Category Archives: Weekly Update

Rob’s Weekly Updates.

Personal, Shijuren, Sports, Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Waiting for Spring

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Week of 26 March – 1 April

Greetings all

Saturday will be the memorial for my dad. Yes, April 1st. Given his love for dad jokes, it seemed appropriate. Besides, it was a day the church had open. I’ll be saying something. Not sure what something yet. What does one say, really? I can figure out that Monty Python’s Dead Parrot sketch is probably inappropriate. As is just about anything from the Holy Grail. Beyond that? I’m sure I’ll come up with something, but I may not even know until I’m standing up there.

Glad the SCA has given me a lot of experience talking in front of people.

It’s been a productive week. Where Now the Rider is at the stage where I’m going through and inserting clues and red herrings so there’s a proper trail of bread crumbs. The goal, of course, is for you to have the possibility to figure out the villain, but make it very difficult.

My editor can take it at the end of April, so I’m going to finish a draft next week, take a break for a week or so, then polish it for a week before sending it to Kellie.

What I’ve done since I’ve taken my foot off that pedal is to start seriously plotting books 2 & 3 of the Kreisens series, the series that started with I Am a Wondrous Thing. The working titles will be Brief is My Flame and None Call Me Mother. These are working titles and might change, but I like them, especially with some of the tribulations Irina and Eleonore are going to face. I’m plotting both of them, by the way, because when writing I Am a Wondrous Thing I sort of floundered about in terms of pacing. I’m still mostly a pantser (a writer who writes by the seat of his pants), but at least having a basic outline might help. I’ve had nebulous ideas all along, but I want to firm them up some.

Of course, I’ll change them all the time. But at least they’ll be something I *know* I’m changing.

Anyway, that’s enough for now.
Quote of the Week
I may or may not get anything done on Monday the 3rd. Just warning you. In my mind, the first Monday in April (sometimes the last Monday in March) should be a national holiday. It’s baseball Opening Day, and I’m only halfway joking about the national holiday thing.

Opening Day has a magic about it. It’s a day of comfort, a sure sign of the end of winter and a return of the poetry of the game. It’s a day of hope, because on that day every team is in the playoff race and every fan can imagine a way, if things come together just right, their team can make it to the playoffs, and if that happens, who knows?
On Opening Day, though, it’s fresh again. Checking box scores has not yet become routine again. It’s like sleeping in your own bed for the first time after a long trip. You know it’ll become part of the routine again, and you’ll like it then too, but not with the snuggly, burrowing feel of that first night.

Why not have a holiday celebrating comfort, hope, and the return of spring?

“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”
– Rogers Hornsby

News and Works in Progress

  • Finishing Where Now the Rider
  • Plotting Brief is My Flame and None Call Me Mother
Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

  • Nothing new this week. I’ll be adding a batch of updates to the wiki to catch up with things in Where Now the Rider.
Upcoming Events
Spotlight
I listen to a lot of folk metal like Tyr, Korpiklaani, and Tengger Cavalry. Not surprisingly, I often fall into the rabbit hole of YouTube going from band-to-band. One of the things I love is the use of medieval and traditional instruments in hard-driving music. This past week I ran into Sventoyar, a Ukrainian folk metal band who has a person routinely playing the hammered dulcimer. It will come as no surprise to many that amongst my friends in the SCA is a professional hammered dulcimer player.
Since I teased him that Sventoyar might have supplanted him as my favorite musical act with a hammered dulcimer, this week my spotlight is on Vince Conaway. He’s a fantastic musician, and one of the great parts of Gulf Wars to me was working in Drix’s shop when he was playing nearby.

Anyway, you can find his stuff at: http://www.vinceconaway.com/.
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
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Conventions, Fiction, Personal, SCA, Shijuren, Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Heres-wise and Theres-wise

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Week of 19-25 March

Greetings all

The title of this update is something I had fun writing in Where Now the Rider. I love playing with language, which can sometimes get me into trouble as my writing can get too poetic, but here it serves as a fun dialectical saying by a guy who works as a courier. “I’m as one who’s just wantin’ to be takin’ messages heres-wise and theres-wise and keepin’ me nose outs of things. It’s as somethin’ folk is payin’ for, see?” After the last few weeks, I’m tired of going heres-wise and theres-wise and ready to be home for a while.

Since my last update, I went to CoastCon in Biloxi, Gulf Wars in Hattiesburg, and had a bit of a writer’s retreat. I’ve listed my AARs for both events in the Recent Blog posts section. Only a couple of thousand miles this time, not four like in January, but still enough I’m glad to be home.

Most of my time has been focused on Where Now the Rider. As I mention in my Gulf AAR, I am finding that my plots are getting more complex, meaning I’m spending longer making sure the chapters are arranged properly, meaning lots of fussing with fiddly bits and fixing plot holes. I’ve made huge progress and am flowing well and I’ll have my copy to my editor by the end of next week. And this time I mean it.

One piece of exciting news is that David has invited me back to join Write Pack Radio (https://www.facebook.com/WritePackRadio/) again. In fact, we’re tentatively scheduled to have me join them for multiple episodes in 2017. I’m excited and honored that they want me back. As those tentative dates and topics get firmed up, I’ll put them here.

On my blog, I just made an entry I would love to see from some of my favorite writers do. I put up an annotated snippet from Where Now the Rider where I discuss a number of the choices I made as a writer. You can find that entry at https://robhowell.org/blog/?p=565 and I’d love some feedback if that is something you might want to see more of. Snippets, of course, but do you all want to see the annotations?

Well, that’s enough. Now back to fiddling with the fiddly bits.

Quote of the Week

Times like this when I’m pounding away I think of something Holly Lisle said. Mostly it fills me with inspiration, but there are times that the mountain I look up and see how much I need to get better fills me with desperation, but it always makes me take a harder look at what I’m writing.

Writing is a puzzle you’ll spend your lifetime unlocking. You will never know it all; you will never know enough. You can always be better, and figuring out how to be better is part of the thrill and joy of the job.

– Holly Lisle

News and Works in Progress

  • Still pounding away at Where Now the Rider

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events
Spotlight

At large SCA events, I have the opportunity to sell my books and even work on the next novel thanks to the generosity of Steve Boyd, the owner and proprietor of Calontir Trim. He sells, shockingly enough, trim for clothing by the yard. He’s got so many choices, the best way to describe them is in rhyme:

One trim
Two trim
Red trim
Blue trim
Black trim
Queue trim
Old trim
New trim
This one has a little star
This one is from afar
Say! What a lot
Of trims there are
And if you know Steve, otherwise known as Master Andrixos, you’ll know just how appropriate filking Dr. Seuss is for him. In any case, I heartily suggest you look at his offerings at www.calontirtrim.com.

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
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Conventions, Fiction, Shijuren, Sports, Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Recovering

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Week of 5 – 12 February

Greetings all

Sorry for not getting an update out last week. On the trip to Birka I came down with an awful cold, plus food poisoning on the drive back, and the overall trip was 4000 miles in 12 days so it was exhausting enough as it was.

I’m really glad I went on the trip, though sales at Birka were not enough to justify attending again. However, I had a good time and might consider it next year simply because I enjoyed the trip. The swing from ChattaCon to Maryland to Birka and back was a good one, though I need to contemplate taking longer than two days on the drive back, especially since the weather was generally pretty good on the drive and I can’t always expect that to be the case.

This past week I’ve spent mostly in Wichita with my mom helping out after dad’s passing. Because of her preparation, it’s been fairly easy, but it’s been nice to spend time with her.

Somewhere along the way though, my mind finally kicked back into gear and I know have the missing piece to make Where Now the Rider the way I want it. Now, I just have to find the time to finish it, which will be in the next few weeks I hope, but if not, probably April because I have most of March on the road. However, because of missing deadlines with my editor, I don’t have a good schedule right now because I’m not her only client and I have lost my spot for the moment. We’ll deal with it, though, and as soon as I get that to her, I’ll be continuing on with the sequel to I Am a Wondrous Thing.

Quote of the Week
What an ending to the Super Bowl. First overtime in Super Bowl history, biggest collapse in the playoffs ever, and a fifth ring for Brady. Hard to argue he’s the best of all time, though I might still make a case for a few others.

It’s hard to be a Falcons fan right now, because that was an awful loss that will never stop hurting. In the category of bad losses, the other end of the spectrum also involved a team from Atlanta, though in this case Georgia Tech won. In 1916 they played Cumberland College. Here’s a tough question. Which is worse? Losing like the Falcons did, or getting beat 222-0 (yes, 222-0) like Cumberland did.

My favorite quote from the game comes from the halftime speech of Georgia Tech coach John Heisman (yes, that Heisman). Just to note, the score at halftime was 126-0.

“You’re doing all right, team, we’re ahead. But you just can’t tell what those Cumberland players have up their sleeves. They may spring a surprise. Be alert, men! Hit ’em clean, but hit ’em hard!”

– John Heisman

Yeah, some surprise, they held Georgia Tech to only 96 points in the second half.

News and Works in Progress

  • Where Now the Rider

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

  • Been a slow week, I’ll have more next week

Upcoming Events

  • 3-5 March: CoastCon, Biloxi, MS
  • 12-20 March: Gulf Wars, Lumberton, MS
  • 28-30 April: Planet Comicon, Kansas City, MO

Spotlight

One of the pleasures of Birka was sharing a table with Dexter Herron, another self-published author. I got his book Shard’s Thugs, which is epic fantasy from the perspective of goblins. I enjoyed it quite a bit. You can find his work here at: https://www.amazon.com/Dexter-C.-Herron/e/B00BRX1HP6/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1486681553&sr=8-1

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
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

Weekly Update Archive

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Conventions, Personal, Rush, Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Ghosts

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Week of 22-28 January

Greetings all

As many of you read on my blog or my Facebook, my father passed away on Sunday. It was not unexpected, but it has filled this week with contemplation and remembrance.

I’ve been staying with my friend Talina the last few days as she lives almost exactly halfway between Chattanooga and Manchester in Frederick, Maryland. This happens to be an area filled with history, and wallowing in that history as added to the contemplation and remembrance. Today, for example, I worked for several hours at a pub that was originally established in 1783 as Hagan’s Tavern. Then, since it was such a beautiful day, I drove around and ended up at the Antietam battlefield.

The sunken road and Burnside’s Bridge are filled with ghosts. Both were especially bloody places, and it’s easy to see from the terrain why. Odd to walk on that ground. Dad and I often talked about all sorts of interesting places we each saw over the years.

Ghosts.

Quote of the Week
Tomorrow I’m off to New Hampshire. I may do a field trip during the day on Friday before setting up for Birka. We’ll see. There are ghosts up there too. In some ways, I’m one of them, ghosting through the miles.

Carry all those phantoms
Through bitter wind and stormy skies
From the desert to the mountain
From the lowest low to the highest high
Like a ghost rider
– Rush, Ghost Rider

News and Works in Progress
– I’ve overcome some of the challenges and made great progress on Where Now the Rider. Smooth sailing for a bit until I figure out the right order to arrange the climactic scenes.

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

  • 27-28 January: Market Day in Birka, Manchester, NH
  • 3-5 March: CoastCon, Biloxi, MS
  • 12-20 March: Gulf Wars, Lumberton, MS
  • 28-30 April: Planet Comicon, Kansas City, MO

Spotlight

I had a great conversation with Melissa Gay at the LibertyCon party this weekend. I especially love her starscapes, but she is a great artist and you can find her work at: http://www.melissagay.com/

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
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

Weekly Update Archive

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Conventions, Shijuren, Sports, Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Loved and Lost

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Week of 15-21 January

Greetings all

  • Tomorrow I’ll be heading out towards Chattanooga for ChattaCon. Here’s my schedule for the weekend. As you can, it’s an interesting set of panels. Going to be a lot of fun.
  • Friday 5pm in Finley
    Writer’s Workshop – What Gives Characters Depth? Writing the well-rounded character.
  • Saturday 11am in Classroom B
    Special Interest- Is “Moana” Disney’s Lord of the Rings?
  • Saturday 4pm in the Dealer Lobby
    Author Meet and Sign
  • Saturday 5pm in Finley
    No Camelot’s, Shires or Hogwarts Here!
  • Saturday 7pm in Classroom B
    Gaslighting in the 21st Century
  • Sunday 10am in Finley
    Special Interest – Futuristic Variations on the Locked Room Mystery
  • Sunday 1pm in Classroom B
    Special Interest Panel – The Power of Storytelling

Quote of the Week

Well, this past Sunday was a frustrating day for me. If you didn’t watch the game, let me tell you that the Cowboys-Packers game was one that will be shown over and over. It’s an instant classic. Sadly, the Packers won, basically because Aaron Rodgers is playing quarterback as well as anyone ever has right now. I’m proud of the Cowboys though, they got down 21-3 early but clawed their way back into it and I’m convinced that if the game had gone into overtime they would have won it. It was not to be. I was crushed, as I always am when the Cowboys are out of contention for the Super Bowl.

Some friends of mine who don’t get sports ask my why I get so invested in sports. Each season is so likely to end in sadness, after all. In the NFL, only 1 of 32 teams lifts the Lombardi Trophy each year. That’s 3.125% chance each year. The Cowboys went into the playoffs as the best team in the NFC and had less than a 25% chance of winning it all according to Football Outsiders. And they were a great team. Sports is filled with heartache.

But when your team wins, as I’ve had the pleasure of seeing a number of times in my life, there’s a feeling that you just can’t describe. I often trot out Wallace Stevens “death is the mother of beauty” quote when I’m talking about character lifespan. In a sense, every year’s disappointment makes those years when one of your teams wins it all priceless.

Though usually used for love and romantic relationships, this week’s quote is just as valid for a sports fan. It is the answer to those who wonder.

I hold it true, whate’er befall;
I feel it when I sorrow most;
‘Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

– Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “In Memoriam A.H.H.”

News and Works in Progress

– Where Now the Rider is getting there. I’m fighting some balancing and timing questions, as I’m trying to weave a couple of different threads. I’m pushing my writing skills in the sense that this is a more complex puzzle than either of the ones in A Lake Most Deep and The Eyes of a Doll and I want to get it right.

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

  • – 22 January: ChattaCon, Chattanooga, TN
  • – 27-28 January: Market Day in Birka, Manchester, NH
  • – 3-5 March: CoastCon, Biloxi, MS
  • – 12-20 March: Gulf Wars, Lumberton, MS
  • – 28-30 April: Planet Comicon, Kansas City, MO

Spotlight

One of the people I get to sit on panels this weekend is Stephanie Osborn. She’s a real life rocket scientist who is also an author. I especially enjoy her Sherlock Holmes Misplaced Detective series. You can find her work at:

https://www.amazon.com/Stephanie-Osborn/e/B0026DM46M/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_2?qid=1484720511&sr=8-2

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
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

Weekly Update Archive

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Rob Howell
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels
www.robhowell.org

Conventions, Fiction, Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Happy New Year

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Week of 8-14 January, 2017

Greetings all

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. This past holiday season was the busiest I’ve had in a long time. It knocked my off-schedule quite a bit, but life sometimes has to take precedence, and for both good and bad reasons I lived a lot of life in the past month.

But we’re back to the grind. I’m in the editing process for Where Now the Rider. It’s a more complex plot than the others I’ve written in some ways, and I’m enjoying twisting the threads together. I think you’ll like the story when it’s done. I’ve pushed back the release date until the end of February, both because of the holidays and to make it right.

Also, since I’m low on books, I did updates to both A Lake Most Deep and I Am a Wondrous Thing. In general, the updates are minor. Mostly the Sisyphean task of fixing typos that crept through the editing process. I did update the cover on A Lake Most Deep both to match the Wondrous Thing cover style, but also because I added the first few chapters of The Eyes of a Doll to the end. Once I get Where Now the Rider done I’ll do the same to The Eyes of a Doll.

Quote of the Week

I love this quote from Neil Gaiman. It’s the perfect one for the start of a new year.

“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re doing something.”

– Neil Gaiman

News and Works in Progress

  • Editing Where Now the Rider
  • Slight updates to A Lake Most Deep in preparation for new stock, including small updates to the cover
  • Updated I Am a Wondrous Thing to fix some typos

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

  • 22 January: ChattaCon, Chattanooga, TN
  • 27-28 January: Market Day in Birka, Manchester, NH
  • 3-5 March: CoastCon, Biloxi, MS
  • 12-20 March: Gulf Wars, Lumberton, MS
  • 28-30 April: Planet Comicon, Kansas City, MO

Spotlight

Starting the new year with the spotlight on an interesting man who makes much of his living restoring old books. However, he also writes his own, which you can find at: https://www.amazon.com/James-Downey/e/B005EZ05JM

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
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

Weekly Update Archive

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Moving Faster

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Greetings all

I sent a draft to my editors and alpha readers Sunday. It’s complete, except for the reveal and ending. I actually have several of those laid out and ready to go, depending upon who I decide is the villain. As I said last week, I usually have one in mind, but sometimes that just doesn’t make for a great ending.

One of the great things about getting a draft gone, I’m so excited that I have loads of energy that I get a bunch of the things I’ve put on the backburner completed or furthered. My email box went from 40+ on Sunday to 18 on Monday. In the last two days I’ve also written an amazing poem that I’ll post in a month or so, and a group of SCA scroll texts.

Later I’ll do some yardwork and clean house.

I sort of feel like the USS Enterprise, CVN-65, when she had to get somewhere faster than her escorts could go. With 8 nuke plants, she could make some good time, despite being around 95,000 tons. Her rated speed was 33.6 kn (38.7 mph; 62.2 km/h), but with a motto of “Eight Reactors, None Faster,” I think we can all assume she could do just a tad better than that, whenever she was unburdened by ships including ones nicknamed the greyhounds of the sea.

Sorry, I ship-geeked for a moment. It happens. Especially today.

Quote of the Week
I’m hitting send at 7:55am Hawaii Time. There’s only one quote applicable today.

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”
– Franklin Delano Roosevelt

News and Works in Progress

  • – Where Now the Rider is at the editors
  • – Cleaning house

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

  • – Nothing, I’ve been catching up. Wiki will be updated significantly next week

Upcoming Events

  • – 10 December: Kris Kinder, Kansas City, MO
  • – 22 January: ChattaCon, Chattanooga, TN
  • – 27-28 January: Market Day in Birka, Manchester, NH
  • – 3-5 March: CoastCon, Biloxi, MS
  • – 12-20 March: Gulf Wars, Lumberton, MS

Spotlight

Today’s spotlight is Em Holbert, otherwise known as Emer nic Aiden in the SCA. She’s an amazing performer. Find her stuff at: https://emholbert.bandcamp.com/

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
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

Weekly Update Archive

Fiction, Shijuren, Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Closing In

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Week of 27 November – 4 December

Greetings all

Things are moving along on Where Now the Rider. I’m in the 90s in word count. I’m at the cleaning up and setting up the conclusion stage. Really close.

This time of year is always interesting. I’m stressing about getting the next book done, but this is also my normal time to upgrade and clean my house. Some new landscaping, two toilets replaced, and a lot of emptying of closets.

Isn’t it odd how much decluttering makes us happier?

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and things are going well towards Christmas.

Quote of the Week

This day, 30 November, in 1900, one of my favorite quote machines, Oscar Wilde, passed away.

When I bought this house, I walked into the master bedroom and said to myself, “That’s the worst wallpaper I’ve seen.” Then I went into the mother-in-law suite which had wallpaper consisting of button images in a variety of patterns. I said to myself, “No, no that’s not the worst wallpaper I’ve ever seen.” If the room was darker, the buttons followed you across the room like eyes in a Scooby Doo cartoon.

So, today’s quote is Oscar Wilde’s comment about the wallpaper in his room just before he died.

“My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or other of us has got to go.”
– Oscar Wilde

News and Works in Progress

  • – Where Now the Rider (91k)

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

  • – Nothing new, but lots coming soon after I finish the draft of Where Now the Rider and get the wiki updated before release.

Upcoming Events

  • – 10 December: Kris Kinder, Kansas City, MO
  • – 22 January: ChattaCon, Chattanooga, TN
  • – 27-28 January: Market Day in Birka, Manchester, NH
  • – 3-5 March: CoastCon, Biloxi, MS
  • – 12-20 March: Gulf Wars, Lumberton, MS

Spotlight

This week’s spotlight is on Mark Wandrey. I really enjoy his Earth Song series. You can find his books at: https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Wandrey/e/B00914T11A/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1480562390&sr=8-1

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
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

Weekly Update Archive

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Fiction, Weekly Update

Weekly Update: Thanksgiving

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Greetings all

One of the things I’m most thankful for is all of you who subscribe to this email. Thank you very much.

I’m also thankful as Where Now the Rider is flowing along. I actually cut a bunch out that I did not like but I’m back up to 77k words with a number of scenes percolating. I’m now to the waffling about the bad guy stage.

Yes, I write mysteries without knowing who the bad guy will be. Oh, I usually have an idea but I’m not wedded to the idea. I get close to the end and then I figure it out. I also let my alpha readers guess, and if they guess my idea too easily then I need to change the mystery somehow. My initial bad guy in A Lake Most Deep was too obvious so I changed who it was.

Does that mean I have to go back and add and change clues? Yep, but I actually don’t know how to write a story without going back and changing stuff to meet the final ending. Often, it’s merely adding flavor words here and there. Maybe a sentence or a paragraph. Sometimes, it’s creating or filling out characters to make other potential suspects.

It might not be the “right” process, but it’s a process that works for me, and I’m thankful for that too. For more that I’m thankful about, check out my Thanksgiving blog post at: https://robhowell.org/blog/?p=517

Quote of the Week

I haven’t read it in decades, but I loved Erma Bombeck’s The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank when I was a kid. Maybe it helped her sense of humor, but she was one tough lady. She dealt with a kidney condition for most of her life and still beat breast cancer. I’m thankful she lived long enough to give us her sense of the world, and this quote has always spoken to me.

“Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.”
– Erma Bombeck

News and Works in Progress

  • – Where Now the Rider is up to 77k

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

  • – 10 December: Kris Kinder, Kansas City, MO
  • – 22 January: ChattaCon, Chattanooga, TN
  • – 27-28 January: Market Day in Birka, Manchester, NH
  • – 3-5 March: CoastCon, Biloxi, MS
  • – 12-20 March: Gulf Wars, Lumberton, MS

Spotlight

I’ve been doing a lot of re-arranging of late, and that has included putting up some of the art that I’ve gathered along the way. One of those pieces was this one by Sam Flegal: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5714279c7da24f0475e0cfe3/57142ba47da24f0475e0e9e7/57142baa7da24f0475e0e9fd/1461937124629/LibertyorDeath_watermark1.jpg?format=1500w

You can see a bunch more cool art from him at: http://www.samflegal.com/

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.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Rob Howell
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Currently Available Works

Weekly Update Archive

Conventions, Shijuren, Sports, Weekly Update

Weekly Update: The Unforgiving Minute

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Week of 13-19 November

Greetings all

I’ve spent much of this past week re-organizing and cleaning my garage / shop. I’ve made huge progress and can soon do some projects, which is great because I find myself generating writing ideas as I work with my hands.

I’m moving along well on Where Now the Rider, too. I’ve also been working on a few poems, some for the SCA and some for Shijuren. I have a sneaking suspicion I’ll be publishing a collection of Shijuren-themed poetry someday.

In general, I’ve filled the unforgiving minute well.

Quote of the Week
I’m a huge fan of the Dallas Cowboys. Have been since I was 4. Yesterday, Tony Romo, the quarterback of the Cowboys, showed what kind of man he is. I have a blog post about what he did here: https://robhowell.org/blog/?p=496.

I didn’t intend to quote from Kipling two weeks in a row, but If is too appropriate. Tony Romo has filled his unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run and more.

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
– If, Rudyard Kipling

News and Works in Progress
– Getting Where Now the Rider finished is my main focus right now
– Starting to add things to the wiki from Where Now the Rider. You can find some links below.

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

  • – Decided against going to Toys for Tots to get various projects done
  • – 10 December: Kris Kinder, Kansas City, MO
  • – 22 January: ChattaCon, Chattanooga, TN
  • – 27-28 January: Market Day in Birka, Manchester, NH
  • – 3-5 March: CoastCon, Biloxi, MS
  • – 12-20 March: Gulf Wars, Lumberton, MS

Spotlight
This week’s spotlight is on Amanda S. Green. I especially enjoy the Honor and Duty series she co-writes.

Her author page at Amazon is at: https://www.amazon.com/Amanda-S.-Green/e/B004TYLM96/ref=sr_tc_2_rm?qid=1479327165&sr=1-2-ent

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
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels
Website: www.robhowell.org
Blog: www.robhowell.org/blog
Shijuren Wiki: http://www.shijuren.org/World+of+Shijuren+Home
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/robhowell.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Rhodri2112

Currently Available Works
A Lake Most Deep (Edward, Bk 1)
The Eyes of a Doll (Edward, Bk 2)
I Am a Wondrous Thing (The Kreisens, Bk 1)

Weekly Update Archive