It’s been a good productive week here. I made progress on Brief Is My Flame, some of which moved to None Call Me Mother.
One of the challenges to writing these books is that I have some clues and hints that I want to spread out to the end of both books. At end, you’ll all find out the answer to the riddle, but I want to make it possible to answer before the conclusion of None Call Me Mother. It’s like my mysteries. I want it possible for readers to figure out the answer, but I want to make it difficult.
This week I did quite a bit of filling in hints and tidbits that will ultimately show up as a chain. Often, as in the mysteries, it’s simply an adjective here, an adverb there, or one more sentence.
I like that part quite a bit, so it was especially fun to play around this week.
Anyway, I also threw about 1000 words at the Four Horsemen novel I’ve been planning. For that one, when I have a chunk jumping to come out, it’s stupid for me not to write it, even though I’m aiming to finish around Thanksgiving.
This past weekend was Easter and, to be honest, my sweetie and I simply lazed about together. We made Easter baskets for each other, which was fun for all of us, though there is some discussion as to who gets one of the stuffed sheep. It should be me, of course, but border raiding has commenced.
This week I’ll keep plugging away. I’m over the top of the hill, and looking down. A long way to go, but I can see the ending.
Current Playlist Song
“Rescue Me,” by KXM. I picked up KXM because the musicians in it all play in bands I really like. The least of those bands is Dokken, but I’ve always enjoyed George Lynch’s guitar work. Korn is fantastic, especially in their way of melding sounds that should not work together in way to make the whole greater than the sum. Ray Luzier is their drummer. Finally, there’s Dug Pinnick, who comes from King’s X. If it weren’t for Rush, King’s X might be my favorite band.
Anyway, these guys seem to view KXM as a place that they can push their own personal boundaries without necessarily sticking to the sound of their regular work. It’s great stuff.
Quote of the Week
Today is the birthday of Bert Blyleven. When I was young, he pitched for the Texas Rangers and became one of my favorite players. I loved Chris Berman’s nickname for him: Bert “Be Home” Blyleven. I also loved watching his incredible curveball. He’s an interesting guy, too, which you know if you listen to him call Minnesota Twins games. How interesting? Well, here’s what he said about baseball’s Hall of Fame:
“Getting into the Hall of Fame won’t change me. I’m still going to pass gas and pick my nose like I always do.” – Bert Blyleven
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
This week’s interview is with Tiffanie Gray, a renaissance woman in many ways, as you’ll see.
What is your quest? To have fun, make beautiful things, to learn and grow, and hopefully to make a little money on the way.
I have never had formal lessons. But, I have had many mentors along the way, both personal and book/video. I love Boris Vallejo’s work, and it definitely has influenced me, as has old Bob Ross videos which a discovered a couple of years ago! I’ve read the Lord of the Rings 4 times (one time in a single weekend while I was babysitting!), Mercedes Lackey, the Dragon Riders of Pern, the Chronicles of Narnia and so many other stories and authors. I would say that my favorite story of all time, though is Jonathon Livingston Seagull. I guess it came at a good time in my life and has always stuck with me.
I’m creative it so many ways, it’s hard for me to stick with one. If you look up the book “Refuse to Choose”, I am a scanner by their definition, of the Serial Master/Sybil type. That means that I have several things that I want to master, and will come back to them over and over in a circle to increase the mastery level and as the Sybil, I keep finding new things to add to my list!
My creations have gone in cycles, and I’ve added more, as it went. As a child, I wrote stories from a very young age. I still have my first written story from second grade, about Pegasuses. My drawing came next, but it was, like my stories, very crude. Embroidery and crocheting were next, followed by sewing, then pattern design, wood carving and burning, and then macrame. All of that was by high school. Stories and drawing were still developing, but I was by no means a prodigy in them. I really wanted to do book cover design and so studied and read everything I could on it. After a year of community college I joined the US Army at 17 years old. I turned 18 during basic training.
What was I thinking?
Military life slowed some of the mastery levels down, though it added some new ones, and marriage and family took another chunk out of my creative time! But, once I was out of the military, I really started working on art again, and made a number of leaps and bounds as I learned how to manipulate colored pencils. I started really getting into portraits, mostly fantasy portraits of the characters we were playing in our weekly D&D/ShadowRun/GURPS/Battletech games.
As we played, my story telling abilities were growing, too. I kept being frustrated, though, by Hollywood stealing all my story ideas, and partials, and turning them into movies before I could get them finished and published…..
Then I found Project Dogwaffle…The funny little paint program with the funny little name. I had wanted to learn oil and water color, and this looked like the answer, especially since I couldn’t afford Corel, the giant at the time and had too many kids in the house and not enough money/space to try Pigment Media. I have worked with Dogwaffle, since free version 1.2, until it was renamed PD Pro. During that time I became a beta tester for the program, and then it was renamed PD Howler (It’s current name), and I’m still a beta tester for it. Now I also do tutorials and webinars on it. I specialize in Landscapes and graphic design, and 3D art and texturing using it.
At the same time I was teaching myself Web design, I designed and administered websites for 3 non-profit companies. I improved in sewing and added beadworking and wire jewelry making and creating Celtic knotwork, both in art and in cord and wire.
I was also sewing and designing Renaissance costumes, for our family and for sale and learning blackwork embroidery, homeschooling 5 kids, improving acting, singing and dance skills. I also edited 2 books, several short stories and designed covers for them, for my husband and my niece. I wrote some short stories and did the covers for them too. Published on Amazon. But, I wasn’t thrilled with my skills on that so, I knew I needed to find something else to improve it. So I started leaning how to create clothing and avatars for Second Life, mostly at the urging of my kids, so that they could get free stuff.
Once the kids were all out of the house, I started putting my mind to getting better at the art and the writing. I really started working on DAZ Studio and Poser, which I had owned for some time, but had never conquered. Now, I theoretically had the means to make covers! In a very short time. I was joining writing groups and working on things, and mostly percolating ideas and skills at this time. I also went to Beauty College, followed by Instructor’s College, so I have a Master Instructor of Cosmetology License and am licensed in Oklahoma, Colorado and working on North Dakota. I owned and managed my own shop in Colorado before we moved. And I was my husband’s legal assistant during that time. Now he is a high school teacher and we are living on a reservation, so I have a little more time again…
I still only have the 3 short stories and a coloring book published, but I have 3 novels that are more than ½ done. I took a side trip into texture design for 3D works, and have 3 stores with my products in them. So, another thing I’m working on mastering! I also really need to update my websites and get my galleries up and running. If I could work on one thing, or at least one thing at at a time, I might accomplish more, but there isn’t anything that I want to give up, so I’ll have to keep developing slowly.
(ed. note: Tiffanie does stuff… 🙂 )
What is your favorite color? Blue is my favorite color. It’s hard for me NOT to have blue in a picture or even a story. (I have a lot of blue eyed characters!) Practice is my biggest ally, and curiosity…ie, how can I do this thing? What does this thing do? What happens if I do this? While it may cause a mistake, those mistakes help you to learn/grow.
If I’m doing portraits, I always start with the eyes, they are the windows of the soul, and the place that people notice likeness the most. I love contrast, but it took me a long time to be willing to have ENOUGH contrast in a picture to really create the atmosphere and mood.
What is the average flying speed of an unladen paint brush? Pleasing judges is my biggest frustration. I have never won a prize, even though I was really proud of the image that I created. I have sold very few copies of my books, another marker of judging by the public, and I know that it is more a product of people’s taste/opinion than it is of my skills, but it is frustrating. And moreover, I also know that marketing is the death of me. I will eventually have to add that to my repertoire, if I am going to have more than lukewarm success.
Like Bob Ross says, there are no mistakes, just happy accidents. I have gotten very down on myself at times, before I learned and REALLY accepted that saying. And I still have problems with it, as I am a first born perfectionist. Children help you to learn that. I have had several colored pencil pieces that children have “helped” on. Then I had to figure out how to incorporate it into the image. With digital, I can usually just “undo” something that I really love about it! For writing, Losing several pages of work, everyone has had that pain. You just write again, and it’s often better, because it’s like self-editing! For Sewing? Sewing a pleated skirt to a lined bodice and having part inside and part outside, making a lovely mobius strip…we laughed, took pictures, and then slowly seam-ripped it apart.
Prior to following along with Bob Ross
What are the powers of your personal Holy Hand Grenade? When I was in my local chapter of the CPSA, there was a guy, Don Pearson, who was quite famous for his landscapes. I felt that I could never achieve anything like that. When I started working on PD Howler, I made some tries, but still didn’t feel like it was up to the level that he did, or frankly even that I wanted to get to. But, when I started practicing along with the Bob Ross videos, I suddenly started making huge leaps of skill, because I was gaining information that I didn’t have before. Now, I have my tablet, and continue to build on those beginnings, and I’m very proud of my landscapes and have sold several packs of background images and am getting ready to set up stores at Fine Art America.com and Zazzle.com so that other folks can enjoy my art too!
After following along with Bob Ross
Lightning Round
Favorite Muppet? Grover…And I can mimic him, too, and Yoda. Though if you are including ALL muppets, then Fizzgig from the Dark Crystal.
Crunchy or Creamy? Potatoes- Crunchy, Whip Cream– Creamy
Favorite Sports Team? Rutgar’s Jugger Team, which I don’t think had an actual name for the team.
Cake or Pie? Cookies is best. Pie, with ice cream, though Spice Cake and Black Forest and Cheesecake with fruit toppings are up there. The more important part is icing…only buttercream will do unless it’s on the aforementioned cakes.
Lime or Lemon? Lemon. Always.
Favorite Chip Dip? Guacomole. But my way is smashed avacado mixed with about an equal part of sour cream or greek yogurt if I’m out of sour cream, nothing else. Ranch dip would be next, but I prefer that with vegis.
Wet or Dry? Water I prefer wet, sodas too. Chips I prefer dry, and towels. Dog and Horses – Dry, Fish-wet
Favorite Musical Performer We’ve Never Heard Of? Tim Gray, Jon Reneau, Tullamore, Serafem or Boru’s Ghost. (Though the last two are groups, though, not individuals) For commercial successes Mercedes Lackey, Heather Alexander, Alexander James Adams, Leslie Fish, Silly Wizard, Nightwish and Within Temptation you’ve probably heard of.
Whisky or Whiskey? I’m allergic to alcohol, and have issues with American spelling, but I work on it.
Favorite Superhero? Original Luke Skywalker
Steak Temperature? Medium Rare.
Favorite 1970s TV show? Mork and Mindy, Chips, World of Disney (Sunday movie), Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom
Winter, Spring, Summer, or Fall? Spring- the flowers are blooming, the weather is still cool, everything is bright and renewing!
Favorite Pet? Gray’s Jackie Mo Kida Toy (aka Jackie) – Pomeranian. He is about 13 years old now, and weights about 3 lbs. He thinks he is a human or a cat (is there a difference?). He loves to travel, and will bark and pout if he doesn’t get to go with us. We have 3 cats; Fuzzbot-a siamese look-alike, Yuriel Storm Tiger (aka Tiny Tiger) a strange grey tabby that we think was part wild cat, and October (aka Little Cat) a black, ½ Russian Blue. But they are my hubby’s favorites, and you said I could only have one favorite!
Best Game Ever? GURPS!!!! Because you can play in any universe with it!
Coffee or Tea? Bengal Spice Tea, Postum or Pero. Never coffee!
Sci-Fi or Fantasy? Yes, though with a slight bias towards Fantasy.
What would you like to ask me: While walking around Wales, did you encounter any Good Folk?
My answer: I don’t know that I encountered any Fae during my walk through Wales. I did have magical moments, though. There’s a Bronze Age hillfort that I rested in as I climbed the Black Mountains. Then, from the top, looking over the valley to the east was amazing.
There’s an age to Wales. The hills are rounded. The land has that comfortable lived in feeling of your favorite chair. Is that the doing of the Tylwyth Teg or Sidhe? I don’t know but I do know that history sinks into in that place if you let it. When you’re on the path and you literally are the only person around, it’s hard not to let it.
Final question for you: What should I have asked but did not?
Have I every been in a beauty pageant? Yes, Miss Teen Arizona, I was in the top 100, but didn’t make it past there.
Do you play an instrument? Yes, I play Piano, Flute, Penny Whistle, Guitar, all badly. I sing well.
Have you ever been Soldier of the Year? Yes, at Ft. Meade, MD (I also competed in the Eastern CONUS Soldier of the Year, but came in second…which counts for nothing, as it is neither a horseshoe or a hand grenade.)
Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate or White Chocolate? Dark Chocolate, followed closely by White Chocolate.
Thanks Tiffanie, for the interview. You are definitely a creator with almost no media unturned. Now, I’ll just crawl back to my keyboard and do my one, little creative thing 😉
If you are a creator, especially an independent creator, and you want to be spotlighted in a future interview, email me at rob@robhowell.org.
Also, if you want to join my mailing list, where I’ll announce every interview, as well as what’s going on in my life, go to www.robhowell.org and fill out the form (Name and Email Address) or drop me an email and I’ll add you.
First, thanks to all the people who joined the mailing list at Gulf Wars. I finally got a chance to add you this week.
This week in general was a week of catching up on things that need doing. I added a new regular feature to the blog, which I hope will become a weekly event. I’ll be interviewing a number of independent creators with a partly whimsical set of questions that will still talk about different creative methods. I think it’ll be pretty fun for all of us.
The big project this week has been catching up on A Lake Most Deep audiobook files. Yes, you read that right, the audiobook is a-coming round the mountain. All the chapters have now been recorded, and I’m going through each one to catch any mistakes. I’m still not sure of a release date, but by the end of next week I will have gone through all the recordings. We’re getting close there.
That took away from my writing, though, so I’m only around 54000 words in Brief Is My Flame, though I’m really pleased with where things are going. The two main threads are both progressing, and each have the kind of action I lead to read.
If I don’t enjoy reading a book, I can’t expect you to enjoy it either, and I’m enjoying it.
Current Playlist Song
“Gaudete” by Steeleye Span
I just got a new Steeleye Span album, which I will soon add to my writing playlist. Another is on the way. If you don’t know these guys, they do a bunch of traditional English and British Isles folk songs and mixing them with the 60s and 70s folk and rock traditions. Great stuff, especially “Saucy Sailor,” one of my favorite songs.
Quote of the Week
Today is opening day of baseball. In my mind, this should be a national holiday, so this week’s quote is a longer one. However, it’s a great one, delivered by a fantastic actor.
The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again. Oh…people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.”
― Terence Mann (James Earl Jones), Field of Dreams
This week’s spotlight is on Chaz Kemp, who is a great artist and also my guinea pig on the new interview feature. The interview link is here: https://robhowell.org/blog/?p=976.
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
I’m back and mostly recovered from Gulf Wars. From a professional point of view, it was a productive time. I got lots written. I’ve finally broken the 50k barrier in Brief Is My Flame while tossing some towards None Call Me Mother.
I also sold enough to pay the gas and site fee. With this success, I made some new plans to expand my merchanting by getting my own booth at Gulf. I’m excited as it’s another step forward for me.
However, I did not have as much fun as I have had at such events before. These two things are not unrelated.
Basically, I came home from fairly long days and simply didn’t have as much energy as I wished to participate in the fun. Mostly, this was because I was so tired of talking to people that I needed to retreat.
Next year I’ll have my own spot, which will hopefully make things go a little smoother since I won’t be juggling two different camps. I won’t be on the corner in Calontir, but frankly, when I got home after working I wasn’t able to do the job of welcoming people to Calontir properly anyway. I’ll miss that spot, which I’ve occupied for the past fifteen years or so, but it’s time to move on.
I’d been contemplating expanding my wares to include stuff on consignment, other books, CDs, stuff we’ll make when we get a shop, and things that Giulia wants to make. By July I hope to have enough to sell to reasonably fill the front of my pavilion.
Over the past few years, Master Andrixos, the greatest trim monger I know and the owner of Calontir Trim, has greatly helped me. He’s taught me much of what’s involved in being a merchant and he’s done me any number of favors. I can’t thank him enough for his help.
But it’s time for me to have my own home at most events.
Current Playlist Song
Humorously, as I talk about taking the next leap into the wine-dark sea, the current song is Styx’s “Come Sail Away.”
Quote of the Week
Today’s quote is how my life seems as my professional life adapts alongside the personal one. I see a great future, but I have to muddle my way through the present.
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
– Bilbo Baggins, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
News and Works in Progress
TAV (1,144)
AFS (2,681)
Brief Is My Flame (50,597)
Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions
Nothing new but check the blog on Tuesday as I’ll be adding a recurring feature.
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
I’ve been at Gulf Wars all week long and it’s been, as usual, productive. I spend the day in Calontir Trim writing and talking to customers. I sell pretty well, and I get lots of words on the page.
Today has been a little slow, though, as I shut down the Calontir Party last night. I might have needed a nap.
We’ve another day and a half of sales, then hoping to pack out on Saturday. We’ll see though, as the day tends to be really long. If I can do it, though, I can get to Hattiesburg, maybe even Jackson, and Sunday’s drive is much easier because I start earlier with a good shower.
As with all wars, it will be good to get home and see my sweetie. These events are lots of fun, and, as I’ve already said, productive, but they are also exhausting.
Current Playlist Song: None, actually, as I’m sitting in a tent listening to the wind blow the canvas and people having fun stepping out of time.
Quote of the Week
We always sing Warrior’s Wyrd by Ivar Battleskald many times during Gulf Wars. This year we sang it in honor of one of our own, Duane Nelson, who lost his battle with cancer this past weekend. The last line is: “If you do sing his song, truly the warrior never dies.”
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
Wow, what a week it has been. Since the last time we talked, I took my sweetie on a mini-vacation, wrote a bunch, and traveled many hundreds of miles. I sit at the moment in the Keg and Barrel in Hattiesburg, MS getting some work done.
The mini-vacation was excellent. We roamed around western Iowa, starting off with the Lucky Pig restaurant in Ogden. It was pretty darn tasty, and the pig was especially lucky since we had steaks.
Then we headed to the Hotel Pattee in Perry, IA. This place is awesome. It’s beautiful, with an excellent restaurant, and a pretty good, if limited bar. Each room is themed. We stay in the Welsh Room, which had a Dylan Thomas quote (not the one you expect) painted in both English and Welsh as well as a collection of his poetry. The furniture is all antiques, and there were a variety of Welsh-themed items like a framed version of “Men of Harlech” with both the lyrics and music.
We’ll be back. In fact, we should have stayed there the next night, but we’ll get back to that in a moment.
We left the Hotel Pattee to go south to Winterset, which is the home of the Iowa Quilt Museum and John Wayne’s Birthplace. It also has a yarn store, a quilt store, some interesting antique places, and a great cafe. Well worth the time to spend a weekend there.
From that point we headed west towards Omaha. We stayed the night in Greenfield, but the Greenfield hotel was not what we hoped. The lobby and exterior are beautiful, and the room was a step above a motel, but it was essentially much like staying at a Motel 6, only about twice the price. Will not go back.
On the way back we stopped at what I call a Swiss restaurant. It’s Moreau Backerei and Pizzeria. A French name of a German bakery serving italian food is about the most Swiss thing ever. It was quite good. Will go back.
From there we headed home, with one side trip to Red Oak, IA. Red Oak is about an hour from Omaha, but there was a beautiful house that my sweetie thought might be worth that kind of a commute and we were able to get to see it. It is, indeed, a beautiful house, in our price range, and with all we want. Except a back yard. Probably won’t be our choice. Sigh.
Anyway, it was a great trip. We got back in time for me to do final preparations and some writing. I made a lot of progress, again writing about 10k words, though only a couple of thousand will show on the total for Brief Is My Flame as more keeps getting added to None Call Me Mother. As I get closer to finishing a draft for Brief Is My Flame, I’ll start organizing the leftovers and providing you a running total of None Call Me Mother. Expect that to start in April.
Now I’m in Hattiesburg, and tomorrow I’ll get on site for Gulf Wars. I set up my tent tomorrow. Saturday we set up Calontir Trim and my portion of the booth. Sunday through Saturday we sell, and then pack up on Sunday the 18th and leave.
In the past I’ve written quite a bit at wars, because I sit there with my laptop in the booth and write until people come up. I expect to be close to a final draft of Brief Is My Flame by the end of the week, with a goal to get it out by the end of the month.
With that, I’ll get back to writing… and trying local IPAs.
Current Playlist Song: None, since I’m sitting in a place that actually doesn’t really play music overhead. So, I’ll pick something I’ve heard recently. The first song on the trip was Chic’s “Le Freak.” Disco is a guilty pleasure. I grew up in the 70s. Sue me.
Quote of the Week
Any week is a good time for a Kipling quote, but after roaming and finding treasures in Iowa and now coming to an SCA war where there are always 15 seconds of magic that make the trip worthwhile just by themselves, this quote comes to mind:
“The wild hawk to the wind-swept sky,
The deer to the wholesome wold,
And the heart of a man to the heart of a maid,
As it was in the days of old.”
– Rudyard Kipling, “The Gipsy Trail”
Today’s spotlight is on a guy I want to read more of, but have barely touched so far: Michael Scott Earle. He’s got quite a bit, with a pulp and early SF feel, and you can find his stuff at: https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Scott-Earle/e/B019QSNVA2/
Today’s Weight: 384.8
Updated Word Count: 17,821
Shijuren Wiki: 740 entries
Four Horsemen Wiki: 187 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
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels
Sorry that I’m a day late on my update. I was exhausted last night from not sleeping well the previous two nights, and I just went to bed early.
However, it was a pretty good week of writing with both Brief Is My Flame and None Call Me Mother. I mentioned last week that I had an epiphany and realized I needed to go about something backwards. I’ve cleaned up Brief Is My Flame, which sent 1000s of words to None Call Me Mother, but I have also broken the 40k barrier. Major progress there.
This despite a week focused on helping my sweetie through a major work thing. That’s done, and we’re going to take a mini-vacation starting tonight. We’ll ramble our way to Minneapolis generally on the blue highways.
We’ll see how much work I get done this week as we ramble. My sweetie has been working hard to get over this hump, and I want her to have a good time. I do have some sections just jumping out, though, so when I get opportunities, I’ll be productive.
This past week, I also went through and cleaned up my list of potential conventions. It’s something I’ve needed to do for a while, but part of that is because my sweetie kinda wants to know when I’ll be gone ahead of time. Shocking, I know. Anyway, I’ve added a number of upcoming events on that list. I have several others that I’m waiting on confirmation. Most of 2018 should be mapped out soon.
Now I’d better pack.
Current Playlist Song: Stop! by Jane’s Addiction. This is the opening song on Ritual de la Habitual, and it is one of my top five albums of all time. The radio song, Been Caught Stealing, is the one mediocre song on the album and Three Days might be may favorite song ever.
Quote of the Week
Quite possibly my favorite comedian provides this week’s quote:
I busted a mirror and got seven years bad luck, but my lawyer thinks he can get me five.
– Steven Wright
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
Greetings everyone, with a special shout out to all of those I added this week. Thanks for joining me here.
It was a busy week, highlighted by Planet Comicon. I had a great time, and it was my best year yet. You can find my full AAR at: https://robhowell.org/blog/?p=950.
One result from Planet Comicon is discovery of some more regional cons. You’ll see that I’ve added O Comic Con, an Omaha convention to my list. I’ve got several others I’m looking at in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Salina, and Hutchinson. Going to be a busy summer.
Sometimes the exhaustion of a busy con like Planet Comicon can help me think through things. I don’t have a solid number of words on Brief Is My Flame this week because I’m in the midst of switching something around. Basically, I had characters coming at something in one direction and that was fighting me. By flipping the direction, everything falls into place. The good news is that all the work I’ve done will go directly into None Call Me Mother.
I didn’t get a chance to do much writing on anything else. I did some work on the Wikis, but essentially this last week was about Planet Comicon and nothing else.
However, after I recover from a successful convention, I tend to get enthusiastic about where I am and what I’m doing. Sometimes writing is just a slog, but you gotta push through that. Not this week.
In fact, it’s time for me to get back to work.
Current Playlist Song: “Peaceable Kingdom” by Rush. Now Rush has effectively called it quits, but we thought that might be the case in the late 90s after a couple of tragedies made it so that Neil Peart didn’t want to play anymore. However, he came back and Rush gave us three brilliant albums: Vapor Trails, Snakes & Arrows, and Clockwork Angels. This one is from Vapor Trails.
Quote of the Week
Today is the birthday of Anthony Daniels. You might know him better as C-3PO. Here’s a quote from the man himself.
“I have a greater appreciation for kitchen appliances, having played one.” – Anthony Daniels
Today’s spotlight is on a just released novel in the Four Horsemen Universe, Assassin by Kacey Ezell and Marisa Wolf. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079YTRLFN/
Today’s Weight: 384.0
Updated Word Count: 14441
Shijuren Wiki: 738 entries
Four Horsemen Wiki: 159 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
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels
I’m home from my best Planet Comicon yet. As usual, I sold some books, met lots of people, chatted with other authors and artists, learned some stuff, and saw some great cosplays.
I should start by saying that my sales were significantly up from previous years. The big increase came from copies of For a Few Credits More. I think that this is a great sign, actually. Not everyone likes medieval fantasy, but my spiel might still be effective enough to get them interested in something by me, hence buying the military science fiction. When I add the superhero noir in the Pussy Katnip world, I’ll have another option available that ought to do real well at cons.
I saw on some of the lists that many other vendors thought the weekend was light on sales. It certainly seemed light for a Saturday, but it was my best Friday and Sunday yet for me. It might be that my sales were up with overall less traffic because I’m now a traditional regular with a larger variety of stuff, so both experiences might be valid. However, I was encouraged.
Once again, I was not on panels here. I’ve been waffling on that. On the one hand, it’s a good way to get in front of a bunch of people. On the other, I have almost no sales unless I’m the one at the booth. Next year, I think I’ll try it, though, if only to experiment.
In general, things went very smoothly in terms of setting up and tear down. My helper, the proto-incipient stepdaughter, did a great job. She doe snot shy away from work, that one.
She does the work so she can go be a total fangirl, and she got some loot, including a signed picture of Mark Sheppard, a photo with Alan Tudyk, a signed hat from Alan Tudyk, and some other stuff. She also got a signed picture of Alan from Tucker and Dale vs. Evil for her mom. I got her mom a coffee mug of Grumpy Cat as Darth Vader. It seemed appropriate for her.
Part of the fun for me is seeing all of my friends come by, many of whom came by in great costumes. I like that I get to be a bit of a base for several of them.
Probably the most fun part of the weekend came from the daughter of some SCA friends. Somehow, when they were in the line for Alice Cooper, the topic of Girl Scout cookies came up. So she brought Thin Mints and Caramel Delights for him and got a selfie, which he never does.
One thing that Comicon is good for is to let me know of other con opportunities. I have already applied for one here in Omaha I didn’t know about, and have several I’ll join in on this week. My summer’s going to be busy, I think.
So, in conclusion, I’ll see you all at Planet Comicon 2019.
I’m making my preparations for Planet Comicon. I hope to see all of you in the KC area there to join us. I’ll be at booth 2444, and it should be a great time. This is my third year there, and I’ve really enjoyed it.
There’s been a lot of navigating government websites this past week as I deal with state sales tax stuff. It always feels like a major accomplishment when I actually manage to get something tax related done. The behind the scenes stuff of being a writer is probably the worst thing.
Aside from imposter syndrome, which is endemic to us, I think.
Anyway, I got lots of stuff done on that side of things, as well as a goodly amount of writing. The breakthrough in Brief Is My Flame is coming, as I have my characters in places where things are bursting to happen.
I have also found out that I think I was a Jewish mother in a past life. I do most of the cooking around here, since I’m home writing during the day while my sweetie goes off to her 9 to 5 job. The only real problem is that I make too much food for her.
We didn’t do anything tonight for Valentine’s because she has a work project she is focused on and we decided to do something fun and whimsical when it’s complete. Still, I bought flowers and made steaks. However, I bought about three times the amount of steak she, I, and her daughter can eat. Yes, the steaks were high.
There are, I suppose, worse problems.
Current Playlist Song: This week’s song is the Olympic Theme, which is a fantastic song, actually.
Quote of the Week
Of course, the Winter Olympics are going on. I have them on in the background pretty much all the time. There are always great scenes of raw emotion as athletes give everything they got. Chloe Kim and Shaun White have been my favorites so far, as has the Matt Hamilton, the curler with the great mustache. Yeah, I love curling. It’s such a fun game to figure out the angles.
But the Winter Olympics are always defined for me by these words, from one of the most powerful moments in my life.
“Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”
– Al Michaels
News and Works in Progress
TAV (1144)
AFS (2681)
Brief Is My Flame (38567)
Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions
Lots of additions to the 4HU Wiki, especially in the area of alien races
As I inch closer to Brief Is My Flame, I have to start thinking cover art. Fortunately, Patrick McEvoy of http://www.megaflowgraphics.com/ has been a master at deciphering what I want from my strange clues.
Today’s Weight: 386.8
Updated Word Count: 13,335
Shijuren Wiki: 738 entries
Four Horsemen Wiki: 133 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
Author of the Shijuren-series of novels
