Tag Archives: Frederick Jackson Turner

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: New Frontiers

Leave a comment

Week 47 of 2024

Greetings all

Tugarin's Revenge
Tugarin’s Revenge

It’s just a week until we get the 2nd book of the  amazing Vechnoye Saga. It’s Tugarin’s Revenge by H.Y. Gregor has an amazing cover by Alexandre Rito as you can see.

Then, on December 27th, you’ll get Chernobog’s Wrath to complete the series!

It’s been a very productive week with The Feasting of Vengeance. The overall word count won’t necessarily show it, given that it’s at only about 96K, but I’m in what I call the pressing of the toothpaste tube and bediting stage.

By pressing of the toothpaste tube, I mean I go back through and make a full editing pass from the start. This obviously clears out some deadwood, but I also see a bunch of stuff that needs to be there for the final battle.

Once a chapter is done, I can do a bediting pass, which has become my final pass. Right now, I’m about 90% done with the toothpaste tube pass and 50% done with the bediting pass, meaning I’ve got about half the book in its final form.

I still have a bunch to write in the last battle yet. One of the reason I do the editing pass now is to make sure I fire all the guns I put into earlier acts. In a MilSF book, that’s almost literal, as I put in various weapons for them to fight with and have to make sure they all get used.

Still, I can see the far side of the hill now, which is exciting.

What I’m Listening To

In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel. I love this song, especially the tumbling along of the chorus. Brilliant stuff.

Quote of the Week

Happy birthday to Frederick Jackson Turner. If you’ve taken a historiography class, you know exactly who I’m talking about and why we talked about him. He was one of the foundational historians of American history. He posited the “frontier thesis,” or the idea that the frontier shaped America, in 1893.

As with any historical theory from 130 years ago, it’s been argued, rebutted, and in general fallen out of favor. Nevertheless, he shaped much of the discussion in the latter half of the 20th century and is still relevant in the background today.

“The frontier has gone, and with its going has closed the first period of American history.”
– Frederick Jackson Turner

Dragon’s Tidings

Come see us at Market Fair. We’ll have a booth in Municipal Hall on November 30th along with a bunch of cool crafters!

New Mythology Works in Progress

Tugarin’s Revenge, book 2 of the amazing Vechnoye Saga by H.Y. Gregor has an amazing cover by Alexandre Rito as you can see. It’s out on November 22nd!

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (96,101)

Upcoming Events

  • Market Faire, November 30, Anthony, KS
  • Kris Kinder, December 14, Kansas City, Mo
  • ChattaCon, January 17-19, Chattanooga, TN
    chattacon.org/
    I’m the Toastmaster!
  • Gulf Wars, March 8-16, Lumberton, MS
    gulfwars.org/
  • LibertyCon, June 20-22, Chattanooga, TN
    libertycon.org/
  • Pennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PA
    pennsicwar.org/

New Releases

This week we have Salvage Harbinger, the second book in the Salvage Title Universe’s new series, The Invasion. Like the first book, it was written by Nick Steverson and Jason Cordova, so you know it’s going to be a great read (and that the body count is also probably going to be pretty high.) Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DM4DHSMQ.

And don’t forget Reka’s Grasp! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DK4JWFL4.

Your pre-release this week is Tangled Webs by Mark Wandrey, the fifteenth book in the Phoenix Initiative series of the Four Horsemen universe. This story follows Oort, the Tortantula, so you may want to review Weaver and Winged Hussars. You don’t have to, though—the story is fine as a standalone. And, as with the last couple of books, there is a lot of new information in this, with more and more coming as we approach Exodus, the final series in the 4HU.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 360.8lbs

Updated Word Count: 244,000

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