Tag Archives: Agatha Christie

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: At the P-Con Bar

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Week 39 of 2025

Greetings all!

I had a great time at P-Con! Thanks to Crystal and the crew for all their hard work.

I went with a variety of plans. First, I needed to recharge a bit with my crew. I saw a bunch of great people, including a huge contingent of Raconteur Press folks. More on them in a bit.

I was on 4 panels. One was a discussion of what fans are increasingly asking for, and that’s more action and adventure. Then, I moderated a panel about putting the science in science fiction. This was especially fun because I got to chat with Taylor Anderson, whose Destroyermen series is excellent. After that was a panel advising new writers on how best to submit to publishers. Finally, I was on a fun panel about sidekicks. All in all, a great list of panels.

But really, I went to socialize, as I said. I spent a ton of time doing just that in the P-Con bar. I had great conversations with a bunch of awesome folks, including Taylor Anderson, who I’d not me before, David Weber, Robb Hampson, as many Raconteur folks as I could find, and a bunch  more.

In particular, I also went with the hope to do more with Raconteur. They’re doing a bunch of cool stuff these days and I wanted to join their ship. I succeeded, with four or five different things going on I’ll be talking about as time goes by.

All in all, a great success.

I spent a goodly amount of time today working on one of the new projects. I’ll talk about it more in the coming weeks, but it’s something I’m really proud to be working on.

Speaking of projects, I had more Okkorim work this week, as we ramp up for the next G20 issue. Good stuff happening there.

Finally, this is the week we’re hosting Eragon at the Historic Anthony Theater! In addition, there are food and drink specials at a number of places downtown, so get your Dragon Burger at Petunia’s, Your Dragon Pizza at Kristy’s Kafe, and your Dragon Concoction at the Idle Hour (which is also hosting Oktoberfest Saturday). It’s going to be a lot of fun.

Hope to see some of you there!

What I’m Listening To

Miss Marple, which is of course another great BBC cozy mystery show. This one was the Body in the Library.

Quote of the Week

In Xanadu did Kublai Khan a stately pleasure dome decree

Happy birthday to Kublai Khan, born on this day in 1215, and who gives me an excuse to quote Coleridge.

Upcoming Events

  • I have a number of things in the works, but nothing confirmed yet.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 358.8lbs

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

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Lots of Feasting

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Week 49 of 2024

Greetings all

First, sorry about no update last week. I simply didn’t have time. I was too busy feasting!

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. We did, by going up to Wichita to visit the parents, feasting, and then napping.

After napping, I continued working on The Feasting of Vengeance. On the 14th of November, I reported here that I sat at 96,101 words. Over the next three weeks, I wrote 40k, ending up at about 136k.

Nearly all of that 40k was the final battle of Feasting, and I am beyond happy to report that I sent off the manuscript to Chris yesterday. This battle is tough, intense, exciting, and explosive. I loved re-reading it during the editing process.

We even have a planned release date of February 14th. Better yet, that happens to be the first day of FenCon, in Dallas!

So we’re having a 4HU party there, and if you’re coming to the con, make sure to join myself, Kevin Ikenberry, Fred Hughes, and hopefully other 4HU authors there.

This past weekend was also Anthony’s Market Fair, which I ended up running. It went reasonably well, but was exhausting.

Over this week, besides a bit of recovery, I’m turning my attention to Okkorim and maybe churning out a whimsical short story for Christmas.

Also going on, of course, is the upcoming release of Chernobog’s Wrath, which is the 3rd book of the Vechnoye Saga trilogy. That comes out on December 27th.

But  you can’t enjoy book 3 without feasting on the first 2! Get the Vechnoye Saga here: amazon.com/dp/B0DK4F2K5N.

Have a great week everyone!

What I’m Listening To

We’re binging Hercule Poirot with David Suchon this week.

Quote of the Week

Happy birthday to Walt Disney! Here’s a great quote from him, one of quite a few.

“Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.”
– Walt Disney

Dragon’s Tidings

We have our 1st birthday party coming up on December 21st!

Watch this spot for an extra special web deal for all you who’ve been along with the ride here.

Also, check our website (www.reddragonquilts.com)!

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)

Upcoming Events

  • Kris Kinder, December 14, Kansas City, Mo
  • Red Dragon Anniversary Party, December 21, Anthony, KS
  • 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’s release is the anthology Express Elevator to Hell, edited by Chris Kennedy and April Kelley Jones, with stories by 15 different (and amazing) authors. This is the first book in a new series called Universes at War, and I’m pretty proud of the stories we collected for you. There are eleven standalone stories (set usually in the authors’ own universes), as well as a 4-story braided novella. Inside you get a Buzzer War story from Kevin Ikenberry, a Prince of Britannia story from Fred Hughes, a Lost Marine story from William S. Frisbee, and much, much more! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DMCQS1TL.

This week’s pre-release is The Darkness, the second book in William S. Frisbee, Jr.’s series, The Conglomerate Trilogy. Did you like the Last Marines? Then you’re going to love this series! Bad things lurk in the darkness, and they aren’t going to be content to stay there much longer. Luke is going to need a lot of help if he’s to keep the darkness at bay… so what is he going to do when Topa Suresh suddenly disappears? Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DPL2BDNR.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 363.8lbs

Updated Word Count: 391,000

Firehall Sagas Archives: 758 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

Creator of the Firehall Sagas Universe

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: The Little Gray Cells

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Week 15 of 2020

Greetings all

Wow, what a major week of procrasti-projecting. I built a new bookcase for my SF/F magazines and spent part of the week not only shifting them around, but also organizing them. I now know just what treasure I have with those. It was so much fun.

Also, that led to organizing everything. So many small projects that I had just never gotten around to.

  • I now have a video camera on my computer. Well, I’ve had it for a while, but not actually plugged it in. I’ll be doing some FB Live stuff or YouTube things when I figure some things out.
  • I got a new color laser all-in-one. I’ve needed that functionality for a while. I rearranged the office and my printing setup is much more organized.
  • I organized my inventory. I now have a standard loadout for small events. I’ve needed this for a while as well.
  • I also made huge progress on my next short story. I may even finish the first draft tomorrow, giving me all week to polish it.
  • I had some great news, and a neat vote of confidence given to me.
  • Oh, and I made major progress on something I’ve been needing to do for a long time. I’ll expand on that next week.

Now I’m sitting with my sweetie enjoying a relaxing night. We’re watching Hercule Poirot and puttering around. She’s knitting a sock and I’ll be playing a game after I send this out.

Have a great week, everyone.

What I’m Listening To

Hercule Poirot, the Triangle at Rhodes episode. I love David Suchet and his +4 Mustache of Smiling.

Quote of the Week

“‘I belong to the world, Madame,’ said Poirot dramatically.”
– Agatha Christie, The Murder on the Orient Express

News and Works in Progress

  • None Call Me Mother (a bunch)
  • CB (8,418)
  • HM (6,374)
  • NWQF (4,125)

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

  • Spent the week puttering around instead of being on the blog.

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

This week’s spotlight is still on When Valor Must Hold, which you can find at: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086236WMT. Still getting lots of great feedback. We did good.

Today’s Weight: 398.4

Updated Word Count: 49,788

Shijuren Wiki: In progress

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
Shijuren
Four Horsemen Universe
The Phases of Mars
Short Stories

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