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Rob’s Update: Home is the Hunter

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Week 31 of 2021

Greetings all

Home from Armistice! What a great event. I outsold *any* SCA event I’ve ever been to, including several Pennsics with 7 times the population over two weeks. Part of that is because several of my regulars were part of those that attended, but still, I was very pleased.

Assuming Pennsic continues, I now have a specific spot of my own where I’ll be located, too. It’s an ideal spot, I think. I’ll be right between Calontir Trim and Gaukler Medieval Wares, across from Windrose Armory. Shady, beautiful, good neighbors, close to the barn.

This has been a week of catching up, both with work stuff and sleep. I got back a day earlier than I anticipated, which helped, but it’s been an exhausting week. I will also freely admit that I chose sleep and to spend some extra time with my sweetie to catch up. That last is why this is late.

I spent a lot of the last two weeks running through the final batch of entries for Talons & Talismans. I’ll make the announcement on Sunday night for who all is in. The choice will be difficult.

Let me put it this way, I’m really glad I’m doing two anthologies. That means I don’t have to choose just four out of the open submissions, but I get to choose eight. Since I’m struggling over which ones to choose out of fifteen who made my final round, the quality of submissions was amazing.

I’m currently finishing a short story. That’ll be done this week. Then I’ll start a new novel I’m entitling The Door Into Winter. This will be out in April.

What I’m Listening To

Watching Little League baseball for those trying to get to the Little League World Series. I love baseball at any level, but I really enjoy watching these guys play the game. Just now a kid from the Nebraska team made a great diving catch to end a game with the tying run on second base. That kid will *never* forget that moment.

Quote of the Week

Today is Alfred Hitchcock’s birthday. What an interesting career he had, of course, I am just now starting to really delve into his specific techniques as I try to be a better writer. Today’s quote is something I’m working on.

“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.”
― Alfred Hitchcock

New Mythology Works in Progress

Current open anthology calls:

Finishing the list of stories in the two Talons & Talismans anthologies. On track for my hoped for goal of 15 August.

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • The Door Into Winter (0)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
  • MON (829)

Upcoming Events

  • FactoryCon, 22-24 October, Coinjock, NC
    Details in the CKP – Factory Floor on Facebook.
  • 20BooksTo50K, 8-12 November, Las Vegas, NV
    http://20booksvegas.com/

New Releases

The big new release is Cherubim by David Hallquist. This is the second book in his War Angel series. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BTRDYVL.

We have another buck book! This times it’s Don’t Call Me Ishmael by Chris Kennedy. This is book 2 of the Fallen World series started by Christopher Woods. You can find this book here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q56TCF2.

Finally, Eye of the Storm by Chris Kennedy and Mark Wandrey is now available for pre-release in audio form. You can find that here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B093NXYC7C.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 337.8 (Side note: I’m really pleased I kept control of my weight throughout Pennsic.)

Updated Word Count: 182,678

Shijuren Wiki: 753 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

Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Weekly Update Archive

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Rob’s Update: Entering Hyperspace

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Week 14 of 2021

Greetings all

Lots of news this week!

First, I’ll be joining David Lucas on his Writer’s Wrap Up Podcast tomorrow night, Saturday the 10th, at 6pm Central. You can watch it at these links:

Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/MindofDavidAlanLucasAuthor
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/davidalanlucas
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPn2s80_W5xLMEJktCDYIv

Come on out and join us.

More media news!!!!

I’m joining Ian J. Malone and Kevin Steverson as the new Dudes in Hyperspace lineup. We’ll do a podcast every other week and we’re going to cover a variety of things we find interesting. Obviously, we’ll talk about our writing some, but we’ll also discuss sports, movies, music, grilling, good alcohol, and whatever else strikes our fancy.

The first episode will come out in less than three weeks, and we’re going to start with one of my near and dear things, the NFL Draft.

I’m really excited to be a part of this, and I want to thank Ian for giving me the opportunity.

The week has been productive in other ways as well. I’ve gotten quite a few words written in The Ravening of Wolves. I’m writing the final battle scene right now. One big hurdle to cross is finding a way to end the battle and get me to the concluding scene, which I’ve already written.

In other words, I’m basically writing combat until I find a way to have a moment of pause. It’s a good feeling because the story is basically done. I could finish the draft today, and that means off to Chris edited in a week or so.

Speaking of completing things. The manuscript for Responsibility of the Crown is complete and just awaiting a cover. I’m excited about this too.

Oh, and in other good news, I’ve gotten in the habit of walking before going to Brewbakers, my writing bar. There’s a nice walking path near it and it’s gone well. I didn’t go yesterday because I can’t afford to eat there every day, but I did a bunch of carpentry and moving of lawn timbers instead.

It’s only a week, but so far, I already feel more energetic, though I have learned that Rauta by Korpiklaani is too damn fast to start the walk with.

What I’m Listening To

At Brewbaker’s, which has the Masters on. I’m not really into golfing, but I can understand the appeal. Also, they’ve gotten pretty good at making golf a solid TV sport. Still not my cup of tea, but it’s surprisingly good background for writing.

Quote of the Week

On April 9th, 1959, NASA picked the Mercury Seven. As Elon Musk and others continue pushing us to the stars, I thought I’d share a particularly poignant quote by Gus Grissom. I share it because I firmly believe he was correct. We *have* to get off the rock.

“If we die, we want people to accept it. We’re in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us, it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.”
― Gus Grissom

New Mythology Works in Progress

Coming soon is Kevin Steverson’s Accepted, the second in his Balance of Kerr series. It’s got lots of action and characters you root for. Good stuff.

The first in the series, Burnt, is here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0861FRWFH/.

Deadline: 31 July
Words: 7k-10k
Manuscript: In .doc or .docx file format, Times New Roman, 12pt, 1.5 spaced
Send To: rob@chriskennedypublishing.com

Prompt: Write a fantasy story involving a beast or monster. While the story can include elements of horror, it should not be a horror story; it should be a fantasy and lean toward the heroic. Feel free to make the beast or monster your protagonist, but if not, the creature must be a central figure, (like Grendel in Beowulf).

As mentioned, we will choose the top four stories out of those submitted to add to the anthology. This is especially aimed at newer authors, though authors of any experience can enter.

  • Just Released: Songs of Valor (Book 2 of the Libri Valoris anthologies with Larry Correia, David Weber, Glen Cook, Dave Butler, and Sarah Hoyt). You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08Z7Z3KT1
  • Coming Soon!!!! 12 April: Accepted (Book 2 of the Balance of Kerr series by Kevin Steverson.
  • 21 May: Responsibility of the Crown (Book 1 of the Endless Ocean series by G. Scott Huggins)

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • The Ravening of Wolves (89,116)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
  • Cynewulf (8,642)
  • Gato (2,312)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

The Reluctant Druid, first of Jon Osborne’s Milesian Accords series, is on Bookbub special for $0.99 for a few hours more. You can get it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07716V2RN. This is great urban fantasy.

Also this week, is the release of The Ferryman, by John Siers. This is the third in the Hit World series of high-action genre gumbo. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091Y7QPY6.

Monday, Monday, Monday! New Mythology is proud to release Kevin Steverson’s Accepted, the second in his Balance of Kerr series. It’s got lots of action and characters you root for. Good stuff.

The first in the series, Burnt, is here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0861FRWFH/. Stay tuned for links to Accepted.

Today’s Weight: 340.0 (Hanging steady at 340.0)

Updated Word Count: 12,988

Shijuren Wiki: 725 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

Nick Patara, PI

  • Silent Knight (Nick Patara, PI, Book 1)
  • Under a Midnight Clear (Nick Patara, PI, Book 2) (Forthcoming)
Four Horsemen Universe
The Phases of Mars
Short Stories

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

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Rob’s Update: Building Things Up

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Week 4 of 2021

Greetings all

A really productive and exciting week in Rob-land. Lots of projects happening, and I spent a bunch of it world-building. I don’t want to get too much into this, only it’s going to be something amazing down the road.

I didn’t get as much actual writing done as I hoped, but I did make progress in The Ravening of Wolves. I also laid out several chapters ahead of time, cleared out a bunch of deadwood, and set myself up for some fun explosions.

That’s about all from my personal side of things, though I have quite a bit in the New Mythology section.

What I’m Listening To

Van Halen’s Dance the Night Away on the overhead at Brewbaker’s Bar & Grill in Lenexa. This is my standard writing bar and they take great care of me.

Quote of the Week

Today is Edith Tolkien’s birthday. She’d be 132 today, or a year old than Bilbo Baggins when he crossed the sea to the West.

She died a couple years before JRR did, and he wrote this after her passing. It’s a powerful quote about love.

“I never called Edith Luthien – but she was the source of the story that in time became the chief part of the Silmarillion. It was first conceived in a small woodland glade filled with hemlocks at Roos in Yorkshire (where I was for a brief time in command of an outpost of the Humber Garrison in 1917, and she was able to live with me for a while). In those days her hair was raven, her skin clear, her eyes brighter than you have seen them, and she could sing – and dance. But the story has gone crooked, & I am left, and I cannot plead before the inexorable Mandos.”
― JRR Tolkien, Letters of Tolkien

New Mythology Works in Progress

The big New Mythology news is the release of The Watchers in Exile on the 25th. This is the second in the Watchers of Moniah trilogy. You can get the first book, The Watchers of Moniah, here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QRJTHHC.

I’d suggest jumping into this quickly, because the third book of the trilogy comes out on 1 March. If you’re one of those who wants to wait for a series to be finished before getting the first, you might as well get Watchers, because the final story’s going through the mill right now.

Next after that will be Songs of Valor, the second of the Libri Valoris series of anthologies. It’s chock full of great stuff, and that’s coming out 19 March.

After that, we have several in process, including the next Kevin Steverson and an excellent submission we’ll announce soon.

New Mythology Schedule
  • 25 January: The Watchers in Exile (Watchers of Moniah, Book 2) by Barbara Evers (At the Advance Reader Team)
  • 1 March: The Watchers at War (Watchers of Moniah, Book 3) by Barbara Evers (Note this will complete the trilogy)
  • 19 March: Songs of Valor (Libri Valoris, Book 2)

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • The Ravening of Wolves (38,684)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
  • Cynewulf (8,642)
  • Gato (2,312)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

Alex Rath’s Fallen World story, Call Me Mr. Smith comes out in audio form. CKP audio books keep getting pumped out, and this is just the latest. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RS8RG45.

The big release this week, however, is Bill Webb’s The Trashman, the latest novel in his Hit World universe. This is the first of this series to come to CKP but won’t be the last. It’s a universe that includes a little bit of everything, and that makes it a fun sandbox for writers and readers to play. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SVZF2HF.

Today’s Weight: 347.4 (I guess I weigh 347, as I’ve weighed in the 347s for 5 straight days).

Updated Word Count: 4,458

Shijuren Wiki: 725 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

Nick Patara, PI

  • Silent Knight (Nick Patara, PI, Book 1)
  • Under a Midnight Clear (Nick Patara, PI, Book 2) (Forthcoming)
Four Horsemen Universe
The Phases of Mars
Short Stories

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

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Rob’s Update: Death-Pale Were They All

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Week 44 of 2020

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love watching people get creative with costume ideas and decorations. There are so many times where I’m just in awe of their awesome ideas. Of course, there are many times I’m just in awe of their awful ideas. Ah, well, trick or treat, of a sort.

I’ve spent the bulk of this week removing crutch words out of None Call Me Mother, which is coming out on 24 November. My  crutch words are usually things like shrug, chuckle, laugh, and that sort of thing. I also do too many things with peoples eyes.

Much of the time, the best solution is to get rid of them. They’re often stage direction that’s really not needed. From a first full draft of 148k, I think I’ll end up at 125k of stronger faster prose.

I’ve also been hammering at rebuilding the wiki. By the 24th, it has to include all the characters and what not from the Kreisens trilogy. This isn’t just to have reference for readers if they need it, but more importantly it gives me a chance to double-check things. I’ve found a number of mistakes/inconsistencies that I wouldn’t have done if I hadn’t double-checked with the wiki. In a world of already something like 700k published words (as of 24 November), there will be issues, but a detailed bible is so useful to help prevent them.

Anyway, I’m also almost done with my short story for the next Libri Valoris. I’m setting up a character to have to make a choice. This is my norm, of course, however, the consequences for this character are just a tad different, but then, so is she.

I hope everyone gets a chance to wear something silly, eat candy, and admire the pole dancing skeleton display on the internet.

What I’m Listening To

Langt Nord I Trollebotten is a song by a band called Lumsk you’ve never heard of. They’re a Norwegian folk metal band and this is one of my all time favorite songs. It seems like every folk metal band has at least one truly amazing instrumental song. Pellonpekko for Korpiklaani for example, or Wolf Ritual by  Tengger Cavalry. This is Lumsk’s and it’s amazing. I can’t listen to any of these three songs just once. I always hit rewind for a few more listens before moving on.

Quote of the Week

Since it’s Halloween, here’s a creepy quote from Keats. It’s the last 3 stanzas of La Belle Dame sans Merci, which you can read in its entirety here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44475/la-belle-dame-sans-merci-a-ballad. I actually learned this poem because Robert B. Parker named a Spenser book, Pale Kings and Princes. Just another reason I loved reading his stuff.

I saw pale kings and princes too,
       Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci
       Thee hath in thrall!’
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
       With horrid warning gapèd wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
       On the cold hill’s side.
And this is why I sojourn here,
       Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,
       And no birds sing.

– John Keats, La Belle Dame sans Merci

News and Works in Progress

  • The Ravening of Wolves (32,068)
  • KAT (4,982)
  • CB (8,418)
  • AOOE (1,030)
  • Cynewulf (8,642)
  • Gato (2,312)

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

  • Too many wiki additions to list.

New Releases

This week’s spotlight is Jamie Ibson, who just released another novel in Christopher Woods’ Fallen World setting. Ibson’s is called Pacific Shogun. You might recognize Jamie as the editor of the We Dare books, but this is him on his own. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M418TXV.

Also out this week is Chris Kennedy’s Indie Publishing for Profit: How to Get Your Book Out of Your Head and Into the Stores. It’s the second of his Author Fundamentals books and you can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LR3G1FD.

Today’s Weight: 356.4

Updated Word Count: 240,925

Shijuren Wiki: 230 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

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

Rob's Ramblings, Uncategorized

Rob’s Ramblings: Portmanteau

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(Note: Published first on Mad Genius Club at: https://madgeniusclub.com/2020/06/29/portmanteau-a-guest-post/. Thanks to them for letting me join them with a guest post.)

You might know that portmanteau is a great word, but do you know just how wondersational it really is?

In medieval French, portemanteau meant “the “court official who carried a prince’s mantle” as of about the 1540s. This is fairly easy to see. “Porte” is the imperative of porter, which means “to carry.” Hence we get porter. “Manteau” is simply mantle.

In other words, “Hey, you, go carry that cloak.”

In the 1580s, it shifted to the more modern meaning: “traveling case or bag for clothes and other necessaries.”

While that’s still a current meaning of the word, it’s the not the one I find most fun. My favorite meaning is, of course, the combining of parts of two or more words to form another. Motel is a mashing of motor and hotel, for example.

The technical definition of a portmanteau in linguistics is: a single morph that is analyzed as representing two (or more) underlying morphemes. This means words like starfish or foreshadowing are compounds using two full words are not actually portmanteaus.

Now that we’ve got the boring linguistics stuff out of the way, lets get to the true magic of the word.

Did you know you can say tigons, ligers, and bears and be right? A tigon is a male tiger crossed with a female lion. A male lion and a female tiger is, obviously, a liger.

How fun is that?

OK, maybe I’m easily amused.

I bet eating a turducken with a spork is really difficult, but maybe delicious with a Cambozola cheese on the side. That actually sounds really gouda… (Sorry, I can’t help making cheese puns, even if they are a non sequitur).

Did I mention easily amused?

Anyway…

Here’s a portmanteau you probably use quite often. “Velours” is French for velvet. “Crochet” is French for hook (which is useful to know if your sweetie crochets everything). However, if you attach one to the other, you get Velcro. (Attach. See what I did there?)

Very easily amused, am I. Very.

Unlike most words, we have a specific time when it was first applied to this usage. The first person to say portmanteau in this way was….

Wait for it…

Humpty Dumpty.

No, really. Totally was.

OK, fine, it was Lewis Carroll having good ole’ Hump (as he’s called by his friends) speak to Alice in Through the Looking Glass. He said, “You see it’s like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.”

“Slithy,” by the way, is a portmanteau: slimy and lithe. “Mimsy” is one too: miserable and flimsy.

Speaking of amusement, now I’m wondering how many of you will spend hours scouring Jabberwocky for all the portmanteaus you can find. Bwa ha, bwa ha ha. For mine is an evil laugh.

But here’s the best part of it all.

Now when you use your Garmin (Gary and Min founded the company) to find a motel in Texarkana (or somewhere in Eurasia) and then undo the velcro holding something in your luggage, you can now let your mind drift to Alice in Wonderland and Lewis Carroll’s imagination.

And ain’t that spifftastic?

 

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Rob’s Update: Prog Report

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Week 19 of 2020

Greetings all

Another productive week around here. We did a bunch of yardwork and a lot of prep for summer and fall.

Also, I finally overcame a whole bunch of weird problems and learning curves. I discovered why I couldn’t upgrade the old one (if you can .css files, it will prevent that, something not even my tech guy at Metapros knew). Then I discovered that the new version of Tiki Wiki uses a real cool web development idea, the Bootstrap grid. It’s really neat and powerful, but it took some time to learn.

But now I can say, the Shijuren Wiki is live again at  www.shijuren.org. It has only a minimal number of pages yet, but I’m adding a few each day.

If you looked at it before, you’ll see a few changes to the new version. I’ve rearranged some things, like all the odd words I use will be gathered in lexicons for each language instead of separate listings for each. I think that’ll be easier to navigate.

Also, I’ve been taking advantage of the need to add the content back. I could probably figure out a way to batch upload my backup, but instead I’m having fun to flesh out some of that content. I’ve added a box of pertinent details to a bunch of things.

I’m loving all of this worldbuilding.

I also put aside the short story I’m working on to let it freshen up and returned to None Call Me Mother. It’s amazing what setting something aside will do. I come back with fresh eyes and see cool fun routes of where my pantsing has led me.

I’m just plugging away.

What I’m Listening To

The Prog from Home web concert. This is a really cool thing where the Prog Report gathered a bunch of musicians to play from their homes. Really cool stuff and I’m finding some bands I’d never heard of before, like Chattanooga’s own Glass Hammer.

Quote of the Week

Today would be Tony Gwynn’s birthday. Gwynn was, in many ways, the ideal baseball player to admire. He was a great athlete when he was younger, but as he aged that athleticism went away. He still excelled, though, because he had worked so hard to hone his skills, and it’s always an inspiration to think of him when I’m fighting at a paragraph or something like that.

I apologize that this quote includes a bad word, but there’s sometimes such a word is the correct one. This quote is by Greg Maddux, clearly one of the greatest pitchers ever. I could take the word out, but nothing else demonstrates as well how much Tony Gwynn frustrated pitchers.

“If a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision. Except for that fucking Tony Gwynn.”
– Greg Maddux

News and Works in Progress

  • None Call Me Mother (Appox 110,000)
  • CB (8,418)
  • TSK (7,563)

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

So much going on. Do I mention When Valor Must Hold again? How about Gates of Hell, released only a couple of weeks ago? There’s my new personal online story at: https://aescandthorn.com/store/. And there’s the Shijuren Wiki, coming back after such a long hiatus.

Today’s Weight: 391.2

Updated Word Count: 65,936

Shijuren Wiki: 874 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

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

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Rob’s Update: Nor War’s Quick Fire

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Week 17 of 2020

Greetings all

I finished re-writing and editing my story for Semper Paratus. This is an anthology from Jamie Ibson, who also edited We Dare. My story is a prequel to “The Chaos of Well-Seeming Forms” with was in the first anthology.

This one is entitled “Nor War’s Quick Fire” and we see the two feuding families meet. The time they meet is not a good one, though, and things don’t go where anyone expects, including, I suspect, the readers.

The story took a little longer. I can usually tell when a story works and the first version didn’t. In the end, I realized it tried to do too much. This is becoming a fairly standard thing. I try to put certain things in a story, and they may very well be great elements, but this particular story doesn’t work with them included.

Sometimes, this requires help from other eyes. I got great help from Jamie and also Yvonne Jacobs focusing the story down.

This is part of the be prepared to kill your baby part of writing. It’s not easy, but if you can do it, it results in much better stories and quite often, future story ideas.

This weekend, I’m basically taking it off except for projects around the house. Next week, I’ll be doing a couple of small writing projects, starting a new short story, and working on None Call Me Mother.

Have a great week.

What I’m Listening To

Still watching Burn Notice. Again. Love this show.

Quote of the Week

Sir Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth, was born today in 1757. Who is he? He was a very successful admiral in the Napoleonic Wars. You can find his details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Pellew,_1st_Viscount_Exmouth.

More importantly for me, he was Mr. Midshipman Hornblower’s captain on the Indefatigueable. Anytime I get a chance to reference Hornblower, I’m going to take it.

“You have fought your duel. That is well. Never fight another. That is better.”
– Edward Pellew, in the Duel, from the Hornblower movies.

News and Works in Progress

  • None Call Me Mother (Approx. 115,000)
  • CB (8,418)
  • HM (6,374)

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

  • Added a few more products on the website and focused on the wiki this week.

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

This week’s spotlight is still on my new webstore at www.aescandthorn.com/store. I have my new books, old science fiction and fantasy magazines, and will add a bunch of used books.

Today’s Weight: 396.4

Updated Word Count: 65,098

Shijuren Wiki: working on it

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

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

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Rob’s Update: I Will Draw A Chart

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Week 5 of 2020

Greetings all

This was another week where everything went a bit wonky, though I sort of anticipated it.

I got home on Sunday from ChattaCon. I expected Monday to be a real down day as I recovered from the drive, but I was moderately productive. I had a great writing day on Tuesday.

And then Wednesday is when the fatigue hit. Ah well.

I got a bunch of writing done on Thursday, and though I never really had a chance yesterday, it wasn’t an awful week. I got almost 5k written on None Call Me Mother, along with a bunch of work on other projects.

Today is also the final day of a hectic two months since Thanksgiving. Between the holidays, I hosted 3 local SCA postrevels, went to 2 cons, wrapped up my portion of When Valor Must Hold, wrote a short story start to finish, and added 27k or so to None Call Me Mother.

27k isn’t enough for two months, really, but it’s not nothing, combined with the rest. I’ll take it.

The good news is that I’m entering my spring writing stretch with only one trip between now and the end of April, and FantaSci will be worth it.

Just keep plugging away.

What I’m Listening To

Red Sector A off A Show of Hands by Rush. Fantastic song with one of my favorite lyrics every. It’s the quote of the week, and it captures the horrors of the Holocaust in such amazing fashion.

Quote of the Week

“Sickness to insanity
Prayer to profanity”
– Rush, Red Sector A

News and Works in Progress

  • None Call Me Mother (103,801)
  • CB (8,418)

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

This week’s spotlight is on RJ Ladon, another contributor to When Valor Must Hold with her story “Ogre’s Brownies.” You can find her interview here: https://robhowell.org/blog/?p=1980.

Today’s Weight: 398.4

Updated Word Count: 19,998

Shijuren Wiki: 874 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

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

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Rob’s Update: Afterimage

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Week 2 of 2020

Greetings all

2020 had started off better than I could have hoped. I got accepted as an Attending Pro at DragonCon. This is an amazing honor and I am so excited.

Then I got word I’d been accepted as a vendor at Dagorhir’s Ragnarok XXXV event. This is a large LARPing event held in June at the same site as Pennsic. It’s a bunch of new potential readers I get to meet. More excitement.

Then I announced my plans for the year. You can find that post here: https://robhowell.org/blog/?p=1919. The TL:DR version is that I have a full, but manageable schedule that adds yet more excitement.

The stories for When Valor Must Hold are all good, even mine. Team “And More” did a great job, and I’m ecstatic at what the cover authors have given me. It’s a great honor to work with all of these authors, and they’ve done me proud.

I’ll be introducing these authors one a week until the release, and probably afterward. The first one is William Joseph Roberts, whose story Dust in the Mouth has enough action to make Crom go “Whoa!”

You can find my interview of William here: https://robhowell.org/blog/?p=1926.

I also started a new regular column for Monday’s called Rob’s Ramblings. This week it was my ShadowCon AAR at:  https://robhowell.org/blog/?p=1915

None Call Me Mother is progressing. Started seriously thinking of two other short stories.

All was going well.

And then Neil Peart died from brain cancer. I’m posting this because it’s the job, and doing the job was one of many lessons the Professor taught me.

But I hurt.

What I’m Listening To

Rush. As much as I can all weekend long.

Quote of the Week

Rush’s Afterimage. The whole song.

Suddenly, you were gone
From all the lives you left your mark upon

I remember
How we talked and drank into the misty dawn
I hear the voices

We ran by the water on the wet summer lawn
I see the footprints
I remember

I feel the way you would
I feel the way you would

Tried to believe but you know it’s no good
This is something that just can’t be understood

I remember
The shouts of joy, skiing fast through the woods
I hear the echoes

I learned your love for life
I feel the way that you would
I feel your presence
I remember

I feel the way you would
This just can’t be understood

News and Works in Progress

  • None Call Me Mother (95,944)
  • CB (8,418)

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

This week’s spotlight is on William Joseph Roberts, one of the first people I had in mind for the anthology When Valor Must Hold.

Today’s Weight: 399.4

Updated Word Count: 6,7

Shijuren Wiki: 874 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

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