Week 2 of 2025
Greetings all
This week I’ll go over some of my goals and plans for the new year. Before I do that, I’ll digress a moment.
It’s been 5 years since Neil Peart of Rush died. His writing, whether in his lyrics or his books, still resonates with me and I haven’t yet gotten over his passing. You can expect the What I’m Listening To section to be only Rush over the next month, as is true every January since 2020.
Anyway, let’s talk about the future! My first goal of 2025 is to clean up and republish the Irina series that began with I Am A Wondrous Thing. I have 4 books finished, but they’ve been unavailable for a bit because of some false starts along the way.
So, I’ll be re-editing those first 4, plus writing Book 5, the conclusion, throughout the year. My goal is to rapid release those starting somewhere like September and October, finishing the series in early 2026.
Now that I’m done with the Foresters series, I’m probably going to write some new science fiction short stories. I have a number of ideas that might turn into series, and I haven’t written as many short stories in the last couple of years. I’m going to try and put out 4 of them in 2025.
One of those may be another Nick Patara, PI stories. I’ve written 3 of them and they need re-editing, plus I might put them out along with a 4th one as a set. Maybe set it up as a serial in a different type of publishing. I’d like to see other options.
Meanwhile, I’ll continue with the Okkorim stuff as long as Luke and Matt will let me. I love what we’re doing there and can’t wait until we have stuff start rolling off regularly, which will happen this year. Ideally, I can also get another client or two in the gaming world.
Overall, my aim is to get more words out than I ever have before, which means something like 450k. I count edited words in this, but only at 1/4 word, by the way.
I have been working with the Anthony Chamber of Commerce for a few months now. My big goal here is to set up regular processes that don’t rely on a single person. This will help me make the events Anthony has work better. Obviously, I’m investing a lot of my future in this town, and I want to keep contributing here.
On the personal side, now that things are actually settling into a routine, I want to add consistent workouts and losing weight. Obviously, that’s been a goal for a while, but things have been wonky.
My wife and I have never taken a vacation. Yes, we’ve traveled 1000s of miles together and done a bunch of awesome things, but that’s all been part of the SCA, or a thing for either one of us. I’d like us to go somewhere like Venice, Florence, and Rome. Something like that. Maybe that happens in 2025, maybe 2026, but it needs to happen.
I expect I won’t get all of that done in 2025, but these are reasonable things to shoot for. Whatever i get done, I’m excited about how much I get to do!
What I’m Listening To
Closer to the Heart, Rush. I’m no plowman, but I’m trying to be a philosopher who knows my part.
Quote of the Week
Happy birthday to another musical hero, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.
This particular quote resonates with me as I sit here on a snowy day in Anthony. We took a chance coming here. It was the right decision both based on what we knew and where we are now, but it was a chance. I’m glad we’re here.
“So many people are frightened to take a chance in life and there’s so many chances you have to take.”
– Jimmy Page
Rob’s Works in Progress
- Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
Upcoming Events
- ChattaCon, January 17-19, Chattanooga, TN
chattacon.org/
I’m the Toastmaster! - FenCon, February 14-16, Dallas, TX
fencon.org/ - Gulf Wars, March 8-16, Lumberton, MS
gulfwars.org/ - GaryCon, March 20-23, Lake Geneva, WI
garycon.com/ - LibertyCon, June 20-22, Chattanooga, TN
libertycon.org/ - Pennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PA
pennsicwar.org/
New Releases
This week we have Hero’s Shadow, the second book in Fred Hughes’ Heroes of Britannia series. Admiral Julie Adams has been tasked with ending the Teddy Bear problem, but it won’t be as simple as she—or anyone else—might like! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DRZ6WBB3.
This week’s pre-release is Blood of Her Father by Kacey Ezell and Marisa Wolf, the fifth book in the Ashes of Entecea series. If you’ve read anything by either of these authors (which I have to imagine everyone on this list has), then you know it’s going to be great. When last seen (in The Conqueror’s Promise), Isonei was a spoiled brat who showed promise. Will she live up to that promise? Surrounded by people with their own motives, though, perhaps a better question is, “Will she survive to her majority?”
Tracked Items
My Weight Today: 363.8lbs
Updated Word Count: 2,087
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
- Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/-/e/B00X95LBB0
- Website: robhowell.org
- Blog: robhowell.org/blog
- The Firehall Sagas: firehallsagas.com/
- Facebook Author Page: facebook.com/robho
well.org/ - Twitter: twitter.com/Rhodri2112