Monthly Archives: September 2024

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Vengeance on the Horizon

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Week 40 of 2024

Greetings all

Another great week here, with the main topic being two things out the door and significant progress in a third thing as well.

Let’s start with the big one. I finished H.Y. Gregor’s Tugarin’s Revenge and it’s charging along it’s editorial path! This is the sequel to Reka’s Grasp (Coming out October 18th), which means three things:

  1. It’s in Jon R. Osborne’s amazing Milesian Accords series.
  2. It’s steeped in Russian mythology.
  3. Niki and Ryan get to fight some awesome bad guys! (Spoiler alert: Tugarin is one of them)

It’s been an honor to be a part of this series, and you will want to get Reka’s Grasp as soon as you can. It’s that good, and Tugarin’s Revenge is even better.

The second thing I finished this week is a fairly large chunk for Okkorim. As usual, I can’t get into specifics, but I can tell you it’s the kind of thing I love to play and DM in D&D. It definitely fits the rule of cool I want for games.

Then I made a bunch of progress in The Feasting of Vengeance. It won’t look like much (only counted up 3,300 or so, but that’s actually a bit deceiving. I cut some section out that may or may not re-appear, but all of it needed to go for now.

If you are a user of the Save the Cat Beat Sheet method, I can say we’re rolling past beat 10 next week, and I’ve already got Beat 11 planned in my head. I even think I’ll get through Beat 12, which will put us in place for the big battle.

I can see the end.

So Tugarin’s Revenge and The Feasting of Vengeance both coming.

What I’m Listening To

Cowboys v. Giants. Been a bad year so far for Dallas, but hopefully they’ll look better tonight.

Quote of the Week

Happy birthday to T.S. Eliot! He’s quite the quote monster, so I could’ve chosen a number of great quotes. I think, however, this one suits me today, especially since I’m in quite the journey right now.

– Those who arrive at the end of the journey are not those who began.
T. S. Eliot

Dragon’s Tidings

I update the website today as we have October’s On Line Shop Hop ready to go!

Didn’t know we participate in an On Line Shop Hop? Well, we do, and there’s a special cool thing if you can find it. The clue is on the front page. Enjoy!

New Mythology Works in Progress

Responsibility of the Fleet is out! This is the 3rd of G. Scott Huggins’ amazing Endless Ocean series detailing the deeds of Responsibility, a half-dragon who came from a tough past to claim her birthright, including her real name: Azriyqam.

And did I mention the upcoming series by H.Y. Gregor yet?

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (72,365)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week we have Far Horizons by A.J. Gordon, the third book in The Outer Reaches series shared with Peter J. Aldin. The series is now complete, so if you were waiting for the trilogy to be released prior to jumping in, now’s the time! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DHBCRDKB.

Your pre-release this week features the return of Fred Hughes’ Britannia series with Hero’s Legacy. Hazard may no longer be around, but his enemies still are, and they’re going to need to be dealt with! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DHBQW4PR.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 359.8lbs

Updated Word Count: 232,000

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: Holy Circus, Batman

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Week 39 of 2024

Greetings all

The granddaughter is going to her first circus tonight. I’m beyond the moon about it, even if she’s too young to get much out of it. Still, it’s a really cool thing.

Responsibility of the Fleet
Responsibility of the Fleet

Also really cool is Responsibility of the Fleet by G. Scott Huggins! Responsibility is back and she’s fighting her greatest foe yet, one that threatens to not only defeat her kingdom, but take over the entire Endless Ocean.

See how your favorite half-dragon princess strives against demons of legend here: amazon.com/dp/B0DGRZQTPC.

Besides that, it’s been really cool how much I did this week.

First, I wrote about 10,000 words in The Feasting of Vengeance, including re-integrated and organizing the long thread that serves as the story’s background. I’ll cross the 70k barrier tomorrow and aiming for 80 next week.

Part of the reason things are going faster is I’ve worked out the bulk of how we get to the final battles, which is actually the hardest part. Now I’m just writing battles, which is my favorite and fastest part.

Better yet, I got Tugarin’s Revenge from H.Y. Gregor this week! This is book two in her foray into Jon R. Osborne’s decorated Milesian Accords series.

My favorite aspect of this new series, besides of course the amazing story, is the depth of Russian mythology and culture. I studied medieval Russia as one of my secondary fields in grad school and it’s remained one of my favorite time periods ever since.

Tugarin’s Revenge comes out on November 22nd.

Of course, you’ll want to get Reka’s Grasp, book two in that series, on October 18th. Stay tuned for a cover reveal coming soon for this one!

On top of all that, I did a bunch in Okkorim as well. I’m so blessed I get to be a part of that. Not only am I proud of what I’m producing, I’m pushing myself and learning a ton of new techniques. I have a number of things I’m dying to talk about, but I can’t, not just yet. I can say, we’re doing great stuff that you’ll love when we start releasing the big hitters in 2025.

With that, however, I’ve got to go hear about the circus from the little one. Have a great week everyone!

What I’m Listening To

Pull Me Under by Dream Theater. It might surprise you that I came to Dream Theater late. It shouldn’t surprise you that when I did find them, I loved them.

Quote of the Week

I know, I know. Neil’s birthday was last week and I shouldn’t always do Rush lyrics for the Quote of the Week. Still, two in a row won’t kill you and this is a lyric I liked when I was younger, but am recognizing it’s true brilliance as I get older.

Side note: I got to see them do this song for the first time live in the R40 tour, the last tour. Jonathan Dinklage played the violin and it was majestic, haunting, and powerful.

Side note to the side note: Jonathan has a more famous, and slightly shorter brother name Peter.

Anyway, here’s the quote.

Some are born to move the world —
To live their fantasies
But most of us just dream about
The things we’d like to be
Sadder still to watch it die
Than never to have known it
For you — the blind who once could see —
The bell tolls for thee
– Losing It, Rush

Rob’s Riddles

Like challenges? Think you’re smarter than me? Then see if you can answer my riddles!

You can find them by signing up for my Patreon here: patreon.com/rhodri2112. Not sure what I mean? Then check the sample riddle and see if you get the answer!

First Line of Current Riddle:

I show arms and the man Making merry most times

New Mythology Works in Progress

Responsibility of the Fleet is out! This is the 3rd of G. Scott Huggins’ amazing Endless Ocean series detailing the deeds of Responsibility, a half-dragon who came from a tough past to claim her birthright, including her real name: Azriyqam.

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (69,044)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week Responsibility of the Fleet is out! This is the 3rd of G. Scott Huggins’ amazing Endless Ocean series detailing the deeds of Responsibility, a half-dragon who came from a tough past to claim her birthright, including her real name: Azriyqam.

This week’s pre-release is Far Horizons by A.J. Gordon, the third book in The Outer Reaches series shared with Peter J. Aldin. The series is now complete, so if you were waiting for the trilogy to be released prior to jumping in, now’s the time! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DHBCRDKB.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 359.8lbs

Updated Word Count: 209,000

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: Responsibility of the Fleet!

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Week 38 of 2024

Greetings all

Responsibility of the Fleet
Responsibility of the Fleet

Responsibility of the Fleet comes out tomorrow! This is the 3rd of G. Scott Huggins’ amazing Endless Ocean series detailing the deeds of Responsibility, a half-dragon who came from a tough past to claim her birthright, including her real name: Azriyqam.

Here’s the blurb on this book:

If she saves her brother, she can’t save the world.

The uneasy peace Princess Azriyqam helped forge between the Twin Kingdom of Evenmarch and the Consortium of Man remains, aided by her brother Prince Avnai’s service in the Consortium Fleet.

However, Avnai’s ship faces destruction from a new people on the far side of the Endless Ocean. Tasked by the Consortium’s Chief of Fleet Intelligence to save her brother, Azriyqam discovers a greater menace, one that endangers not just her home and family, but the entire world.

Faced by terrors beyond imagining in a fortress of legend, she must discern friend from foe to gain the strength she needs to choose. Will her choice save all she loves? Or will she fail, losing all she holds dear.

It’s chock full of action, adventure, and magic, just like the first two in the series. If you haven’t read the series, check it out here: https://amazon.com/dp/B095CXTH85. It’s a great read.

Release day is always nice, and it’s been a while, but it won’t be all that long until the next one, Reka’s Grasp, from H.Y. Gregor. In fact, that’s the first of a trilogy you’ll see released in October, November, and December. This trilogy opens a new branch in Jon R. Osborne’s acclaimed Milesian Accords series.

And there’s more coming in 2025. Exciting times at New Mythology Press.

Exciting times for me as I made major progress on The Feasting of Vengeance. I finished a major thread I had to get right, as it serves as a major part of the story’s foundation. That was about 7000 words this week.

Then, I reincorporated it back into the full document, having pulled it out so I could focus on just that. Once that happened, I could really match things up to the Save the Cat Framework. I’d started that already of course, but pulling that out shifted how the chapters would work in the overall book. That’s now fixed, which is a major task in its own right.

Now, I have a boatload of XX prompts. I use XX (not XXX 🙂 ) to mark places where I need to double check something, expand on something, or anything else that requires me to come back to it. By doing that, I can continue to type the narrative without stopping to look things up.

That means I have to go back and check for all of those. I cleared out about a quarter of those this week as well, but best of all, they’re often great places I can dive right back in and throw words on the page without having to stare at the document and remember what I wanted to do, which often happens when I first look at a project.

I also spent a bunch of time expanding a couple of Okkorim projects. I have one that’s in the editing stage where I’m building it up, and another that’s going to get to the editing stage next week, hopefully.

All in all, a productive week, especially since my Achilles has gotten much better. It’s still sore, but I can walk this week, which I couldn’t last week.

Anyway, that’s enough for now, except to say, “Go by Responsibility of the Fleet tomorrow!”

Have a great week everyone.

What I’m Listening To

Bills v. Dolphins. Football season is back!

Quote of the Week

Today would have been Neil Peart’s 72nd birthday. Of course the quote comes from him. I could, of course, choose a song lyric, but I think I’ll pick something else this time.

“The important thing is: if you fail once, or if your luck is bad this time, the dream is still there. A dream is only over if you give it up-or if it comes true.”
– Neil Peart

Rob’s Riddles

Like challenges? Think you’re smarter than me? Then see if you can answer my riddles!

You can find them by signing up for my Patreon here: patreon.com/rhodri2112. Not sure what I mean? Then check the sample riddle and see if you get the answer!

First Line of Current Riddle:

I show arms and the man Making merry most times

New Mythology Works in Progress

Responsibility of the Fleet comes out tomorrow! This is the 3rd of G. Scott Huggins’ amazing Endless Ocean series detailing the deeds of Responsibility, a half-dragon who came from a tough past to claim her birthright, including her real name: Azriyqam..

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (59,622)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week we Shadow Wired, the first book in the Shadow Wired series by Gustavo Bondoni. It’s time for some awesome cyberpunk action… right now! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DG32SJZ6.

Your pre-release this week is Responsibility of the Fleet!

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 359.2lbs

Updated Word Count: 208,000

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: My Achilles Heel

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Week 37 of 2024

Greetings all

This week my Achilles heel has been my Achilles heel. I strained it at some point last week and it’s been a painful nuisance. I can’t really walk well, and it’s hindered sleep. Yes, I’m doing things about it. No, I’m not ignoring it.

But it has taken time away. Much of that were things around the house, and I had held from the family to cover much of that. It’s nice to have help.

That being said, I did get quite a few words written. I’m solidly over 50k on The Feasting of Vengeance having about finished the secondary thread. That’s about 6-7k this week, on top of several thousand written in other projects and some editing. Ideally, I put out about 10k per week of new words, and I did that this week.

Responsibility of the Fleet
Responsibility of the Fleet

Of course, the big thing is the release of Responsibility of the Fleet by G. Scott Huggins, third in his Endless Ocean series, a week from tomorrow on September 13th.

I also dealt with a goodly number of small things around the store that have needed work.

It’s frustrating, actually. I had a good week, but I think it would’ve been a great week if it’d been mostly pain free.

However, things could be worse. I’m going to end this week on a down note. I just learned that Howard Andrew Jones, who writes the Hanuvar swords and sorcery series, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

I hadn’t gotten to know him well, but I had enjoyed the times we’d spent together at cons and anticipated more excellent chats in the future. He’s a very smart man, not to mention nice, and we’ll be far worse without him.

I guess what all this means is today is a good day to do something nice for someone because maybe tomorrow you won’t have the chance.

What I’m Listening To

Three Days by Jane’s Addiction. This is literally in my top 10 songs ever. I remember getting the album Ritual de lo Habitual used thinking I might as well check this group out, then getting blown away by 5 of the first 6 songs (this was number 6, by the way). Number 5 was the one song I didn’t care for as much, and ironically it was the one they played all the time (Been Caught Stealing).

Quote of the Week

On this day in 1960, Cassius Clay won the light heavyweight gold in the Olympics. Of course, he later changes his name to Muhammad Ali and becomes one of the great stars of the 20th century.

Here’s a quote we all need to remember sometimes.

“You don’t lose if you get knocked down; you lose if you stay down.”
– Muhammad Ali

Rob’s Riddles

Like challenges? Think you’re smarter than me? Then see if you can answer my riddles!

You can find them by signing up for my Patreon here: patreon.com/rhodri2112. Not sure what I mean? Then check the sample riddle and see if you get the answer!

First Line of Current Riddle:

I show arms and the man Making merry most times

New Mythology Works in Progress

Responsibility of the Fleet is out a week from tomorrow!

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (52,799)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week we have War Criminal, the 11th book in P.A. Piatt’s Abner Fortis, ISMC, series. For those who’ve been following the series (and if you haven’t, why not?), you can pretty much guess that good ol’ Abner will be up to his armpits in trouble as he and Jocko Bender go into the Free Sector to track down two of the war criminals behind the peace rally attack. Remember the world-killer bomb that disappeared? It’s back, too, and fully in play. Will Abner be able to recover it before it goes “boom?” You probably just answered that question wrong… but you’ll have to grab it to find out! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DFFPZCFX.

Your pre-release this week is Shadow Wired, the first book in the Shadow Wired series by Gustavo Bondoni. It’s time for some awesome cyberpunk action… right now!

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 357.4lbs

Updated Word Count: 207,000

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