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Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Went And Took It

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Week 44 of 2023

Greetings all

The Texas Rangers won the World Series last night.

It’s still surreal. I’ll talk about it more down below, as there’s also a bunch of great book stuff this week.

First, a quick thing. Tomorrow, November 3rd, Chimera Coup is on sale! Check out book 1 of the Heirs of Cataclysm series for only $2.99. Deal good only for tomorrow. Go here to get your deal: amazon.com/dp/B0BFLV4TH8.

Farewell, My Ugly
Farewell, My Ugly

Farewell, My Ugly is out on Tuesday! This is the first completely new Edward novel in several years, but it won’t be that long to the next one.

He’s clashed with Pherenike of the Imperial Guard before, but now she comes to him, hat in hand, to solve a problem that has bedeviled her. Edward uncovers the greatest plot he’s found yet, one that will shake the Empire of Makhaira to its core. Can he save the people of Achrida, friend and foe alike?

On Tuesday, you’ll find out.

Next in the Firehall Sagas is a bit of a shift. The Ruriksaga is a collection of previously published short stories and a bunch of appendix material. There’s also a brand new story detailing the time when Ragnar and Zoe met.

They weren’t always innkeepers, after all.

In January, we’ll switch to epic fantasy in the Firehall Sagas, with a five book series to complete in June. These center around Irina Ivanovna, former Great Mother of Periaslavl.

We’re in November, and that means the open call for the next Valor anthology is coming to a close. These have to be in by November 30th.

November also means 20Books Vegas. If you’re there, say “Hi!” I probably won’t do a full update next week, by the way. Instead, I’ll probably send out a message with all the release details of Farewell, My Ugly and maybe a comment or two.

Red Dragon Quilts
Red Dragon Quilts

We have news about the stores! We’re having a soft opening on Wednesday, November 15th, and then planning on a Grand Opening/Holiday Party on Saturday, December 16th, after we get the bugs worked out.

Dragon's Den Books
Dragon’s Den Books

Check out our cool new logos, thanks to the amazing Cedar Sanderson. Red Dragon Quilts and Dragon’s Den Books.

I hope you all come in some day and check out what we’re doing. We had the Harper Counter EcoDev lady come in today, and she’s excited about what we’re doing.

As are we.

And, hey, the Texas Rangers won the World Series. Did I mention that?

Some of you reading this were there on that awful night in 2011 when we were 1 strike away from winning the World Series against the Cardinals. I watched that game in St. Louis at McGurk’s.

It was awful for me, great for you. That was Game 6 of that series, and if you ever hear me say “Game 6,” it’s that game, no other Game 6 that has ever happened.

It was a tough night, and while we went to the series the year after, that series was never as close. Then came some down, wretched years. The Rangers lost more than 100 games 2 years ago.

I had no expectations of this year’s team. There were so many questions marks. How much would injuries bite the pitching staff? Would the offense gel? How good was Josh Jung? Could Adolis Garcia take a step up? Could all these free agents contribute? And so on.

The strange thing is that a bunch of those things went badly. Injuries hammered this team, and they went through some awful stretches. At the beginning of the year, they were really hot and many, including me, expected some regression.

That regression happened, but it turned out it wasn’t all luck. They finished with a run differential of 162, meaning they scored that many more runs than they allowed through the year. That’s a huge indicator of a team doing well, and their Pythagorean W/L record was 96-66, which shows they were unlucky to finish only 90-72.

By the way, the only AL team with a better PythW/L and run differential was Tampa Bay, so I did not want to face them in playoffs. Until, of course, we swept them. Things continued against Baltimore, which was exciting.

Then the @#$(&&**ing Astros.  That used to be my NL team, and I rooted for them for years, yet this group is so unlikable. But they’re really good. Yordan Alvarez nigh unto won the ALCS by himself, until Adolis Garcia decided he’d do that.

And then the World Series. I knew I wasn’t going to believe we won until that final out happened. I guess I still don’t really think it’s happened, and I’ve checked throughout the day, just to make sure. 50 years of frustration and awful baseball, and Game 6, will do that to a fan.

But when Marcus Semien hit that homer in the 9th to put us up 5-0, that’s when I started to think it might happen.

I’m sorta surprised I didn’t break my desk pounding on it after that.

The Rangers’ slogan through the playoffs was #GoAndTakeIt. Well, they #WentAndTookIt.

Wow.

What I’m Listening To

Midsomer Murders, with the guy who plays Father Brown as a guest star.

Happenings in Anthony

We won at trivia again! The Music category was kind to us.

They did it up well for all the kids on Halloween. There was trick-or-treating along Main Street and then a costume contest.

Quote of the Week

Eric Nadel has called Rangers games on TV and radio since 1979. Here’s his call at the end of the game.

“Sborz kicks and fires. He struck him out looking! It’s over! It’s over! The Rangers have won the World Series!

Ranger fans, you’re not dreaming!”
– Eric Nadel

Rob’s Riddles

I have a Patreon where I write Old English style riddles and provide snippets of my work. You can find it here: patreon.com/rhodri2112, along with a sample riddle.

First Line of Next Riddle:

With me, you’re never trapped Trailed by new foes

Latest Snippet: Chapter 1 of The Eyes of a Doll.

New Mythology Works in Progress

Of note, this now includes our recent releases, so if you’re not sure what we’ve put out lately, you can go here and check.

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • Ruriksaga (55,275)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (3,405)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

First, a quick thing. Tomorrow, November 3rd, Chimera Coup by Christopher G. Nuttall is on sale! Check out book 1 of the Heirs of Cataclysm series for only $2.99. Deal good only for tomorrow. Go here to get your deal: amazon.com/dp/B0BFLV4TH8.

It’s time for more Salvage Title adventures! This week’s release is Salvage Search from David Alan Jones, which you can get here: amazon.com/dp/B0CLR91ZWF.

And don’t forget to get Where Now the Rider here: amazon.com/dp/product/B0CK6Q8TYV.  Finish it before book 4 comes out on Tuesday.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 358.8

Firehall Sagas Archives: 758 entries

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

Creator of the Firehall Sagas Universe

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Go And Take It

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Week 43 of 2023

Greetings all

Most falls, I get a cold. It knocks me back for a bit. This week was the week for that. I got almost no writing done, though I did get a number of side projects done, including some work on my website. I’ve been adding some things in preparation for the release of Farewell, My Ugly, which comes out on November 7th.

Farewell, My Ugly
Farewell, My Ugly

Did I mention Farewell, My Ugly comes out on November 7th? In that case, it’s time for a cover reveal. Check this out, again from J. Caleb Designs. It’s brilliant, as usual.

I spent this week trying to write on a number of projects. I got some words written here and there, but not much. I’m finally on the other side, though, so this will be a great week.

I did manage to get a bunch of books priced and organized. The store is taking shape. Next week, I’ll have more pictures. We’re only about 3 weeks from opening day.

Exciting times!

Also exciting is for the third time ever, the Texas Rangers advanced to the World Series. The first major league sporting event I ever attended was a Rangers game back in 1974 or so. The stadium was wretched, but I loved it and ran around in all sorts of places I shouldn’t have.

I still recall the names of Toby Harrah (who would’ve been a huge player in today’s time with his excellent walk rate), Jeff Burroughs, Fergie Jenkins, Charlie Hough, and even Lenny Randle and Frank Lucchesi. They weren’t good teams, but they’ve been my team since I had a team.

So, to coin a phrase, #GoAndTakeIt.

With that, I’m going to cut this short. I’ve got bunches of stuff to catch up on, and I’ll get a bit more written tonight. Have a great week.

What I’m Listening To

No football so far tonight. Spending time with the wife and mom-in-law watching older Midsomer Murders. Man, I wonder what the homicide per 100,000 rate is there. Is it worse or better than Cabot Cove?

Happenings in Anthony

Not much to report, as I was in the house all week.

Quote of the Week

Happy OK Corral Day!!! Which of course makes me think of Tombstone, and that makes this week’s quote obvious.

“I’m your huckleberry.”
– Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday.

Rob’s Riddles

I have a Patreon where I write Old English style riddles and provide snippets of my work. You can find it here: patreon.com/rhodri2112, along with a sample riddle.

First Line of Next Riddle:

I have been shot, shadowing my memory

Latest Snippet: Chapter 1 of The Eyes of a Doll.

New Mythology Works in Progress

I’m pleased to announce the 2024 FantaSci Short Story Contest. Get the details here: chriskennedypublishing.com/2023/03/28/2024-fantasci-short-story-contest/.

Of note, this now includes our recent releases, so if you’re not sure what we’ve put out lately, you can go here and check.

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • Ruriksaga (52,626)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (3,405)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

Get Where Now the Rider here: amazon.com/dp/product/B0CK6Q8TYV.

This week we have more from the amazing D.T. Read. She’s got book 2 in her Sergey Chronicles series, entitled Echoes of Issel. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/product/B0CL8CRY38.

And it’s time for more Salvage Title adventures! This week’s pre-order is Salvage Search, which you can get here: amazon.com/dp/B0CLR91ZWF.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 357.8

Updated Word Count: Accounting mostly done. Well over 300k. Exact count net week.

Firehall Sagas Archives: 749 entries

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

Creator of the Firehall Sagas Universe

Weekly Update

Weekly Update: Coming to Life

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Week 42 of 2020

Greetings all

A couple of bits of big news this week. First, The Feeding of Sorrows is now available on Audible. James Patrick Cronin did a great job of bringing the Queen Elizabeth’s Own Foresters to life. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T3B8BGB/.

None Call Me Mother
Cover of None Call Me Mother

Second, I was able to reveal the great cover for None Call Me Mother. Isn’t it lovely? Thanks to Patrick McEvoy for doing another great job. You can find some of his other stuff at https://www.megaflowgraphics.com/.

This has been a wonderfully productive week, as well. I haven’t written a ton of new stuff, but I’ve been doing a bunch of pre-production for None Call Me Mother. Much of this has been focused on getting the wiki and thus the links ready for the release.

In general, I’ve been working on expanding the Shijuren wiki to provide more information and yet streamline it. To do this, I’m using wiki headers much more, as well as expanding my understanding of wiki formatting. The wiki is already much stronger and faster than it ever was, and the foundation is much better. You can find it here: https://shijuren.org/tiki-index.php.

I’ve also started some of the serious editing for the new anthology. You’re going to love it, assuming of course you want action, adventure, magic, and intrigue. If you want boring stuff, read elsewhere.

While I focused on other things, I did manage to get several thousand words written. As sometimes happens, though, the first story I intended for the anthology didn’t really work. Oh, it’s interesting back story for Ragnar and Zoe, and you’ll see it all eventually, but let’s just say I’m writing about the most unlikely hero in all of Shijuren.

Well, back to work. Have a great week everyone.

What I’m Listening To

Sabaton’s Panzerkampf. I love Sabaton’s operatic metal fused with historial themes. It’s like they said, let’s make our band just for this weird guy in Kansas.

Quote of the Week

The cover to None Call Me Mother includes one of the people I red-shirted for Mar’s fundraiser. Hence, I decided that I’ll give you all a snippet from the novel where truth becomes fiction, so to speak.

“’Huh’,” said Donnghal.”
– None Call Me Mother

News and Works in Progress

  • The Ravening of Wolves (32,068)
  • CB (8,418)
  • RAZ (3,446
  • KAT (1,515)
  • Cynewulf (8,642)
  • Gato (2,312)

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

  • I went from 77 entries on the wiki to 104, so there are a ton of changes. I also cleaned up a number of underlying issues and added in more headers and header links. You’ll see that number jump up through the end of the year.

New Releases

The Feeding of Sorrows is now available on Audible. James Patrick Cronin did a great job of bringing the Queen Elizabeth’s Own Foresters to life. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T3B8BGB/.

David Alan Jones has a new release in the Salvage Title Universe. If you like space opera, Kevin Steverson’s Salvage Title, which is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B07H8Q3HBV. Then you’ll binge all the way to Jones’s Salvage Mind, which you can find here:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L5TXNGY.

Today’s Weight: 360.2

Updated Word Count: 238,798

Shijuren Wiki: 104 entries

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

Currently Available Works
Shijuren
Four Horsemen Universe
The Phases of Mars
Short Stories

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