Tag Archives: Files of Kaj Ludek

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Write for the Wastebasket

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Week 47 of 2025

Greetings all!

It’s been a good past couple of weeks. Sorry about last week, but if something comes up, I tend to get distracted with grandbaby time on Wednesday, so the update slips.

Ah, well, grandbaby time trumps everything right now.

A couple of weekends ago, we went to Calontir’s Crown Tournament. Congrats to our new heirs Xerxes and Andromir. Closer to home, my wife was able to step down from her position as the regional president. It’s a challenging job, and I’m so glad that bit of stress is out of her life.

I got a some done, maybe not as much as I’d hoped, but it was one of those weeks where things kept cropping up to slow me down. On the Okkorim side, I finalized a module that had been an absolute bear for me to work on. I also made progress on another project due at the end of the year.

I also got word back that my Kaj Ludek story didn’t make the cut. Ah, well, I’m still that much closer to a collection of stories from him. On to the next anthology.

What I mostly focused on, though, was my new novel. I’ll talk about details more, but I got about 15,000 written in it at this point, which is nice progress given that the publisher wants this to be more in the 50,000 range instead of 100k. I’m aiming to have that done by the end of the year too.

We’re also starting to ramp up for our 2nd birthday party, which will be held on the 20th of December. These last two years seem to have flown by.

In any case, if you’re near Anthony, come join us! We’ll have pizza, specials, and whatever else seems fun.

With that, I’ll see you all soon!

What I’m Listening To

More Midsomer this week. The murder rate there per 100k is fascinating.

Quote of the Week

Happy birthday to Johnny Mercer, who has this great quote about writing. My mom had a similar quote over her computer: Write lots of bad pages.

You must write for the waste basket.
– Johnny Mercer

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sharpened Spear (15,104)

Upcoming Events

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 339.4lbs

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

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: The Files of Kaj Ludek

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Week 45 of 2025

Greetings all!

This past week saw me sending out another anthology submission. This is the second in the Files of Kaj Ludek. The first was in Vice Noir, and it debuted him as a PI in 1980s Kansas City.

It wasn’t intended to be a debut, but I liked the character and the writing business involves creating characters that then want to see the light of day over and over.

Anyway, Kaj is the grandson of a Czech man who fled to England before the war and fought at D-Day and across France to Germany. That gives me the cool Czech name and a neat family background.

It also allowed me to give him a gun with a neat backstory in its own right. He carries a Browning Hi-Power, or rather, an FN Hi-Power made and used by the Germans during the war. His grandfather killed an SS officer and took the gun, and now it’s a family heirloom.

Kaj himself served in Vietnam. Nothing extraordinary, no Green Beret thing, just an infantry grunt who saw more than he wanted.

The best part of writing these stories is setting them in KC. The worst part of writing these stories is setting them in 1980s KC. I’ve done a bunch of research about what was there at that time, and so far, I’m confident I got it right.

The one in Vice Noir involved the Civellas, the local mob. There’s some interesting stories there in their own right, some of which continue to this day.

This one involves the Steamboat Arabia, which was dug up in 1988. I submitted it to Raconteur Press’s anthology High Class Muscle, and here’s hoping it gets accepted.

I also spent this week working on other projects. I’d gotten to the part of my current novel where I needed to really do the basic Save the Cat Beatsheet so I’m writing in the basic general direction. I’m excited about this one, but I’m just going to tease it for now.

We also did a bunch more work around this building. Certain parts of it are finally taking shape.

So, all in all, a great week! Here’s hoping you have a great one yourself.

What I’m Listening To

Back to Inspector Morse.

Quote of the Week

Happy birthday to Will Rogers. I like today’s quote, and wish I could live up to its message.

Don’t let yesterday use up too much of today.
– Will Rogers

Upcoming Events

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 344.2lbs

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