Rob’s Update: Time And Man Alone

Week 2 of 2019

Greetings all

Welcome to 2019. Notably, the first full week of 2019 and back into the rhythm after a long and wonderful holiday season.

My holiday season basically stretched from the middle of November to Monday, if I count all the work I did to prep for Thanksgiving, Kris Kinder, and Christmas with relatives.

This was probably the largest Christmas I have ever experienced. We hosted eight others, and while this house can handle ten just fine, it was a bit or mental shift for me. I come from a tiny family. Right now, the close family to me would count five. My mom, my aunt Ginger, her husband Don, and Jimmy and Justin. Really, that’s it. Oh, I have more relatives, but I’m not close with any of them, mostly because of distance.

Anyway, we had a great time. I got to meet my sweetie’s brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. I got to spend more time getting to know her son and parents, who I’d met but have spent little time with so far. We all took turns cooking, and we ate way too much.

As mentioned in earlier posts, that buildup to the holidays was tough on my writing, along with moving stuff. I am, however, catching the rhythm again. I just realized last night I’ve written over 13k words in January so far. I’m on schedule for the year, even if I don’t realize it.

More is coming. I’m pleased with The Feeding of Sorrows. I like the plot and the characters. The biggest challenge for me has been writing in someone else’s universe and wondering if I’m messing with their plans. I suspect I’m not. I suspect this is me just over-worrying, but it’s something to remember for future collaborative stuff.

I actually had one of those Muse moments on Wednesday. It doesn’t happen often, but sometimes the Muse grabs you, shakes you, and tells you what to right. I wrote a whimsical piece of poetry for a friend in about half an hour. I may post it next week, after I’ve showed it to him.

This weekend I head down to Wichita to go to Calontir’s Coronation. There I’ll be stepping up as the new king and queen’s court herald for the reign. Fortunately, they are considerate of my convention schedule, and it won’t really impact my plans. It will also get me out of the house some more, and I think in 2018 I might have been a bit much of a hermit.

In any case, I’m excited for what is to come.

Have a great week everyone.

Current Playlist Song

Xanadu by Rush. Rush is my standard writing playlist these days. I may add more to the list, but it’s been exclusively Rush of late.

Quote of the Week

Yesterday was the 58th anniversary of the death of Dashiell Hammett. This week’s quote comes spoken by The Continental Op, and shows one of the many reasons I love his writing.

“The face she made at me was probably meant for a smile. Whatever it was, it beat me. I was afraid she’d do it again, so I surrendered.”
– Dashiell  Hammett

News and Works in Progress

  • None Call Me Mother (approx 15,000)
  • The Feeding of Sorrows (52,679)
  • CB (8,418)
  • AFS (2,556)

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

This week’s spotlight is on A.E. Lowan, which is the pseudonym of three writers working together. You can find that interview here: https://robhowell.org/blog/?p=1615

Today’s Weight: 389.2 (Basically starting 2019 where I started 2018. Given the challenges of last year, I’m OK with holding steady. Not this year though.)

2019 Word Count: 10,196

Shijuren Wiki: Not quite sure. I’m having to redo a bunch of things and it’s down for a couple of weeks. Working on it though. I was at 874 at one point, though.

Four Horsemen Wiki: 501 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

Currently Available Works

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