Monthly Archives: September 2025

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: At the P-Con Bar

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Week 39 of 2025

Greetings all!

I had a great time at P-Con! Thanks to Crystal and the crew for all their hard work.

I went with a variety of plans. First, I needed to recharge a bit with my crew. I saw a bunch of great people, including a huge contingent of Raconteur Press folks. More on them in a bit.

I was on 4 panels. One was a discussion of what fans are increasingly asking for, and that’s more action and adventure. Then, I moderated a panel about putting the science in science fiction. This was especially fun because I got to chat with Taylor Anderson, whose Destroyermen series is excellent. After that was a panel advising new writers on how best to submit to publishers. Finally, I was on a fun panel about sidekicks. All in all, a great list of panels.

But really, I went to socialize, as I said. I spent a ton of time doing just that in the P-Con bar. I had great conversations with a bunch of awesome folks, including Taylor Anderson, who I’d not me before, David Weber, Robb Hampson, as many Raconteur folks as I could find, and a bunch  more.

In particular, I also went with the hope to do more with Raconteur. They’re doing a bunch of cool stuff these days and I wanted to join their ship. I succeeded, with four or five different things going on I’ll be talking about as time goes by.

All in all, a great success.

I spent a goodly amount of time today working on one of the new projects. I’ll talk about it more in the coming weeks, but it’s something I’m really proud to be working on.

Speaking of projects, I had more Okkorim work this week, as we ramp up for the next G20 issue. Good stuff happening there.

Finally, this is the week we’re hosting Eragon at the Historic Anthony Theater! In addition, there are food and drink specials at a number of places downtown, so get your Dragon Burger at Petunia’s, Your Dragon Pizza at Kristy’s Kafe, and your Dragon Concoction at the Idle Hour (which is also hosting Oktoberfest Saturday). It’s going to be a lot of fun.

Hope to see some of you there!

What I’m Listening To

Miss Marple, which is of course another great BBC cozy mystery show. This one was the Body in the Library.

Quote of the Week

In Xanadu did Kublai Khan a stately pleasure dome decree

Happy birthday to Kublai Khan, born on this day in 1215, and who gives me an excuse to quote Coleridge.

Upcoming Events

  • I have a number of things in the works, but nothing confirmed yet.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 358.8lbs

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: P-Con Week!

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Week 38 of 2025

Greetings all!

Two weeks in a row! Getting back into the rhythm.

The big thing this week is P-Con in Dallas! I hope to see a goodly number of you there. It’s a great crew down there, and I haven’t seen any of them since LibertyCon.

I’ll be running an Okkorim game there, so if you’re interested in seeing the universe, please join us.

I made progress on a number of projects this week. The most enjoyable was finishing the cleaning and reorganization of my office. It’s been 6 months, but we’re there now. I wish I could put in more bookcases, but until I turn it into a Tardis, I have it about as full of books as I can.

I’ve been reasonably productive on the writing side. I made progress on a short story, which I’ll  have done in after I get back from P-Con.

I’ve also been editing a bunch this week, both in Okkorim and in some stuff I’m writing that I’ll talk about when the time comes.

I’ve also been talking up our movie night! We’re hosting Eragon at the Historic Anthony Theater on September 27th. We’ll have specials here in the store, plus special dragon stuff from Petunia’s, Kristy’s Kafe, and the Idle Hour.

I’d talk more, but I’ve got packing to do. Have a great week everyone!

What I’m Listening To

Lewis, the sequel to Morse. This whole series is really good.

Quote of the Week

Happy birthday to Henry of Monmouth, who reigned as Henry V. If you think I’m going to miss a chance to quote the St. Crispin’s Day speech, well, let me disabuse you of that notion.

“From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.”
– Henry V

  • Upcoming Events
  • P-Con, September 19-21, Dallas, TX
    p-con.us/

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 358.2lbs

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: Hither to Thither

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Week 37 of 2025

Greetings all!

It’s been a while, and again I apologize.

Much of my distraction is because I’m trying to figure out where to take my career next. I’m continuing with the Firehall Sagas, of course, and have been working on various things in that. I’m also doing more and more in Okkorim, so that’s all good.

But I still need to get to a new place. Hither to thither, if you’ll let me use archaic English that I really want to bring back into usage.

However, I really need to figure out more what my strategy will be with social media and this mailing list. More and more, I’m looking at switching to Substack for this list. Part of that is because I want to do more interviews, podcasts, and so on. I can do more multimedia in Substack than I can here, at least, it feels more seamless.

Also, I’m trying to figure out what I’ll write in the channel where I was writing the Foresters. I have a number of ideas, including the Mil SF I’ve talked about, an alternate history I’ve wanted to do for a while, a historical drama set in Anglo-Saxon England, and a western/noir/PI mashup set in 1860s Wichita. And more!

Ideas are never the problem, but once I commit to one of these, I’ll need to hammer at it for a while before I release because of this new market.

So, I’ve been thinking and researching, plus organizing my office and doing a bunch of the behind the scenes stuff that needs to be done periodically.  Also, I started the process of cleaning out the basement. Yes, the basement. I’m starting to figure out the elevator. Go me!

In the meantime, I’m hammering at a couple of short stories. Raconteur Press has lots of opportunities.

Plus, I was at ICT Comicon over Labor Day. This went very  well. It’s nice to finally start getting plugged into the Wichita writing scene.

We’ve got a bunch coming up too. First, I’ll be at P-Con in Dallas next week. If you’re there, come say Hi!

Then, the week after that, we’re sponsoring Eragon at the Historic Anthony Theater, along with having some cool stuff with local restaurants.

Then, after that, I’m going to my first quilt show! That will be a different AAR.

Oh, and we got two new trees planted today. American Lindenwood for those scoring at home. They’re in the grassy area running along Washington Street to the south of us. I’m excited to have them.

So, even if I haven’t been doing this properly, I’ve been doing stuff. With that, I’ll see you all soon!

What I’m Listening To

We started Joan and Darby, another BBCish (actually Australian)  mystery. We can give up BBC style mysteries any time.

Quote of the Week

Happy birthday to Col. Sanders! I like KFC, a fact that will of course shock you all.

One has to remember that every failure can be a stepping stone to something better.
– Colonel Sanders

Upcoming Events

  • P-Con, September 19-21, Dallas, TX
    p-con.us/

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 357.8lbs

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