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Rob’s Update: March Upcountry

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Week 9 of 2025

Greetings all

Sorry about the lack of an update last week, but that’s a harbinger of things to come. I’ve been reviewing my processes, and for the time being, I’m going to try sending out my updates every other week. The nature of what I’m doing doesn’t require as many updates, at least for the moment, and I don’t want to infringe upon my subscribers’ time.

It’s a bit of a moot point over the next month or so, given my schedule. I’d miss every other weekend in March anyway, so now’s a great time to try something new for a few months.

The Feasting of Vengeance
The Feasting of Vengeance

Speaking of something new, obviously I’m ecstatic about the release of The Feasting of Vengeance. It’s already up to 41 reviews and sales are still going well, so thanks to you all!

Right now, I’m getting ready for Gulf Wars and GaryCon. I’ll be marching upcountry and downcountry and hither and yon. It’s going to be a great, if exhausting trip and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll be driving from here to Hattiesburg, MS, then up to Lake Geneva, WI.

I’ll have my booth in the heart of Merchant’s Row at Gulf, and I hope to see a bunch of you there. Then there are others who might find me at GaryCon, where I’m running modules on Thursday then relaxing and meeting people the rest of the weekend.

And, oh yeah, we might very well have hard copies of the Chentoufi primer. I’ve seen the proof and it looks amazing. I’m honored to be a part of it.

I spent this week editing several modules for the March G20 release, which will come out next month as well. What a busy time for releases right now! Kinda pretty neato if you ask me.

Finally, this past weekend was also neato. First, we had friends up to stay with us for a local SCA event. It’s the thing I miss most about our old house was hosting friends all the time, so this was delightful.

At the event, I got to hear a scroll I wrote read into court. It’s for my friend Vasilii, as you can see, and it’s in a style derived from the Russian epics like those of Ilya Muramets.

Since writing these texts were what got me into this profession in the first place, I thought I’d put it here so you could see an example. Russian epics, by the way, are reliant upon repetition to create much of the rhythm, not syllable counts, rhyme, or alliteration, so it’s different from what we’re often used to.

In the kingdom of the falcon
There lived the young Vasilii
He dressed himself handsomely
He armed himself proudly
He hunted with his bright spear
Hunted with sharp spear in southern fields
Hunted with sharp spear in east and west
Hunted with sharp spear in fields of Lilies
In open fields he fought dragons
In open fields he fought oceans
In open fields he fought white rams
He bloodied his spear for Calontir
He proved his skill to Calontir
He stood shoulder to shoulder with Calontir
So Orren Velikii Kniaz
Took Vasilii in the month of harshing
Nine and fifty years after first hunting
So Lyra Velikaia Kniaginia
Sat Vasilii in the halls of dragonflies
Where falcon host assembled
Where falcon host honed skills
They gave him dark beer
They gave him roasted deer
They gave him solemn words
Bogatyr true you are
Bogatyr mighty you are
Bogatyr axes you must wield
When they praise you in our songs
Huscarl they will call you
This We say in our songs
This We proclaim in our songs

And now, have a great couple of weeks! I’ll update from the forests of Mississippi next week.

What I’m Listening To

Inspector Lewis, one of our favorites. Frankly, the Endeavor, Morse, Lewis trilogy is really good if you like these sorts of mysteries.

Quote of the Week

Happy birthday to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and here’s one of his most inspiring quotes.

“Success is not something to wait for, it is something to work for.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Upcoming Events

New Releases

I’m still stoked about The Feasting of Vengeance! This is the third book in my Foresters Trilogy, which is part of the Four Horsemen Universe. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DWV68DQK.

This week’s release is Any Given Doomsday by Michael LaVoice, the first book in his new Gladius Leagues series. In a galaxy where humanity decommissioned its armies and navies, imagine if WWE met Monday Night Football as the way for planets to settle their grievances in a “trial by combat” methodology. And then the aliens showed up and decided to kill everyone. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DXTBNDXD.

This week’s pre-release is Reunion, the debut book for Chris Kennedy’s new Kingdom Lost series. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DXD8HXGV.

Want to know what it’s about? Well, here’s the free prequel short story for Kingdom Lost that was referenced above! Get either the ebook or audio book (yes, audiophiles, it’s available in audio!) for Betrayal, the short story prequel to Kingdom Lost, here: chriskennedypublishing.com/betrayal/.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 366.4lbs

Updated Word Count: 30,000

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: Fall is Here

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Week 40 of 2020

Greetings all

It’s about 55 here and sunny. In other words, my favorite weather. And there’s something about fall days like this that are better to me than spring days with exactly the same temp and sunshine. I don’t know why I prefer fall, maybe it’s the leaves changing as they are starting to do, but this is my favorite time of year.

I got to see a bunch of that as I drove to Virginia to meet up with Chris Kennedy and a bunch of other authors last week, which is why I never got to do my update last week. Normally, we brainstorm story ideas at cons, which we haven’t been able to do, and there’s no substitute for doing that in-person. Zoom is great and all, but not terribly conducive to creativity.

I’m in the midst of writing a couple of things right now. I’m flipping back and forth from The Ravening of Wolves, where I got a number of great ideas from my conversations in Virginia, and my story for the upcoming fantasy anthology.

This anthology is going to rock, by the way.

Also, I’ve been working on production stuff for None Call Me Mother. The cover art is almost done and it’s my favorite cover so far. I’m wrestling with the blurb, as I always do. Blurbs are so much tougher than writing a novel.

In only 11 days, The Feeding of Sorrows comes out on audiobook. I’ve listened to the proofs and they are excellent. James Patrick Cronin did a fantastic job.

Well, time to make dinner and then go get my sweetie some ice cream. Have a great week everyone.

What I’m Listening To

The .mp3s for The Feeding of Sorrows. James Patrick Cronin is fantastic.

Quote of the Week

Speaking of audiobooks, I listened to John Lithgow’s From Song of Myself on the trip. This is an amazing collection and introduction to poetry. Basically, it’s him and a bunch of friends like Helen Mirren and Gary Sinise wallowing in their love of poetry. Morgan Freeman’s rendition of We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks is worth the price of admission alone.

Anyway, since I’m in a poetic mood on a fine fall day, here’s Longfellow’s poem Autumn.

“Thou comest, Autumn, heralded by the rain,
With banners, by great gales incessant fanned,
Brighter than brightest silks of Samarcand,
And stately oxen harnessed to thy wain!
Thou standest, like imperial Charlemagne,
Upon thy bridge of gold; thy royal hand
Outstretched with benedictions o’er the land,
Blessing the farms through all thy vast domain!
Thy shield is the red harvest moon, suspended
So long beneath the heaven’s o’er-hanging eaves;
Thy steps are by the farmer’s prayers attended;
Like flames upon an altar shine the sheaves;
And, following thee, in thy ovation splendid,
Thine almoner, the wind, scatters the golden leaves!”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

News and Works in Progress

  • The Ravening of Wolves (29,674)
  • CB (8,418)
  • RAZ (938)
  • Cynewulf (8,642)
  • Gato (2,312)

New Releases

This week’s spotlight is on a few things. First, Nick Steverson released his first novel last week, entitled Hesitation. It’s part of the Salvage Universe series, which is a lot of fun. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08JV1WRDD/.

Coming out this week is Steven Johnson’s Operation Reaper. This is a fun series involving WW2 GIs fighting all sorts of supernatural creatures. You can find this one here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KFZ64G8.

Today’s Weight: 361.0 (I was actually down to 358.8 before the trip and came back at 365.2, but it’s settling back down)

Updated Word Count: 239,585

Shijuren Wiki: 77 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

Currently Available Works
Shijuren
Four Horsemen Universe
The Phases of Mars
Short Stories

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