Rob’s Update: Auld Lang Syne

Week 52 of 2021

Greetings all

Welcome to the final week of 2021. I hope you had a great year and I wish you an even better year in 2022. For me, it was a huge year, and I will do a separate blog post next week about it, followed by one discussing my goals for 2022.

This was not my most productive week, but it was a healthy one. I spent time with the family, enjoyed Christmas, got a some cool things, gave out cool things, and ate a lot. Somehow, I managed not to eat too much that I gained a bunch of weight.

Seeds of Dominion
Seeds of Dominion

I owe all of you on my mailing list a bit of an apology. I do have Fleece Navidad ready to send out to you, but I’m trying to arrange a better way of getting it to and that has been a bit of a learning curve. Again, this was something I’d intended to do over the past weekend, but got distracted. I’ll have it sent out to you next week.

I’ll also send out the links for Silent Knight or Under a Midnight Clear, the previous two Nick Patara, PI stories. Again, these are free for those on my mailing list.

Seeds of Dominion releases on Tuesday and we’re really excited. It’s by Quincy J. Allen and over the years I’ve seen a goodly amount of what he’s written. I think this novel is the best thing of his I’ve read, and the advance reviewers agree.

I made a little progress on The Door Into Winter. I’m not entirely happy with what I wrote though. For the first time since I started writing it, i think I’ll need to do a big rewrite of a chunk. It’s normal for this to happen, and I’ve sort of been waiting for it, but I’m really pleased I got this far into the book before running into a messy chunk.

Next week, I’m looking forward to my 7th New Year’s with my sweetie. I’m also looking forward to a goodly amount of football this weekend, which we’ll surely discuss on next week’s Dudes in Hyperspace.

For now, I’m going to some more words written. Have a great New Year’s everyone.

What I’m Listening To

Michigan State v. Pitt. I hope this game is as exciting as the Tennessee – Purdue game that just finished. It ended up at 48-45 in overtime! The last half of the 4th quarter was bonkers, with huge play after huge play.

Quote of the Week

This week’s quote comes from traditional New Year’s song. It is, again, my hope that all of you have a wonderful 2022.

We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
– Robert Burns

Dudes In Hyperspace

Follow the Dudes In Hyperspace here:
https://www.sharkflight.com/dudes/

The latest show includes an interview with Todd Fahnestock, one of the Founders of the Eldros Legacy.

Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy

Get five free stories and signed up with the Eldros Legacy mailing list! Here There Be Giants is at: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/qabsr57lq3+.

Seeds of Dominion out Tuesday!

New Mythology Works in Progress

We have no current open anthology calls but will have a new one in January.

I’m currently working on The Keen Edge of Valor, the next Libri Valoris anthology.

Rob’s Works in Progress
  • The Door Into Winter (67,243)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
Upcoming Events
New Releases

This week’s release is Assault, by Mike Massa, the next in Chuck Gannon’s Caine Riordan universe. You can get it here: amazon.com/dp/B09NZSH7X9.

And remember, Seeds of Dominion is out on Tuesday!

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 330.2

Updated Word Count: 383,210

Eldros Legacy Archives: 806 entries (there will be more coming next week from Seeds of Dominion)

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

Founder in the Eldros Legacy series

Rob’s Update: Happy Holidays

Week 50 of 2021

Greetings all

It was a very productive week here. I finished the first pass through Embers & Ash, the third book of the Eldros Legacy. This one is by Marie Whittaker, who’s a fantastic writer.

I also finished Fleece Navidad, which will be going out to my subscribers on Saturday. I really do appreciate all of you who have subscribed to my mailing list, and I hope you enjoy these Nick Patara, PI stories.

I got about 5k in The Door Into Winter. That’s not really reflective of how easy this story is to write. I’m having trouble finding time to write on it during the holiday season with so much going on, but man I’m chunking out words whenever I do. I really like where it’s going.

I also started the real editing for The Keen Edge of Valor, the next of the Libri Valoris anthologies.

My sweetie and I went on a big hunt this past weekend. The game? The right loveseat and couch for the big TV room downstairs. Wednesday night is date night, and more often then not we enjoy watching BBC mysteries together. We’re such party animals. However, we hadn’t really had a way to sit together. But we found a great set, on clearance, and it comes tomorrow. It is exactly the right thing for us, and we both got in our steps on Saturday and Sunday hunting for it.

Plus, of course, all the Christmas prep. We’re not doing a huge thing, in part because it’s just me, my sweetie, my mom, and my stepdad. Still, I’ll grill steaks, we’re cooking a ham, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and a bunch of other fixins. The sweetie has decided to make not one pie (blackberry, her favorite), not two (bourbon pecan, not quite my favorite, but close), but three pies (she found just the right lemons at CostCo to make her special lemon pie.

So much for my carb count. Ah, well, it’s the season for eating… errr… I mean giving. Anyway, I hope you all have a great holiday season.

What I’m Listening To

Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I had a chance to see them with the Marshall Tucker Band in Wichita a little more than two years ago. I’d never seen them live before, and I’m really glad I went, as it was a heckuva show.

Quote of the Week
This is one of my favorite quotes, by one of my favorite people. If you want a fun story about Charles Schulz, by the way, go look up the time that Stephen Pastis, who writes Pearls Before Swine, fanboyed him.

“Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.”
Charles M. Schulz

Dudes In Hyperspace

Follow the Dudes In Hyperspace here:
https://www.sharkflight.com/dudes/

The latest show includes an interview with Emily Bernson of the USO, our memories of 2021, and what we’re looking for in 2022. Side note, Ian definitely hadn’t gotten the memo of my plans for 2022.

Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy

Get five free stories and signed up with the Eldros Legacy mailing list! Here There Be Giants is at: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/qabsr57lq3+.

Seeds of Dominion
Seeds of Dominion

I finished my pass on Embers & Ash, the next Eldros Legacy book. This one’s by Marie Whittaker, and it will introduce the continent of Pyranon.

Of course, we’re all looking forward to Seeds of Dominion, by Quincy J. Allen, in less than two weeks.

Next week, we’ll have the Daemanon map reveal, so stayed tuned for that.

New Mythology Works in Progress

We have no current open anthology calls but will have a new one in January.

I’m currently working on The Keen Edge of Valor, the third in the Libri Valoris anthologies for release at FantaSci.

Rob’s Works in Progress
  • The Door Into Winter (63,611)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
Upcoming Events
New Releases

This week’s big new release is Ally, the next 4HU novel, by Kacey Ezell and Marisa Wolf. The Depik are back! And they brought friends. Get it here: www.amazon.com/dp/B09NN53QLN.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 331.8

Updated Word Count: 382,460

Eldros Legacy Archives: 804 entries (expect this to jump next week as we get close to Seeds of Dominion)

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

Founder in the Eldros Legacy series

Rob’s Update: Speak Softly

Week 49 of 2021

Greetings all

I made a mistake last time because I didn’t double-check something. Shame on me. I said Seeds of Dominion is coming out on the 2nd of January, but it is, in fact, coming out on the 4th of January. My apologies for the confusion, but the good news is that it’s the best thing of Quincy’s I’ve ever read, and he’s got a lot of cool stuff out there.

This was also not my most productive work week, largely in part to Christmas-y stuff, along with pet stuff. I basically lost all weekend and all day today. Pets are totally worth the effort, but man, they can be exhausting.

Still, I’m basically done with the first draft of Fleece Navidad, my freebie story which I’ll be sending out to all of you on my mailing list. I also made progress on Embers & Ash, by Marie Whittaker, which is the third Eldros Legacy book. I also did some foundational work, but still, not as much as I’d hoped. Some weeks are like that.

We also recorded a special Dudes in Hyperspace, finishing the episode tonight. We interviewed Emily Berson, who is a USO rep. That’s quite an honor for me, and they do so much cool stuff for our service members.

Of course, we’ve been enjoying the response to Khyven the Unkillable. It’s done very well, despite Amazon having not one, but now two AWS outages. It’s too hot for them to handle, apparently.

Seeds of Dominion, by Quincy J. Allen, is the next Eldros Legacy book, and it’s basically ready to go and comes out on the 4th of January, as I clarified above. See below for the cover reveal.

I think that’s it for now. Everyone have a great week, and I’ll touch base again next Christmas Eve Eve.

What I’m Listening To

Chiefs at Chargers. It’s a heckuva matchup and I’ve been looking forward to it. I’ve liked the Chargers as sort of a second team since the Dan Fouts/Kellen Winslow/Charlie Joiner/Chuck Muncie days. That was such a fun team to watch.

Quote of the Week

The Great White Fleet began it’s circumnavigation of the world on this day in 1907. That means there’s only quote appropriate for the day.

“Speak softly, and carry a big stick.
– Teddy Roosevelt

Dudes In Hyperspace

Follow the Dudes In Hyperspace here:
https://www.sharkflight.com/dudes/

The latest show includes an interview with Emily Bernson, a member of the USO, though it won’t be live until tomorrow, the 17th.

Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy

Get five free stories and signed up with the Eldros Legacy mailing list! Here There Be Giants is at: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/qabsr57lq3+.

Khyven the Unkillable is out and getting great response from its readers. You can find it here: amazon.co.uk/dp/B09N288DCC.

Seeds of Dominion
Seeds of Dominion

But the big thing this week is the fantastic cover of Seeds of Dominion. Jake Caleb created the art, and you can see just how awesome he is.

New Mythology Works in Progress

We have no current open anthology calls but will have a new one in January.

I’m currently working on getting Embers & Ash and The Keen Edge of Valor.

Rob’s Works in Progress
  • The Door Into Winter (58,990)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
  • Fleece Navidad (7,151)
Upcoming Events
New Releases

OK, OK, I realize it was last week, but I’m still excited about Khyven the Unkillable. You can get it here: amazon.co.uk/dp/B09N288DCC.

Two releases from the boss this week. First, there’s Jurassic Jail from William Alan Webb. He’s such an innovative guy, and he’s in charge of the non-fiction publishing of CKP now because he’s just that sharp. You can find Jurassic Jail here: amazon.com/dp/B09NFN84BP.

And then there’s the first book by Mike Jack Stoumbos with CKP. It’s entitled The Signal Out of Space, and starts the Fine Crew series. You can get it here: amazon.com/dp/B09N8VHGFP.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 332.8

Updated Word Count: 355,326

Eldros Legacy Archives: 802 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

Founder in the Eldros Legacy series

Rob’s Update: Khyven the Unkillable

Week 48 of 2021

Greetings all

Khyven the Unkillable
Khyven the Unkillable

Now, I’m not saying the Khyven the Unkillable by Todd Fahnestock is so good that it broke Amazon, but it is the case that Amazon’s back end went down on the day of Khyven‘s release and it is that good. You can find it here: amazon.com/dp/B09N288DCC.

It’s a great start to the Eldros Legacy, and Seeds of Dominion, coming out on the 4th of January is a great follow-up. That will go out to advance readers in the next few days.

For me, this was a fantastic week. I updated my website, robhowell.org. I had to add the Eldros Legacy, after all.

I also committed to ChattaCon in January. I can’t wait, wasn’t sure I was going to be able to go. In February, I’ll be at Superstars and then in March, I’ll have Gulf Wars and FantaSci. It’s starting to feel like a schedule again.

I got 4k written in The Door Into Winter. Things are shaping up nicely. I’m at about 59k and I see no sigh of slowage, so maybe this Save the Cat thing is helping.

In fact, I would have done more, but I also got 6k written in the new freebie story for my newsletter recipients. I have just the final battle scene to write and then it’s in the editing stage It’s another of my Nick Patara, PI hardboiled Santa Claus stories entitled Fleece Navidad.

That’s my favorite title yet, by the way.

I also cleaned a bunch of the house, as we’re having guests for the weekend. This is the time of a major local SCA event, and while I can’t go to the event, I do get to have a bunch of people over. I can’t wait to see them.

What I’m Listening To

The Main Monkey Business by Rush. It’s off of Snakes and Arrows, their penultimate studio album. I’ve been on a kick of listening to Rush albums lately, not simply putting all my Rush on shuffle. We sometimes forget in this day of digital music how much some artists put into making an album work as an album and not simply a collection of songs.

Quote of the Week

One of my all-time favorite quotes this week. Oh, by the way, Happy Birthday to Neil Innes.

Ladies and gentlemen, Ive suffered for my music … now its your turn.
– Neil Innes

Dudes In Hyperspace

Follow the Dudes In Hyperspace here:
https://www.sharkflight.com/dudes/

The latest show includes an interview with Todd Fahnestock, one of the Founders of the Eldros Legacy.

Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy

Get five free stories and signed up with the Eldros Legacy mailing list! Here There Be Giants is at: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/qabsr57lq3+.

Khyven the Unkillable came out on Tuesday! You can find it here: amazon.com/dp/B09N288DCC. It’s a great start to the Eldros Legacy.

Next week, I’ll have the cover reveal for Seeds of Dominion.

New Mythology Works in Progress

We have no current open anthology calls but will have a new one in January.

I’m currently working on Embers & Ash, the next book in the Eldros Legacy.

Rob’s Works in Progress
  • The Door Into Winter (58,990)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
  • Fleece Navidad (5,945)
Upcoming Events
New Releases

Khyven the Unkillable came out on Tuesday! You can find it here: amazon.com/dp/B09N288DCC. It’s a great start to the Eldros Legacy.

Also this week, the book 4 of P.A. Piatt’s Abner Fortis, ISMC series, entitled Gnamma, came out. You can get it here: amazon.com/dp/B09MT3HB8T.

Speaking of releases, The Ravening of Wolves, my second Four Horsemen novel, came out on audio last week. Thanks to the awesome Daniel Wisniewski and Chris Kenneday for all their work making this happen. You can get it here: amazon.com/dp/B09MSWF9K1.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 333.8

Updated Word Count: 354,545

Eldros Legacy Archives: 802 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

Founder in the Eldros Legacy series

Rob’s Update: Muppet Flail

Week 47 of 2021

Greetings all

What a busy week here. First, we’re getting ready for the release of Khyven the Unkillable by Todd Fahnestock, the first novel in the Eldros Legacy.

I’m like a kid in a candy store. We’ve been setting this up since January so that we can make sure you get something awesome. My words of the week have been “Muppet Flail!” because I’m so excited.

Part of that is the reaction of our advance reviewers. Zach R., in particular, said “Can’t wait for JAN-APR of next year for the rapid release. Also can’t wait to see what kind of magic Khyven has and how Nhevaz plays further into the story. Very enjoyable fantasy overall.”

Oh, and if you’re interested, you’re just in time for the map reveal for the continent of Noksonon, which is the continent created by Todd. There are two maps, one of the whole continent and one for the events in Khyven the Unkillable and they’re here: eldroslegacy.com/archive/tiki-index.php?page=Maps-of-Noksonon.

Speaking of releases, The Ravening of Wolves, my second Four Horsemen novel, came out on audio yesterday. Thanks to the awesome Daniel Wisniewski and Chris Kenneday for all their work making this happen. You can get it here: amazon.com/dp/B09MSWF9K1.

By the way, should you want to read or listen to The Feeding of Sorrows, which is the first of the two novels, you can get it on audio here: amazon.com/dp/B08K9DX13G/.

Also this week, we did another Dudes in Hyperspace podcast, this one starring Todd Fahnestock. You can find our podcasts here: sharkflight.com/dudes/.

Speaking of the Dudes in Hyperspace, it’s long past time I stuck a new section into these posts about that show. Ian J. Malone and Kevin Steverson have been great to work with and we’re doing some good stuff there.

I also got another 8000 or so words done with The Door Into Winter. This is shaping up to be the best novel I’ve ever written so far. That’s as it should be, of course, as I should be getting better, but I’m pleased anyway.

The open call for the FantaSci 2022 Short Story contest ended on Tuesday. As usual, we got around thirty entrants, which I’m always pleased to see. I’m running through the stories right now and will have the decision made this weekend for the four who made the cut. Also as usual, it’s going to be a tough choice, I can tell that already. Man, there are a lot of great writers out there.

What I’m Listening To

Gretchen Goes to Nebraska by King’s X. This is one of my all time favorite albums. In my top ten even if you include Rush albums. Yes, I’m saying I like this album more than some Rush ones. That’s how good it is. I distinctly remember the exact moment when I heard the opening bit of Out of the Silent Planet, the first song. I fell in love within four notes.

Quote of the Week

“Here there be Giants!”
– Marie Whittaker

Marie came up with this because she needed a place-holder for something during the process of creating the Eldros Legacy. The rest of us went “That’s cool!” and it’s become one of our taglines.

On Tuesday, then, “Here there be Giants!”

Dudes In Hyperspace

Follow the Dudes In Hyperspace at sharkflight.com/dudes/

The latest show includes an interview with Todd Fahnestock, one of the Founders of the Eldros Legacy.

Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy

Get five free stories and signed up with the Eldros Legacy mailing list! Here There Be Giants is at: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/qabsr57lq3+.

Next week, I’ll do the cover reveal for Seeds of Dominion, the second novel.

But if you’d like some more EL stuff now, go get Talons & Talismans II, which has 8 Eldros Legacy stories. You can find it here: amazon.com/dp/B09L44T5XW

New Mythology Works in Progress

We have no current open anthology calls but will have a new one in January.

I’m currently working on picking through the entrants who submitted for the next Valor anthology. I’ll announce those this upcoming weekend. There are a bunch of good ones and it’s hard to pick.

Rob’s Works in Progress
  • The Door Into Winter (55,612)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
  • FN (755)
Upcoming Events
New Releases

The Ravening of Wolves, my second Four Horsemen novel, came out on audio yesterday. You can get it here: amazon.com/dp/B09MSWF9K1.

Speaking of the 4HU, there’s a new novel there entitled Three Steps to Oblivion by Chris Kennedy and Ian J. Malone.  You can get that here: amazon.com/dp/B09MH57TQ2.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 334.0

Updated Word Count: 353,806

Eldros Legacy Archives: 787 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

Founder in the Eldros Legacy series