after some years of working at this.

Thanks to Pasi Paltanen for suggesting I come up. I hope I can afford to do so next year. Also, thanks to Gary Russell and Brad Hruboska for being my extra-special cheering section on Saturday.

My next con appearance is Kansas City Planet ComicCon. I’m really excited to see how this goes, but I’ll forever get to say I’m a guest at the same con as Stan Lee, George Takei, Alan Tudyk, and Kevin Smith. And a whole bunch of others.

If you’re in the KC area, it’ll be worth your while to come. I’ll be in the Creative Alley area with books for sale. Come join me.

Catching Up

Lots of stuff happening around here.

First, I just published a second edition of A Lake Most Deep. If you bought the first edition in ebook form, then you can speak to Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/clicktocall or
http://www.amazon.com/clicktochat
You just need to ask for the updated content and they’ll send it to you for free.

Second, the draft for the first book of The Kreisens, book 3 in Shijuren, was sent off to the editor last week. I’m hoping for a release date around 1 June.

Third, there’s progress on the audiobook front. I’m hoping for September for A Lake Most Deep. I will probably do a Kickstarter in May for that project.

Fourth, I’m on the road in Canada right now. I had a wonderful time at the coronation of Nigel and Adrielle. Talked to a bunch of old friends, made some new ones, and promoted the next edition of A Lake Most Deep as well as showed off The Eyes of a Doll. A fun and useful day.

I’m headed to Ad-Astra this upcoming weekend, so if you’re in the Toronto area come join us. I’m in four panels, plus a reading. They are:

Friday 7pm Richmond B
The Relationship Between a Self-Publisher and Their Editor
Vanessa Ricci-Thode,Jennifer Jaquith, Beverly Bambury, Charlotte Ashley, Rob Howell

Friday 9pm Richmond A
Food Drink and Cuisine in Speculative Fiction
Costi Gurgu, Erik Buchanan, Rob Howell

Saturday 4pm Markham A
Book Signings Conventions and Festivals: Navigating Opportunity as a Self-Published Author
Sarah WaterRaven, Rob Howell, Mark Lefebvre

Sunday 1pm Markham B
Marketing and Promoting Your Self-Published Novel
MJ Moores, Sarah WaterRaven, Beverly Bambury, Rob Howell

Sunday 3pm Oakridge
Fantasy Reading
Brandon Draga, Cameron Currie, Rob Howell, Catherine Fitzsimmons

Exciting times.

Excited

Map Achrida

I’m so excited to announce that Adam Hale has drawn us all a map of Achrida.

This is just one of the changes that have kept me so busy that I haven’t had a chance to blog.

The map is merely one of the updates to a forthcoming First Anniversary, Second Edition of A Lake Most Deep. These have been submitted to Amazon in both ebook and paperback format, and are in the process of getting reviewed. Hopefully both will be active in the next day or so.

The changes to the second edition are mostly minor. The map is a big change, of course, but mostly it’s cleaning of some mistakes I made publishing my first book and editing to fix some typos and grammatical errors I found. Also, to make it more consistent with The Eyes of a Doll, I had Kellie edit A Lake Most Deep.

Also, I had Patrick change the cover to make it match the much better setup on my second book. This is more obvious with the print version, but people such as Cedar Sanderson who pointed out that my name needs to be in big, bright letters can now simply laugh at my inability to self-promote instead of laughing and asking when I’m going to fix that.

As a side note, I want to thank all of those who took the time to tell me that one thing. I’m getting better, but I’ve never been good at putting myself forward.

In any case, the one substantial change is an addition requested by Romaine Spence. He pointed out that I never answered what happened to the Notes of Naum. In response, I added a few paragraphs. He’ll also get an autographed copy of the new edition for his help.

What will this mean to those who bought the first edition? Well, a total of 125 of the first edition were printed. When I become the biggest fantasy author on the planet, these will be worth something. So tell your friends about me, and consider it an investment in your future.

For ebooks, I had hoped that Amazon would allow people to download the new edition for free. Unfortunately, they will not. I suppose I understand that, from the perspective of things that routinely get new versions, but that doesn’t help us.

What I will say is that if you bought the 1st edition of either version of the book, I will send you an email with the map and the extra paragraphs. It’s not ideal, but I’m afraid that’s what it is.

But wait, there’s more!

Not about A Lake Most Deep, but about the next book. I’m getting very close to sending the first book in an epic fantasy set in Shijuren sent to Kellie. Edward is a minor character in this one, and it talks about some of his experiences in Ivan Yevgenich’s izba.

More to come about that project soon.

I want to thank all of you who bought the first edition. I feel bad that, in a sense, I am not being fair to the ones who were there for me at the beginning. I can only say that I’m learning, trying to get better, and I want to continue putting quality product out there.  And that I thank you for your patience and forbearance.

Enough for now, I have to go save Valentin, one of the characters in the next book.

Random Musings

  • I’m learning so much about how to write each day. I’m editing A Lake Most Deep for the second edition release and I shake my head at the progress I’ve made.
  • Many thanks to Kellie for taking the time to tell me why something is right or wrong, helping me make fewer mistakes, write better, and also find times to break the rules for effect, not ignorance
  • A Lake Most Deep, v2.0 will be a vast improvement but won’t seriously change anything, for those who’ve read it before. It’s mostly better formatting and a better working relationship with my editor. Beth, who edited it the first time, did a fine job, but I still do not really know her. I’ve known Kellie for years and that is a great help to me. Much more collaborative.
  • I’m facing some technical challenges to the big thing I want to announce, so it is delayed, but still coming. I want it to be right before putting it out there.
  • I’ve not liked the NBA for a long time. Frankly, it’s boring basketball, and I’ve long since enjoyed soccer so much more than basketball because it’s more exciting in general. Steph Curry is changing that for me. He might very well be the most skillful basketball player ever. Not the most dominant, that is Wilt Chamberlain, but the most skillful. He has changed the game in a way we’ll only fully understand in retrospect.
  • All that being said about basketball, the one and done format of March Madness, especially on opening weekend, is truly one of the best things ever.
  • I really hope Ron Baker and Fred van Vleet have one more great run in them. Obviously I mean that because I’m a Wichita State fan, but also because I think they’re great kids.
  • I am looking forward to Gulf Wars, and in some ways I’m more excited than I have been in several years. However, it’s becoming more and more an afterthought to…
  • Ealdormere Coronation and Ad-Astra. I’ll be on panels at Ad-Astra, with maybe a reading. That all is a huge step up for me. I’m also going to swing by my grandparents house in Teeswater, which is fairly close to Underwood and Coronation. I’m also contemplating doing something stupid, and going around the Great Lakes. I know it’s much longer, but there’s so much to see.
  • The NFL draft talk is approaching. People keep talking about what Dallas should do, so I will too. Dallas should trade pick 4 for something like pick 8-10 in 2016 plus a 1st in 2017 and some others. The draft chart numbers work for this. The question is whether the Cowboys should take a QB (my preference is Carson Wentz) as a successor to Romo or get better players to surround him. This way you get better players *and* put the Cowboys in position to get a successor next year.
  • Rob’s rule of thumb when trading high picks. Always trade down. More picks means a better chance to get a productive player.

Off to go through a car wash on a lovely day.

Where Now the Rider

Well, I’ve been puttering away with several projects and things are going well.

Some convention announcements and reminders. I’ll be going to Gulf Wars in a few weeks and will have books for sale and autograph at Calontir Trim. Swing on by. Also, I’ll be at Ad-Astra at the end of April. I’ll be serving on panels for the first time there, and will probably have a reading as well. Also exciting is a creator table at KC Planet Comicon. Come see Stan Lee and Alan Tudyk, and then buy my books. Exciting stuff.

Speaking of books, my editor is working on two projects for me, so while she’s doing that I’ve started the third Edward book, which I’m entitling Where Now the Rider. Let’s just say that Andreyev, Gibroz’s lieutenant, is not the only criminal interested in horseracing.

I’ve also been working on a major thing in the background. Next week, I hope to announce what I’m doing. Hopefully, it will make both reading  and writing my books easier.

More to come soon. c

 

Random Stuff

I’m in a weird position in terms of writing right now. Kellie, my editor, has her hands on both A Lake Most Deep and the first Irina novel and I can’t work on either.

For A Lake Most Deep she is re-editing it to match the editing style from The Eyes of a Doll. I am getting low on physical copies of ALMD and I am going to order more before Gulf Wars. I’ve been planning to issue a second edition to reflect the things I’ve learned in publishing both ALMD and TEOAD. Mostly, this means revising the cover, changing the font, and the formatting. However, I’m also going to take the time to get it re-edited so it and TEOAD are the product of the same hands.

The first Irina novel, as I may have mentioned, is a much more complex novel, with a large number of threads and perspectives. This is my first foray into such a complicated structure and I’m not sure if what I’m doing is working. Kellie’s looking at it to see what I’m doing right and wrong. I’ve been waffling on titles but for now I’ve decided to call it A Mind-Song of Motherhood. I like that title quite a bit, and it might end up as the title of the trilogy.

What this means is that the top two things on my to-do list are out of my hands. So, I’m focused on other projects.

I’ve started laying out the third Edward novel in my head. I know the hook, the basic background of the story, heck, I even know the title, Where Now the Rider. However, as usual, I don’t know the main villain until I write it. I’m a pantser, what can I say. I’ll start writing the opening chapters tonight or tomorrow and will have a few thousand words ready to go when I turn back to finishing Irina 1.

More importantly to me is my other project, which I’ll keep mostly mum on for now. Suffice it to say that for all of you who will read the Shijuren series of novels, this will be a wonderful and ongoing thing.

It’s this last project that I’ve pounded my head on for the last couple of weeks. I’m getting there, and if I weren’t so paranoid I would have been able to announce it by now, but there you go.

I’m getting more and more excited about the upcoming con schedule. One big reason is that I’ll be more involved. It looks like I’ll be on panels at both Ad-Astra and LibertyCon. Also, I’ve a table at both Planet Comicon and Mid-Americon II here in KC. I’ve also got a line on some smaller regional cons. By the end of the year, hopefully I’ll be more well-known.

The more I read, the more confident I am that I can write. I’m awful at self-promotion, though. Working on it, though.

I think that’s it for now. Have a great day, everyone.

ChattaCon

I am here at ChattaCon and I’m quite pleased so far. I was unsure how things would go since I received no communication back from emails, but apparently there were server issues. Still a problem, but stuff happens.

I’ll give a complete report about how things go next week.

For now, I want to update my plans. I had intended, even promised, to have the next novel to my editor this week. I, in fact, got a draft to her, but only about half-done. This is a much more complex book, with a much larger structure and many different threads, and is the start of a trilogy.

I like much of what I have written. There characters are coming along. The story is growing and working. My skill at weaving the threads is lacking, though, and it’s not in a form that works yet. I’m setting it down to do some foundational work while Kellie takes a look at what I’ve done so far to give me her opinions and suggestions.

This means I’m only going to publish two books this year, and I had only planned on two next year. I don’t know if the stories will wait, though, and I’m going to start writing some short stories in Shijuren to bridge the gap and also start building up a Wiki, which I will publish fairly soon. It will be incomplete, but that is the nature of Wikis 🙂

I know I need to get more things published, but I also know that the work has to be good.

For now, it’s time to get back to ChattaCon.

Two Months

OK, that’s ridiculous. I should not take two months to update this blog. I do apologize.

However, here’s what I’ve done the past two months. I published The Eyes of a Doll, I’ve had some sadness with my family, I survived the holidays, took charge of my health, and wrote most of I Am a Wondrous Thing, the first of a trilogy starring Irina, the former Velikomat, or Great Mother of Periaslavl.

My writing processes are improving, and I’m getting faster, meaning I have no excuse not to update more frequently. In fact, next week, I will pick a day where I always update the blog each week. Probably Tuesday.

I’m starting to really like the way the Irina story is shaping up, after having a number of, not false starts, but incomplete starts. This is my first attempt at writing a trilogy, and also a larger epic fantasy novel.

With the first person Edward novels, there aren’t as many threads I need to weave into the story. Part of my incomplete starts was my lack of realization that I need to include more people. This is a 300k plus word story. Irina isn’t the only major figure, and I realized I needed more protagonists. Plus, I want to write what the bad guys are doing too.

Oh, and if you’re interested in the workings of the magic, you’ll understand completely how Love Magic works by the end of these, plus quite a bit with Line Magic. If it’s any consolation, I will too. I’m a pantser and while I have been planning the physics behind the magic system for 20 years, I am discovering that the magic is just like another character, it tells me how much more it wants to be involved.

Anyway plan is to finish the first draft of I Am a Wondrous Thing next week, and then go to ChattaCon while Kellie tells me exactly where I screwed up 🙂 I’m still aiming for April 1st release date so I can have some when I go to Ad Astra in Toronto.

I’ve also started laying out in my mind some of the challenges and faced with the next novel, which will center around the Readers and lore magic.

In the meantime, back to the grindstone.

A Busy Fall

Greetings all

It’s been a very busy fall. I am finding that writing the next books keeps me from doing a good job here. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

The good news is The Eyes of a Doll final manuscript is at the editor. I’ll be creating the appendices and add-ons over the next week or so. The art is almost done too. When I have a final version of the front, I’ll post it on my Facebook page. All this means the 1st of December is becoming increasingly likely for a publish date.

I’m working on the third novel and will hopefully have a draft to my editor in December. This one is different in that it is a fantasy novel without so much mystery in it, though there’s quite a lot.

It’s also different because it is my first foray in writing a full trilogy. The Edward novels will be a long series, but they’re episodal. This is forcing me to lay out a larger plot line than I have before. I’m curious if this means that writing the first one will make it easier to write the second and third. I’ll find out.

Well, that’s a fair update. Back to the salt mines for me. Have a great day.