Category Archives: Weekly Update

Rob’s Weekly Updates.

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: A Writer of Intrigue and Secrets

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Week 12 of 2025

Greetings all

I think this is week 12 of 2025, but to be honest, I’ve sort of lost track over the last month. I’ve traveled something like 5000 miles in the last 4-5 weeks and had two different book releases, along with a bunch of other stuff going on. It’s been really productive, but I’m not sure what day it is.

Like, I think today’s Wednesday (it is, my computer tells me), but I wasn’t sure when I woke up. And I know I usually send these out on Thursday, but tomorrow is literally packed from 7am to 10pm and I bet at that point I’m not setting up an update.

So you get it a day early, or really, 6 days late as I’d promised to send you one last Thursday. However… things didn’t go as planned at Gulf Wars. I’ll get to that in a bit.

Chentoufi, City of Intrigue and Secrets
Chentoufi, City of Intrigue and Secrets

First, I have something awesome to share. Chentoufi, City of Intrigue and Secrets is now out, though it’s not yet available online.

Still, check out this cover! I have this copy in my hand and will have copies for sale down the road. Stay tuned for that information.

I can also add we’re already working on the next expansion.

We’re giving out a bunch of these to GMs at GaryCon, which is of course where I’m at now. I’ve already seen a bunch of people here I saw last year, and though I’ve yet to play any games this week, it’s already been a blast. I’ve gotten a chance to meet and chat with Zeb Cook and Ed Greenwood among others. So yeah, lots of bucket list items off the list.

Last week I was at Gulf Wars and I’d anticipated having time on Thursday to send this particular update out. However, as you might have heard, tornadoes went across Mississippi on Saturday. They missed the Gulf Wars site, but we knew severe weather was on the way, and so we packed out and left on Friday instead of Sunday, thereby avoiding any bad weather.

For the time I was there, however, Gulf went well. I sold a little less than I wanted, but I exceeded my daily goals, so an extra two days of sales would’ve cleared all my goals.

I didn’t have huge goals for Gulf, though. I do really well at Pennsic but some of that is because I’ve been selling there for 8 years straight. I have a fan base there that I don’t have at Gulf, having last sold there in 2019. Plus, of course, Gulf is about a 3rd the size of Pennsic.

Still, it was well worth going. I made a small profit, which means I did well given that number doesn’t include follow-up ebook sales. Plus, I got to try some new innovations Gwen a’Brooke and I have been talking about for Pennsic and I got a couple of great nights of singing, which are both really valuable.

Of course, we’re still only about a month from the release of The Feasting of Vengeance, the third book in my Foresters Trilogy. I have to say I’m astounded at the reaction given that we’re already up to 76 reviews. Thanks everyone!

If you haven’t read it, you can get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DWV68DQK.

Whew! What an exciting last few weeks. Now, I’m going to go hang out with a bunch of gamers. Have a great week.

What I’m Listening To

Roundabout by Yes on the hotel’s Classic Rock channel. Always a nice choice.

Quote of the Week

Happy birthday to Wyatt Earp! Among the many stories about Wyatt, I think my favorite is that he was an advisor on early western movies. One actor in particular studied him, and while I bet John Wayne would’ve done okay anyway, having Earp as an exemplar probably didn’t help.

And then there’s this quote. I really like “take your time in a hurry.”

“Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything. In a gun fight… You need to take your time in a hurry.”
– Wyatt Earp

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week we have Gaining the Edge, the third book in Chris Kennedy’s Symbiote Wars series. An opportunity has presented itself, and the siblings want to take advantage of it. When things don’t go as planned, though, will they still be able to gain the edge they’re looking for? Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DZJ34KZ7.

Your pre-release this week is Interstellar Gambit, the second book in Dawn Chapman’s Through Steel and Stars series. The first book in this series did outstandingly well, so if you missed it, grab it and jump in—it’s not too late! This book will have a simultaneous release in audio (to go with the ebook and paperback). Get whichever you prefer here: amazon.com/dp/B0DZK4F4TM.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 362.8lbs

Updated Word Count: 40,000

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: Kukuluki’s Time Has Come

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Week 7 of 2025

Greetings all

The Feasting of Vengeance
The Feasting of Vengeance

The Feasting of Vengeanceis live! This is the third book in my Foresters Trilogy, which is part of the Four Horsemen Universe.

The hunt for Kukuluki continues.

In a galaxy where treachery and double-dealing is the normal way of conducting business, Kukuluki is in a league of his own. And if you get on his bad side, like the Queen Elizabeth’s Own Foresters have, he’ll use those skills to make sure you regret it.

The time has come for vengeance. The Foresters and their allies are arming themselves to rid the galaxy of his evil.

But first, they have to find him. Then avoid all the traps he’s surely set in their path. And then defeat all the mercs one of the richest beings in the galaxy can afford.

Both sides know the stakes. It’s time to be tenacious and versatile.

I’m really pleased with this book. It has more action than any other book I’ve written, with characters I really care about risking their lives. Spoiler alert: Not all of them survive, and I had some emotional moments during the writing process.

Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DWV68DQK.

Again, many thanks to Chris Kennedy and Mark Wandrey for letting me play in their sandbox. All told, the Foresters saga will end up being over 400,000 of the best words I’ve ever written.

It’s time for a beer after that!

And I’m having one here in the hotel bar at FenCon. It’s going to be a great weekend and here’s what I’ve got planned:

  • Friday  4:00 PM  – 5:00 PM  Teak
    Facts Behind Folklore and Urban Legends
  • Saturday  2:00 PM  – 3:00 PM  Ebony
    Founding Fathers and Mothers
  • Saturday  4:00 PM  – 8:00 PM  Game Room
    Running the Okkorim 5E Module Rogue’s Gambit
  • Saturday  10:00 PM  – Whenever  Terrace Bar & Grill
    4HU Hangout
  • Sunday  1:00 PM  – 2:00 PM  Ebony   
    Noir: The Enduring Legacy of Gritty Fiction

It’s going to be a great weekend!

This past week was not productive at all because there was so much going on. I edited some stuff for Okkorim, but didn’t get a chance to do any writing or editing of my own stuff.

Things clear up a bit when I get back next week, though. I’ll be working on some editing, dabbling on a new writing idea, and finishing some Okkorim stuff for this quarter. Plus, I’m going to do some woodworking.

But for now, I’m going to bed so tomorrow I can talk about my new release!

What I’m Listening To

Nothing actually, except the hum of machinery in the hotel.

Quote of the Week

Happy birthday to Chuck Yeager. Here’s a quote from him that’s true of everything. You have to work at it, one way or another.

 There’s no such thing as a natural-born pilot.
–  Chuck Yeager

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week we have the Feasting of Vengeance! This is the third book in my Foresters Trilogy, which is part of the Four Horsemen Universe. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DWV68DQK.

And Interstellar Pawn by Dawn Chapman, the first book in her Through Steel and Stars series. In addition to being a great story, I think it has the best CKP cover EVER. I almost stole it from her, just because. I don’t have a story for it—I just love it! “Interstellar Pawn” is also something new for CKP—it’s a LitRPG scifi novel. Give it a look here: amazon.com/dp/B0DT3GD1Q4.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 364.8lbs

Updated Word Count: 8,000

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: Vengeance on the Horizon

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Week 6 of 2025

Greetings all

A week from now, I’ll be in DFW, looking forward to an amazing Friday!

The Feasting of Vengeance
The Feasting of Vengeance

The Feasting of Vengeance comes out then and I’ll be at FenCon. What a great combination.

I look forward to seeing a number of you then. I’ll be doing a release party and a 4HU panel, plus I’ll be running Rogue’s Gambit, a module I helped write in Okkorim. Plus other panels and hanging out with a great crew down there.

This has been a week of distractions, however. It seems like every time I turn around there’s another thing going on. Kinda crazy, and I didn’t do as much as I’d hoped. Still, we did a bunch in Okkorim and I got some editing done, so it wasn’t a waste.

This weekend, I’ll be at an SCA event where I’ll step down from the position of Gold Falcon. It’s the kingdom principal herald, which basically means I’m the herald in charge of the kingdom.

I had a number of great ideas to liven up the position, and some of them went well. However, I took the job about a week before we came and looked at the house down here. Shockingly, the move and subsequent life changes took away from my work in the SCA.

That being said, I am proud of some things I did. In fact, I’ll probably publish a collection of my monthly letters. They were usually fun, whimsical discussions of heraldry. I doubt I’ll sell many of them, but as I said, I’m proud of them and I do have a small market.

It’s a little bittersweet, because it was something awesome, but it’s definitely past time for me to step down.

Anyway, time to go. Have a great week everyone.

What I’m Listening To

The Metro done by System of a Down. Honestly, while I love the original, this cover is so good.

Quote of the Week

It’s a really interesting day for birthdays, including Babe Ruth, Ronald Reagan, and Bob Marley.

However, it’s also Coronation Day for Elizabeth II. In 1952. What a reign. And what a person.

When life seems hard, the courageous do not lie down and accept defeat; instead, they are all the more determined to struggle for a better future.”

– Queen Elizabeth II

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week we have Opening Moves, the 2nd book in Chris Kennedy’s Symbiote Wars series. Fighting in both space and on the ground, giant monsters, and evil bad guys—it’s got it all! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DSTYXDJC.

This week’s pre-release is Interstellar Pawn by Dawn Chapman, the first book in her Through Steel and Stars series. In addition to being a great story, I think it has the best CKP cover EVER. I almost stole it from her, just because. I don’t have a story for it—I just love it! “Interstellar Pawn” is also something new for CKP—it’s a LitRPG scifi novel. Give it a look here: amazon.com/dp/B0DT3GD1Q4.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 363.8lbs

Updated Word Count: 7,000

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: After ChattaCon

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Week 5 of 2025

Greetings all

I was exhausted last week because ChattaCon was so awesome! I had a great time doing my little schtick as the Master of Toast. Thanks to Lee for letting me go wild a bit and to Brandy Spraker for showing insufficient reluctance. In fact, thanks to them and the whole ChattaCon crew, especially Regina Kirby, for granting me the honor.

One of the best parts was getting to know the other guests: Gail Z. Martin, Amy Brewer-Davenport, Delilah Dawson, and Dot Steverson. What a great group! And talented.

I got to interview Gail, which was a lot of fun, plus we were both part of a Victorian cursing panel. We used Victorian curses to write an improve story. Quite fun!

I also got to play Tales of the Valiant, a new TTRPG with Dot Steverson from the company she works for, Kobold Press. We had a blast, though anyone who lets Scott Tackett loose with is going to have fun.

It was just a blast, and again, I couldn’t be more honored to have the opportunity.

The Feasting of Vengeance
The Feasting of Vengeance

Last week was a one of recovery, which is why I didn’t get out a newsletter. However, there’s big doings coming!

The Feasting of Vengeance comes out in two weeks! I’ll be at FenCon to announce it. Take a look at the cover art!

I made it as powerful and explosive as I could, and I was really pleased with it. It’s a great conclusion to the Foresters trilogy, if I do say so myself.  I won’t give a teaser, but Chris seems to agree, saying he especially liked the ending.

I think you’ll love it.

Now I’m turning my attention to events, which fill up my next couple of months. I’ll be at FenCon in two weeks, then Gulf Wars and GaryCon back to back in March.

I’m really looking forward to having a great time, but I bet I’m exhausted at the end of March.

In the meantime, I’m re-editing I Am a Wondrous Thing, which I may rename as I rewrite that entire series. I’ll release the 5 books hopefully starting later in the year after new edits and new art.

I’m also helping with Okkorim, and I’m really excited where that’s going! I keep telling you we’ve got great stuff coming, and that time nears. GaryCon is going to be amazing.

With that, I’m going to say goodbye for this week. Have a great time!

What I’m Listening To

Inspector Morse. One of my favorites of the BBC mysteries with a great curmudgeonly lead character.

Quote of the Week

Happy birthday to Gregory Benford! His quote today has been something I’ve tried to live up to of late.

 The biggest mistake is being too afraid of making one.
– Gregory Benford

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week we have House of Owls, the 6th book in Jon R. Osborne’s Milesian Accords series. Magic is back in the world, but Liam’s children have been stolen, and it’s time to act! Speaking of acting—you’re going to want to grab this book now here: amazon.com/dp/B0DTX9GR5C.

Your pre-release this week is Opening Moves, the 2nd book in my Symbiote Wars series. I’ve written over 70 books now, and this one is in my Top 5 all time. Fighting in both space and on the ground, giant monsters, and evil bad guys—it’s got it all! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DSTYXDJC.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 364.8lbs

Updated Word Count: 5,000

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: ChattaCon

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Week 3 of 2025

Greetings all

It’ll be a shortish newsletter this week as I’m in Chattanooga at ChattaCon. I look forward to seeing a bunch of you here!

The Feasting of Vengeance
The Feasting of Vengeance

But first, here’s a cover reveal for The Feasting of Vengeance, which comes out on February 14th!

Here’s my schedule:

  • Opening Ceremonies starting at 7pm on Friday. I have something special planned. You want to join us!
  • 8pm on Friday: I get to play Tales of the Valiant on stage with Chelsea Steverson, Gaming GOH
  • 10pm on Friday: Victorian Vulgarities. I get to make up appropriate curse words. Bwa ha, bwa ha ha!
  • 2pm on Saturday: I have the opportunity to interview Gail Z. Martin, the GOH
  • 4pm on Saturday: We talk about good secondary characters in Urban Fantasy
  • Noon on Sunday: A discussion of 20th century SF
  • 1pm on Sunday: Final questions for all the GOHs, including me

This is going to be a blast! And now I’m off to hang out with all the cool people here.

What I’m Listening To

I listened to Dragons of Autumn Twilight, book 1 of the DragonLance Chronicles on the trip, and I’ve got it going in the hotel room.

Quote of the Week

Sigh. There are a number of deaths in my sphere this week. Howard Andrew Jones, an excellent author I was looking forward to really getting to know over the years, passed today. So did Bob Uecker.

And so did Bob Hill, my stepfather. I wish I’d gotten to know him too.

I’m in an odd mood where the Stoicism of Marcus Aurelius is a bit of a comfort.

“Death smiles at us all, all a man can do is smile back.”
– Marcus Aurelius

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)

Upcoming Events

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 362.2lbs

Updated Word Count: 2474

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: Philosophers & Plowmen

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Week 2 of 2025

Greetings all

This week I’ll go over some of my goals and plans for the new year. Before I do that, I’ll digress a moment.

It’s been 5 years since Neil Peart of Rush died. His writing, whether in his lyrics or his books, still resonates with me and I haven’t yet gotten over his passing. You can expect the What I’m Listening To section to be only Rush over the next month, as is true every January since 2020.

Anyway, let’s talk about the future! My first goal of 2025 is to clean up and republish the Irina series that began with I Am A Wondrous Thing. I have 4 books finished, but they’ve been unavailable for a bit because of some false starts along the way.

So, I’ll be re-editing those first 4, plus writing Book 5, the conclusion, throughout the year. My goal is to rapid release those starting somewhere like September and October, finishing the series in early 2026.

Now that I’m done with the Foresters series, I’m probably going to write some new science fiction short stories. I have a number of ideas that might turn into series, and I haven’t written as many short stories in the last couple of years. I’m going to try and put out 4 of them in 2025.

One of those may be another Nick Patara, PI stories. I’ve written 3 of them and they need re-editing, plus I might put them out along with a 4th one as a set. Maybe set it up as a serial in a different type of publishing. I’d like to see other options.

Meanwhile, I’ll continue with the Okkorim stuff as long as Luke and Matt will let me. I love what we’re doing there and can’t wait until we have stuff start rolling off regularly, which will happen this year. Ideally, I can also get another client or two in the gaming world.

Overall, my aim is to get more words out than I ever have before, which means something like 450k. I count edited words in this, but only at 1/4 word, by the way.

I have been working with the Anthony Chamber of Commerce for a few months now. My big goal here is to set up regular processes that don’t rely on a single person. This will help me make the events Anthony has work better. Obviously, I’m investing a lot of my future in this town, and I want to keep contributing here.

On the personal side, now that things are actually settling into a routine, I want to add consistent workouts and losing weight. Obviously, that’s been a goal for a while, but things have been wonky.

My wife and I have never taken a vacation. Yes, we’ve traveled 1000s of miles together and done a bunch of awesome things, but that’s all been part of the SCA, or a thing for either one of us. I’d like us to go somewhere like Venice, Florence, and Rome. Something like that. Maybe that happens in 2025, maybe 2026, but it needs to happen.

I expect I won’t get all of that done in 2025, but these are reasonable things to shoot for. Whatever i get done, I’m excited about how much I get to do!

What I’m Listening To

Closer to the Heart, Rush. I’m no plowman, but I’m trying to be a philosopher who knows my part.

Quote of the Week

Happy birthday to another musical hero, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.

This particular quote resonates with me as I sit here on a snowy day in Anthony. We took a chance coming here. It was the right decision both based on what we knew and where we are now, but it was a chance. I’m glad we’re here.

“So many people are frightened to take a chance in life and there’s so many chances you have to take.”
– Jimmy Page

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week we have Hero’s Shadow, the second book in Fred Hughes’ Heroes of Britannia series. Admiral Julie Adams has been tasked with ending the Teddy Bear problem, but it won’t be as simple as she—or anyone else—might like! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DRZ6WBB3.

This week’s pre-release is Blood of Her Father by Kacey Ezell and Marisa Wolf, the fifth book in the Ashes of Entecea series. If you’ve read anything by either of these authors (which I have to imagine everyone on this list has), then you know it’s going to be great. When last seen (in The Conqueror’s Promise), Isonei was a spoiled brat who showed promise. Will she live up to that promise? Surrounded by people with their own motives, though, perhaps a better question is, “Will she survive to her majority?”

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 363.8lbs

Updated Word Count: 2,087

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: Happy New Year

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Week 1 of 2025

Greetings all

First of all, I really dropped the ball in terms of updates in December. I missed two then had one that I didn’t send out, despite having it ready to go.

The big part is that I missed the release of Chernobog’s Wrath, the 3rd in H.Y. Gregor’s excellent Vechnoye Saga series. Get that here: amazon.com/dp/product/B0DRDYS78R.

Some of that is because I had perhaps the most family-filled holiday season I can recall, especially if I include friends and customers in that. We had our store’s birthday party on the 21st (It’ll be December 20th in 2025, so mark your calendars). Then we had an extended time with the moms, the guys, and the grandbaby, which was fun. Baking Christmas cookies with the grandbaby was a delight. Then we popped down to Fayetteville for a couple of days with good friends to celebrate the New Year.

Now, that’s no excuse for not doing my work, but during that time, I was also cranking out a bunch of words to hit a deadline, which I did. In effect, I put the family and the project ahead of updates, which shows good priorities, but not good efficiency on my part. I’ll try to do better in 2025.

In fact, next week, I will lay out some of my goals for 2025, but for today, it’s time to look back on 2024.

From a personal perspective, there was a lot of settling in to a new life here in Anthony as store owners. We spent a bunch of time, especially at the beginning of the year, figuring out our basic processes, which we’ve generally done.

We started the year with my office in the front where I could more easily help with customers, but we decided a couple of months ago, the efficiency gained with the store didn’t outweigh the efficiency gained with my own office in the back. We made that transition during December and it’s already proving valuable. I won’t be completely settled in until I build the extra shelving I have in mind for this room (basically I want to cover it in shelves), but I’m well on the way to making this space station fully operational.

2024 was not my greatest writing year, but it was a close second. I aim to beat that number handily this year.

Nevertheless, I chunked out nearly 425k this past year, counting the editing in the way I do. I didn’t actually edit as much this year, but I did put out more words than I have since I started tabulating in 2018 (227k). I had better years in 2016-2017, I believe, since I had two novels each of those years, but between 136k in The Feasting of Vengeance and 90k in paid words in gaming worlds, I’m pretty pleased.

The Feasting of Vengeance is the crown jewel, of course. It’s nearly a third of all my production during the year, it completes the Foresters trilogy subseries in the 4HU, and I’m really pleased how it turned out. It’s scheduled to be out on the 14th of February.

I edited and published an anthology (Paladins of Valor) and three novels (Responsibility of the Fleet, Reka’s Grasp, and Tugarin’s Revenge). I made up for less novels by chunking out 19 modules and magazines for GaxxWorx, a number that will go up in 2025 as we’re ramping up there.

I tried some things, notably the Riddle Patreon. I’m pleased with the riddles, but there didn’t seem to be much interest. I want to have a small revenue generation setup using either Patreon or Substack on the side to sort of fill in the cracks, and I’ll talk about my ideas for 2025 there to make that work.

I didn’t go to as many conventions as I have done in the past, mostly because I needed to focus on things here in Anthony. The store, of course, but also simply recovering from such a travel-filled 2023 where I put 45k miles on my car in part because of all the trips up and down during the move. I’ll do more events in 2025, which I’ll expand on next week.

For now, though, remember I’m the Toastmaster of ChattaCon 50. You want to be there. And you especially want to be there for opening ceremonies. Trust me.

Finally, the other big thing I did in 2024 was get involved in the Chamber of Commerce. I’m not the executive director of the Chamber, which means I’ll be running a number of events in 2025, including BalloonFest, which will happen May 10th. I’ll lay out the current plans next week as well.

Over the entirety of my time as a writer there’s always been something major changing my life. I moved 3 times, dealt with the pandemic, started businesses, had my workspace change often, and so on. By the end of 2024, I’m in a place where I think I’ll have a relatively stable foundation for a while.

I put out something like 75k of those words in 2024 in the last two months, and that’s a reflection of finally settling in, at least to a part. If I were to do 75k every 2 months, I’d end up with nearly a million words in a year. I doubt that’ll happen, but we’ll see 🙂

In any case, 2024 was a busy, productive, and eventful year. I’m glad you all were here on the ride with me. Let’s all have a great 2025.

What I’m Listening To

Where’s My Thing? Part IV of the Gangster of Boats Trilogy. It’s another of the great Rush instrumentals like YYZ, Malignant Narcissism, and Main Monkey Business. Basically, they’re opportunities for Rush to play around and do cool things.

Quote of the Week

Instead of a normal quote, I’ll just put this here which I saw on X.

2025 is clearly the year where it’s hip to be square.

2025
2025

 

 

Dragon’s Tidings

We’ll talk about our 2025 plans soon, so in the meantime, check our website (www.reddragonquilts.com)!

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week we have Chernobog’s Wrath, the 3rd in H.Y. Gregor’s excellent Vechnoye Saga series. Get that here: amazon.com/dp/product/B0DRDYS78R.

Your pre-release this week is from Fred Hughes, as this week’s pre-release is Hero’s Shadow, the second book in his Heroes of Britannia series. Admiral Julie Adams has been tasked with ending the Teddy Bear problem, but it won’t be as simple as she—or anyone else—might like! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DRZ6WBB3.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 368.2lbs

Updated Word Count: 1,183

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: Moving Pictures

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Week 49 of 2024

Greetings all

I spent most of this week moving! Well, moving my office from the front of the store to a room in the apartment on the main floor. It’s ideal for me, big enough for my desk, bookcases, my comfy chair, and a guest bed.

So yes, I was moving pictures. Did you think I wouldn’t make that reference?

I’m already nesting. It is much like the room I had in Olathe, with its own bathroom and a small kitchenette. Only difference is that it’s a bit bigger and is shaped in a more convenient way. It will also serve as the best jumping off point for events that I’ve ever had.

I’m really pleased.

It’s also already my lair, something I hadn’t realized I missed so much. I had a great setup up front, but it was never my lair.

Anyway, moving is never easy, but thanks to one of the guys whose been gaming here on Tuesday, we got the big stuff all moved on Sunday and at this point, I’m effectively fully operational. I still have some organizing to do, but to be honest, some of that organizing is from the original move here.

I have my SF/F magazines behind me and a good place to sit and read. I may very well start nibbling away at my To Be Read pile.

Obviously, I’m still enthused about sending The Feasting of Vengeance to Chris last week. As a reminder, it’s on the schedule for the 14th of February.

But of course, publish or perish, and I spent my time this week working on a fairly major project for Okkorim. I can’t wait to show off what we’re doing, and we’re gonna have it by GaryCon.

As we approach the end of the year, I’m doing my evaluation of what worked and what didn’t. I’m also figuring out some new things to add to my content. I’m a content creator, I need to create more content. Expect some announcements going forward.

I also spent this week getting ready for Kris Kinder. Hope to see some of you there.

But forget all that! We’re coming up on our first birthday party here at Red Dragon Quilts and Dragon’s Den Books! If you’re in the area, come by. We’ll have specials like buy one, get one used books, pizza, and some giveaways.

It’s a week from Saturday on the 21st! Come join us!

Birthday Party
Birthday Party

What I’m Listening To

Niners vs Rams in the new setup. It’s nice.

Quote of the Week

Mako’s birthday is December 10th. That’s close enough for me to use as a quote his opening to Conan the Barbarian. Yes, it’s one of my favorite films, and yes I love Mako in it.

Come to think of it, I can’t remember a single time I’ve seen Mako in a show or movie that he didn’t make it better.

“Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of. And unto this, Conan, destined to bear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow. It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga. Let me tell you of the days of high adventure!”

– Akiro the Wizard in Conan the Barbarian

Dragon’s Tidings

Birthday Party, December 21st, Anthony, KS

Also, check our website (www.reddragonquilts.com)!

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • Okkorim Sourcebook (2,974)

Upcoming Events

  • Kris Kinder, December 14, Kansas City, Mo
  • Red Dragon Anniversary Party, December 21, Anthony, KS
  • ChattaCon, January 17-19, Chattanooga, TN
    chattacon.org/
    I’m the Toastmaster!
  • FenCon, February 14-16, Dallas, TX
    fencon.org/
  • Gulf Wars, March 8-16, Lumberton, MS
    gulfwars.org/
  • GaryCon, March 20-23, Lake Geneva, WI
    garycon.com/
  • LibertyCon, June 20-22, Chattanooga, TN
    libertycon.org/
  • Pennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PA
    pennsicwar.org/

New Releases

This week we have The Darkness, the second book in William S. Frisbee, Jr.’s series, The Conglomerate Trilogy. Did you like the Last Marines? Then you’re going to love this series! Bad things lurk in the darkness, and they aren’t going to be content to stay there much longer. Luke is going to need a lot of help if he’s to keep the darkness at bay… so what is he going to do when Topa Suresh suddenly disappears? Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DPL2BDNR.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 364.8 lbs

Updated Word Count: 392,000

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: Lots of Feasting

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Week 49 of 2024

Greetings all

First, sorry about no update last week. I simply didn’t have time. I was too busy feasting!

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. We did, by going up to Wichita to visit the parents, feasting, and then napping.

After napping, I continued working on The Feasting of Vengeance. On the 14th of November, I reported here that I sat at 96,101 words. Over the next three weeks, I wrote 40k, ending up at about 136k.

Nearly all of that 40k was the final battle of Feasting, and I am beyond happy to report that I sent off the manuscript to Chris yesterday. This battle is tough, intense, exciting, and explosive. I loved re-reading it during the editing process.

We even have a planned release date of February 14th. Better yet, that happens to be the first day of FenCon, in Dallas!

So we’re having a 4HU party there, and if you’re coming to the con, make sure to join myself, Kevin Ikenberry, Fred Hughes, and hopefully other 4HU authors there.

This past weekend was also Anthony’s Market Fair, which I ended up running. It went reasonably well, but was exhausting.

Over this week, besides a bit of recovery, I’m turning my attention to Okkorim and maybe churning out a whimsical short story for Christmas.

Also going on, of course, is the upcoming release of Chernobog’s Wrath, which is the 3rd book of the Vechnoye Saga trilogy. That comes out on December 27th.

But  you can’t enjoy book 3 without feasting on the first 2! Get the Vechnoye Saga here: amazon.com/dp/B0DK4F2K5N.

Have a great week everyone!

What I’m Listening To

We’re binging Hercule Poirot with David Suchon this week.

Quote of the Week

Happy birthday to Walt Disney! Here’s a great quote from him, one of quite a few.

“Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.”
– Walt Disney

Dragon’s Tidings

We have our 1st birthday party coming up on December 21st!

Watch this spot for an extra special web deal for all you who’ve been along with the ride here.

Also, check our website (www.reddragonquilts.com)!

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)

Upcoming Events

  • Kris Kinder, December 14, Kansas City, Mo
  • Red Dragon Anniversary Party, December 21, Anthony, KS
  • ChattaCon, January 17-19, Chattanooga, TN
    chattacon.org/
    I’m the Toastmaster!
  • FenCon, February 14-16, Dallas, TX
    fencon.org/
  • Gulf Wars, March 8-16, Lumberton, MS
    gulfwars.org/
  • GaryCon, March 20-23, Lake Geneva, WI
    garycon.com/
  • LibertyCon, June 20-22, Chattanooga, TN
    libertycon.org/
  • Pennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PA
    pennsicwar.org/

New Releases

This week’s release is the anthology Express Elevator to Hell, edited by Chris Kennedy and April Kelley Jones, with stories by 15 different (and amazing) authors. This is the first book in a new series called Universes at War, and I’m pretty proud of the stories we collected for you. There are eleven standalone stories (set usually in the authors’ own universes), as well as a 4-story braided novella. Inside you get a Buzzer War story from Kevin Ikenberry, a Prince of Britannia story from Fred Hughes, a Lost Marine story from William S. Frisbee, and much, much more! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DMCQS1TL.

This week’s pre-release is The Darkness, the second book in William S. Frisbee, Jr.’s series, The Conglomerate Trilogy. Did you like the Last Marines? Then you’re going to love this series! Bad things lurk in the darkness, and they aren’t going to be content to stay there much longer. Luke is going to need a lot of help if he’s to keep the darkness at bay… so what is he going to do when Topa Suresh suddenly disappears? Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DPL2BDNR.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 363.8lbs

Updated Word Count: 391,000

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: What a Week!

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Week 48 of 2024

Greetings all

Tugarin's Revenge
Tugarin’s Revenge

Just a few hours until book 2 of the amazing Vechnoye Saga comes out. It’s Tugarin’s Revenge by H.Y. Gregor has a really cool by Alexandre Rito as you can see.

And you can get it a little early here: amazon.com/dp/B0DNLDK58K.

Then, on December 27th, you’ll get Chernobog’s Wrath to complete the series!

Exciting stuff!

As exciting to me is the progress I made on The Feasting of Vengeance. I made a post on X (@Rhodri2112) that writing is so much fun if you know what you’re writing. That was after a 3,000 word day, which is a lot for me.

Well, it’s not been the only 3k day this week, and overall I went from 96k to almost 111k.

And that’s not all. I edited a bunch of it too. I do, basically, two editing passes. One is the churn pass where I go back over what I’ve written with the aim of improving, expanding, and filling in gaps. This isn’t really a pass, per se, but a number of smaller passes along the way that end up as a full edit.

At this point, I’ve edited all the way up to 106k on The Feasting of Vengeance. Basically, I’m writing one day, editing it the next, which is feeding the new writing. This is why things are going fast.

This is also the sort of thing that happens when I get close to the end. I don’t have to deal with the mystery or intrigue, I don’t have to worry about getting the characters from A to Z, I just have to make a great fight and conclusion.

But wait, there’s more! My main final editing pass is what I call bediting. Basically, it means I’ve lain in bed reading the work on my phone in the Kindle app. I’ve found that reading the book this way is incredibly good for me to see mistakes. This isn’t to say I don’t miss some, of course I do, but this has proven to be very useful. At this point, I’ve bedited up to 91k with maybe a chapter or two more later on.

In short, I’m aiming to send this off to Chris so I can enjoy Thanksgiving, and I think I will.

I’ll let you know in next week’s update, and also I’ll be talking about it at Anthony’s Market Fair, which is a week from tomorrow.

Then, after that, I jump into a new project in Okkorim. Oh, speaking of which, it looks like I’ll be running an Okkorim thing at FenCon in February in Dallas.

Oh, wait, did I forget to mention I’m got everything set up to go to that con as well this week? Oh, and we’re announcing our anniversary party one month from today!

I mean, look at that upcoming event list below. I’ll be everywhere, man. I’ll be everywhere.

I hope you all had a great week too, but for now, I’ve got a battle to finish. Have fun everyone!

What I’m Listening To

Browns v. Steelers. I have to admit, AFC North games are often old school, especially on snowy, cold nights.

Quote of the Week

This is kind of a fun day for science, with Ole Rømer presenting the first quantitative measurements of the speed of light (XXX), Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d’Arlandes making the first untethered hot air balloon flight (1783), and Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph (1877).

But wait, there’s more. Albert Einstein’s paper that leads to the mass–energy equivalence formula, E = mc², is published in the journal Annalen der Physik (1905).

And oh yeah, the first permanent ARPANET link is established between UCLA and SRI (1969).

And it’s the birthday of Stan Musial and Ken Griffey Jr., Christopher Tolkien, Harold Ramis, two Hall of Fame quarterbacks (Sid Luckman and Troy Aikman) and a Hall of Fame quarterback chaser (Michael Strahan). Plus, of course, the source of today’s quote, Voltaire.

Seriously, November 21, leave something for the other days.

Anyway, here’s some great advice from Voltaire.

The most important decision you make is to be in a good mood.
– Voltaire .

Dragon’s Tidings

Market Fair on the 30th.

Also, check our website (www.reddragonquilts.com)!

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (110,811)

Upcoming Events

  • Market Faire, November 30, Anthony, KS
  • Kris Kinder, December 14, Kansas City, Mo
  • Red Dragon Anniversary Party, December 21, Anthony, KS
  • ChattaCon, January 17-19, Chattanooga, TN
    chattacon.org/
    I’m the Toastmaster!
  • FenCon, February 14-16, Dallas, TX
    fencon.org/
  • Gulf Wars, March 8-16, Lumberton, MS
    gulfwars.org/
  • GaryCon, March 20-23, Lake Geneva, WI
    garycon.com/
  • LibertyCon, June 20-22, Chattanooga, TN
    libertycon.org/
  • Pennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PA
    pennsicwar.org/

New Releases

This week we have Tangled Webs by Mark Wandrey, the fifteenth book in the Phoenix Initiative series of the Four Horsemen universe. This story follows Oort, the Tortantula, so you may want to review Weaver and Winged Hussars. You don’t have to, though—the story is fine as a standalone. And, as with the last couple of books, there is a lot of new information in this, with more and more coming as we approach Exodus, the final series in the 4HU.

Your pre-release this week is Tugarin’s Revenge by H.Y. Gregor. This is book 2 of the amazing Vechnoye Saga and you can get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DNLDK58K.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 364.8lbs

Updated Word Count: 250,653

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