Rob’s Update: Happy Thanksgiving

Week 48 of 2022

Greetings all

I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving today. My wife and I celebrated just the two of us because I’ve had a bit of con crud after 20Books and didn’t want to spread to family.

Wynnifred
Wynnifred

Aside from that, it was excellent. We had steak, ham steaks, mashed potatoes, french onion soup, 2 kinds of cranberry sauce, veggies, a cheese plate, pumpkin pie, and oatmeal raisin cookies. We ate well, as did our portable black hole, Wynnifred.

As you can see, she’s still hungry.

Anyway, lots to get to this week. First, I had a great time at 20Books Vegas. Rather than going into detail here, here’s my AAR: robhowell.org/blog/?p=2950.

Side note: Welcome to all my new readers from 20Books. Thanks for signing up!

That leaves time to talk about Responsibility of the Throne, which comes out on Tuesday the 29th. This is the 2nd in G. Scott Huggins’ excellent Endless Ocean series. And check out this cover from the amazing J Caleb Studios.

Azriyqam is home, and discovering that princesses have to live up to their titles.

Responsibility of the Throne
Responsibility of the Throne

Living up to the example of her parents involves more than she ever imagined, like inheriting the title of Holder of the Two Keys, who judges between dragons and humans, and keeping watch for Consortium agents ready to destroy her homeland.

While she’s being trained in the law she’s supposed to uphold, the people she’s supposed to judge are a far greater mystery. And though she’s received harsh lessons in the treachery of humans, she has not yet begun to fathom the motives and designs of the kingdom’s dragons. And these are the key to a challenge that could fracture the entire kingdom.

Can she stand up to the fire and destruction facing her, or will bitter enemies and cruel traitors send her sinking to the bottom of the Endless Ocean?

I got a decent number of words written before the con started, but between travel, recovery, the con, the holiday, and other work, I haven’t had a chance to touch anything since a week ago Sunday. I’ll get back on the horse tomorrow.

Finally, there’s less than a week left until the deadline for the 2023 FantaSci Short Story Contest open call. It’s due on the 30th. We’ve had a bunch of great submissions, but yours might just be better, so send it in.

And now, off to do more editing. Have a great rest of your weekend.

What I’m Listening To

It’s Thanksgiving. I’m a huge football fan. Soooo…, after watching the Cowboys beat the Giants (Go Cowboys), I’ve got the Patriots in Minnesota on right now.

Quote of the Week

I get frustrated at the blind stupidity of the NFL, but sometimes they get one right. They are honoring John Madden at all Thanksgiving games going forward.

He was such a fixture on this day for me, and he was always one of my favorites. Go he go too far overboard? Sure. But you never doubted his passion for the game.

“Since 1981, I’ve spent every Thanksgiving Day broadcasting a game, and it is one of my favorite days. You can say, ‘Woe is me, I never get to be part of the tradition,’ or you can say, ‘Heck, we’ve got our own tradition, and it’s pretty good.'”
– John Madden

Dudes In Hyperspace

Follow the Dudes In Hyperspace here:
bleav.com/shows/the-dudes-in-hyperspace-podcast/

The latest show includes a thankful ramble through the minds of three strange dudes.

Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy

Currently available:

Get all the Eldros Legacy novels at: amazon.com/dp/B09Z9WVKYV

New Mythology Works in Progress

2023 FantaSci Short Story Contest open call.

The theme is Bonds of Valor, and you story must include deeds of valor centered around bonds between characters. This could be a romantic relationship, a buddy adventure, oaths to kings, or whatever you can come up with.

Deadline: November 30th, 2022
Word Count: 7-10,000 words
Specifics: Times New Roman, 12 point font, 1.5 line spaced.

Current Schedule of New Mythology Press

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • Farewell, My Ugly (54,807)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (3,405)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week we have the second book in D.T. Read’s The Seventh Shaman series, entitled Mountains of the Gods. How good is this? Chris reads more than a few books each year and he says it’s the best thing he’s read all year. Find out yourself here: amazon.com/dp/B0BMM99PPQ.

Your pre-release this week is An Act of Aggression by Alex Rath. This is the 3rd in his Terran Space Project series. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0BN5B7GRF.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 332.6

Updated Word Count: 400,530

Eldros Legacy Archives: 813 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 Ramblings: 20Books AAR

I’m back from 20Books and I’ll start with saying it was an amazing trip.

I went with two overall goals: Gain the tools to level up personally and to level up New Mythology Press. Mission achieved.

Sunday night is when things sort of start. I say “sort of” because panels start on Tuesday, but networking and reconnecting is a huge part of the event.

I got a chance to hang out with some of the North Texas Troublemakers on Sunday. This is a collection of some skilled writers and artists from around Wichita Falls. They’re good folk and I don’t get a chance to really hang out with them much, but several of them were at the con.

One was Dorothy Grant, who I’ve crossed paths with before, but mostly knew online. This was a chance to get to know each other in real life. This last bit, by the way, is a huge theme of 20Books for me.

Another was C.V. Walter, an successful romance writer, especially her Alien Brides series. I’m trying to add a bit more of those tropes to my writing to broaden my skill set, and we had a good conversation about that. I put some romance in The Door Into Winter, and she agreed to take a look at what I did and see how I can punch that up a notch.

Also, expect to see her in an upcoming anthology as she’s got some great ideas and plans for valorous deeds. That’ll be 2024.

Monday started with the big vendor show. A bunch of people who offer a variety of services to help authors write. I found some intriguing stuff I’ll be digging through in the upcoming weeks.

I did have a chance to meet Jake of J Caleb Designs. He’s the artist for so many of New Mythology’s Books. He’s talented, creative, and a true professional. I can’t recommend him enough.

The rest of Monday was more networking and hanging out with a bunch of people. I had a great conversation with a friend who I’ve not really hung out with much in real life.

A crew of CKP folk ended up at Giordano’s, a true deep dish pizza, and we had a bunch of chats about this and that pertaining to a various CKP plans.

Tuesday started with a D&D game hosted by Luke Gygax. If you’re familiar with D&D, you might recognize the name. Yes, he’s related. In fact, he’s one of Gary’s kids.

I actually gamed with him twice, having a session both Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We had a blast, but from a professional standpoint, it was a great chance to connect with a few individuals more than we might have otherwise.

I’m certainly going to keep track of Gaxxworx, Luke’s company, and the setting they’re creating for D&D.

After that I hit Dave Butler’s editing for muscular prose. This was a very useful session as I not only learned new things, it also codified a number of things I’d sort of known but hadn’t ever lined out explicitly.

I’ve already started to put some of those things into use. Definitely a chance for me to level up.

Side note on Dave. We’ve been friends for a bit, but at most cons we don’t have time to actually sit and chat. We had a couple of chances, especially dinner on Thursday. He’s a great dude, and I look forward to hanging out again.

Dave was also hanging out with David West and Brad Torgerson. These are two writers I’ve interacted with on the internet, but hadn’t met in real life. Unfortunately, Brad came down with an illness, so we didn’t see much of him later in the week.

I especially wanted to meet with West, as he’s been pushing Weird West stories. As I desire my Libri Valoris anthologies to be broadly ecumenical in fantasy subgenres, I wanted to make sure he knew that Weird West fantasies are absolutely acceptable for these.

Wednesday was more panels, in particular Larry Correia’s one on action scenes. If you’ve read Larry’s stuff you know he makes these pop, and I got a few tips and tricks I’m looking forward to adding to my stuff.

Speaking of Larry, I also got to hang out with him more than I’ve done before. We had a fun lunch at the French restaurant close to the convention including Kacey Ezell, Nathan Balyeat, Mike Massa, and Larry’s wife, Brigit. Cheese was the biggest topic of conversation.

Also, it was great to actually get a chance to chat with Massa, another talented writer I’ve admired for a while but barely known in real life.

The other really useful session on Wednesday was Bryan Cohen’s Less Time, More Readers panel. This had a number of specific ideas on being productive.

The basic theme here was consistent mediocrity. Doing a little thing day after day after day will add up more than big days. We already kind of know this because we try to write some every day, but he pushed for us to do this on everything we do.

He also said it’s best to cut down on the things we try to do, but again, stick with them day after day, week after week. This might seem counter-intuitive but it struck a chord with me because it’s exactly what I talk about to people thinking about joining the SCA.

Many new to the SCA are intimidated by all the stuff. The great outfits, the bling, good shoes, chairs, wooden chests, and at camping events, tents and such-like things. They feel like they can’t do this because they can’t get all this stuff.

The thing is, no one should have all this stuff at the start. I started with tennis shoes, sweats, and plain T-tunic. This is still sufficient to start with. I had bag chairs, not wooden ones. Everything we used was modern.

But over the 25 years I’ve accrued this and that periodically. I made a chest, bought a chair, traded for garb, etc. I have a pretty good kit, but only after doing a bit here, a bit there, over all this time.

I need to do that with my work. Many, including me, often look at established writers and struggle to do all the things they do without remembering they didn’t do all those things at the start, but did some then added on as they got better.

I need to focus on certain things and get consistent with them. Then, when they’re programmed in, add something else. You can expect to see a few changes along those lines in the upcoming months. Some will be behind the scenes, but it will all be more calculated, more planned to do less, but more consistently.

Those were the three panels I got the most out of, though there may be more. I’ll be watching a few of the others that conflicted with other plans. This con, more than most, had productive things opposite other productive things.

Thursday, after the gaming with Luke Gygax, was mostly networking. In particular, I had a chance to really hang out with James Artimus Owens, a writer and artist who’s also one of the main people at Superstars. His class on cover art at Superstars was one of the best things I did there and it was good to actually get to know him a bit.

This conversation actually gave me a chance to consider the relative merits of both Superstars and 20Books. They’re both great for up-and-coming writers, but they have slightly different aims. 20Books seemed to have a much more granular, detailed approach to the business side of things, especially for indie writers who already have a few things out there. Superstars is better for newer writers, and also for those who lean toward tradpub.

Short version: both are great, but one can be better than the other depending upon your goals and circumstances. As both are expensive to attend, I suggest studying each to find the best fit for you. Most of us can’t afford to attend both in a given year.

It seemed like 20Books had more aimed at my specific needs, but again, this is something you need to determine yourself.

Anyway, the event ended on Friday with the RAVE event.  This was an open-to-the-public sales event. There weren’t a ton of shoppers not part of the con and we didn’t have many sales. However, this was a chance for people to show off what they had.

I had a great chat with a number of writers, including some I expect you’ll see coming out in New Mythology down the road.

Overall, it was a fantastic convention and I achieved my goals. I’ve got more tools in my toolbox, more connections in the industry, and more ideas to push my stuff to the next level.

I’ll definitely go back.

 

Rob’s Update: Viva Las Vegas

Week 46 of 2022

Greetings all

I start my sojourn to Las Vegas soon for the 20Booksto50K conference. I’d intended to go last year, and for that matter, the year before, but circumstances prevented it.

Still, there is sometimes an advantage to waiting, and I think I’m better prepared to go than I was last year. This year, I’m less of an apprentice publisher and more of a journeyman. I have a much better idea of weaknesses, so I can tailor my panels that much more precisely. I also have a more definite set of goals, much more than just “follow on Chris’s coattails.”

I’m sure I’ll follow on some coattails for a while as I get the lay of the land, but not near so much as last year.

Anyway, I’m excited. There’s stuff to learn.

Programming Note: Since I’ll be doing so much at 20Books, I’m not even going to try and do an update next week. I’ll be back on the 24th with a double issue, however.

Responsibility of the Throne
Responsibility of the Throne

We have a cover reveal this week! Here’s the cover for Responsibility of the Throne, book 2 in G. Scott Huggins’ excellent Endless Ocean series.

Halfdragons fighting dragons, ship to ship combat, palace intrigue, treachery, and even a broken heart or two. It’s all in there.

Made very good progress on Farewell, My Ugly this week, crossing the 50k mark with an aim at 80k. My goal is a full draft early December with a final draft before the end of the year. Totally doable at the rate I’m going.

I also made great strides in the refresh to A Lake Most Deep. There was so many wasted words. I know I’ve gotten better and faster with my prose, but it’s humbling to see how much I’ve grown since that time.

I actually started the process by adding about 1500 words in a new opening chapter and have still cut almost 3000 total in the first four chapters. These are the chapters that needed the most trimming, of course, but it’s exciting to see what this story is looking like now.

I also did a bunch of behind the scenes things for the transition from Eldros Legacy. Major news on that front in two weeks.

We’re starting to get close to the deadline for Bonds of Valor. See below for all the details but remember it all has to be in by November 30th. There are a bunch of good entries right now, but there’s always room for better.

Looks like it’s time for me to pack. Have a great week everyone!

What I’m Listening To

She Sells Sanctuary by the Cult. Man, this was a huge song for me back in the day, and for that matter, the Cult is such an underrated band. American Gothic? Love Removal Machine? Ashes and Ghosts? And let’s not forget the entire Sonic Temple album.

Great stuff.

Quote of the Week

Teufel Hunden
Teufel Hunden

Happy birthday to all the Teufel Hunden out there!

So let’s have a quote from perhaps the greatest of them all.

“So they’ve got us surrounded, good! Now we can fire in any direction, those bastards won’t get away this time!”

– Chesty Puller

Dudes In Hyperspace

Follow the Dudes In Hyperspace here:
bleav.com/shows/the-dudes-in-hyperspace-podcast/

The latest show includes a thankful ramble through the minds of three strange dudes.

Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy

Currently available:

Get all the Eldros Legacy novels at: amazon.com/dp/B09Z9WVKYV

New Mythology Works in Progress

2023 FantaSci Short Story Contest open call.

The theme is Bonds of Valor, and you story must include deeds of valor centered around bonds between characters. This could be a romantic relationship, a buddy adventure, oaths to kings, or whatever you can come up with.

Deadline: November 30th, 2022
Word Count: 7-10,000 words
Specifics: Times New Roman, 12 point font, 1.5 line spaced.

Current Schedule of New Mythology Press

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • Farewell, My Ugly (50,452)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (3,405)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

The 4HU is back, and it’s by founder Mark Wandrey. There’s Blood in the Water as uplifted cetaceans fight for survival. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0BL6RW1Y7.

Smuggler’s Run, a rollicking romp in the Salvage Title universe by Christopher Woods and William Joseph Roberts is now on audio. This novel is so good, it inspire me to write my own Salvage Title story, which is in In Takes All Kinds. Get Smuggler’s Run here: amazon.com/x/dp/B0BL258N3B.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 335.0

Updated Word Count: 399,595

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: The Bullseye of Success

Week 45 of 2022

Greetings all

First, thanks to everyone who responded about my new world name either with direct emails or Facebook, Discord, and Twitter. I really appreciate all that feedback.

And I have made a decision!

But I’m going to hold off telling you all what that decision is until I have the domain, logo, and website ready to go. I anticipate that right after I get back from Vegas.

Not my most productive week. I had some distractions, some were good and fun distractions, but still distractions. Mostly, though, with all the changes, I’ve been thinking through a bunch of things and I haven’t slept well. That’s probably my worst production limiter.

I did get a bunch of foundational work done, so there’s that. I also did a bunch of detail work on Farewell, My Ugly. While the word count isn’t as big as I wanted for this week (only 3k for the week), I made important and significant progress clearing out a bunch of notes.

My goal is to basically have a draft done by the end of the month. It’ll be tight, but I thought of an important transition today that’ll speed up the next part of the process.

Sometimes, when writing a mystery, the challenge isn’t coming up with a plot, but a plausible way to find a particular clue. That’s been a big one here. I’ve had a fun idea from the beginning, but it’s not something that would necessarily jump off the page to someone from the Byzantine Empire.

So, while it wasn’t a great week for production, it wasn’t awful. I kept plugging along, and usually just plugging along gets me to where I want to go.

Now, I’m going to get back to work.

What I’m Listening To

The World Series. What else this week?

Quote of the Week

I’ve always been fascinated by Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, especially Annie Oakley. She died on this day in 1926, but she left us this wonderful gem of a quote.

Aim for the high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, not the second time and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect. Finally you’ll hit the bullseye of success.
– Annie Oakley

Dudes In Hyperspace

Follow the Dudes In Hyperspace here:
bleav.com/shows/the-dudes-in-hyperspace-podcast/

The latest show includes a great conversation with Sarah Burris and what libraries can offer.

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+.

Get all the Eldros Legacy novels at: amazon.com/dp/B09Z9WVKYV

New Mythology Works in Progress

2023 FantaSci Short Story Contest open call.

The theme is Bonds of Valor, and you story must include deeds of valor centered around bonds between characters. This could be a romantic relationship, a buddy adventure, oaths to kings, or whatever you can come up with.

Deadline: November 30th, 2022
Word Count: 7-10,000 words
Specifics: Times New Roman, 12 point font, 1.5 line spaced.

Current Schedule of New Mythology Press

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • Farewell, My Ugly (41,571)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (3,405)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

Two new releases this week! First, we have a new This Fine Crew book by Mike Jack Stoumbos. This is book 4 in the series and is entitled The Impossible Moon. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0BKLL4F82.

Next we have something I’ve been waiting on. I met Fred Hughes at FenCon and I’m excited to read his Prince of Britannia series, which begins with The Prince Awakens. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0BK232YT2.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 331.2

Updated Word Count: 398,717

Eldros Legacy Archives: 813 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