Week 52 of 2025

Greetings all!

Happy New Year everyone! May it be a wonderful one for you.

I’ve had a good past couple of weeks. Of course there was Christmas, which is of course all the more fun with a granddaughter. I made some delicious briskets for Christmas dinner, though I’m sadly to the point of only one more serving of leftovers.

Oh, and I sent off a new novel to the publisher! I’ll be talking about that one when we have details, but it’s title is Shattered Spear. That should give you some hints…

That’s a nice capstone on kind of a wonky year. It was probably my least productive year since 2016. I only finished one novel, though of course The Feasting of Vengeance came out early in the year. I also added only 1 short story, but I did finish more.

I also did a bunch of editing, mostly in Okkorim. That is still going strong, and in fact is my primary focus right now.

Still, I didn’t do as much as previous years. The big thing, I think was the conclusion of two different and important parts of my writing career in January. One, of course, was stepping away from New Mythology Press. I’m proud of the quality of stuff we put out, but obviously I spent a lot of time working on it all and it was suddenly… gone.

The same was true of The Feasting of Vengeance, which finished the Foresters trilogy. I’m even more proud of what I did in the 4HU and not thinking/working on a 4HU novel or short story was a shock. First time that’s true in 6-7 years.

It took time for me to figure out exactly what would fit into those gaps. The big step there was P-Con, and I’m still ramping up with what’s came out of that. One thing, by the way, was Shattered Spear.

What was the change? Well, it came from asking Raconteur Press for more opportunities, which they have given me. Lots of things are happening in the background and I’m looking forward to build on that.

Those, I think, are both reason and excuse. It’s a fair reason to say that those changes should affect my production. It’s a fair excuse to say I should have pivoted quicker.

It’s both reason and excuse when I add how much I put into the store. We made great progress in making the store profitable this year, and I know I helped. I also know I probably did that instead of writing, especially in the spring.

So my grade for myself this year is a C+. More good than bad, but not great.

I’m excited about what 2026 will bring, though. Very excited. I’ll talk more about that next week. I have some changes in mind here plus in other parts of my writing/editing life. Expect me to add a regular podcast type show soon, for one thing.

But for now, it’s time to enjoy a bunch more college football over then next few days. Have a Happy New Year!

What I’m Listening To

TCU v. USC in the Alamo Bowl. Bowl season is still a bunch of fun, despite the Playoffs and NIL and what not. Speaking of fun, the Pop Tart Bowl was amazing! That is now a must see for 2026.

Quote of the Week

Upcoming Events

• FenCon, February 20-22, Dallas, TX
  fencon.org/
• Gulf Wars, March 14-22, Lumberton, MS
  gulfwars.org/

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 330.4lbs

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/robhowell.org/
• Twitter: twitter.com/Rhodri2112

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