I hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving today. My wife and I celebrated just the two of us because I’ve had a bit of con crud after 20Books and didn’t want to spread to family.
Wynnifred
Aside from that, it was excellent. We had steak, ham steaks, mashed potatoes, french onion soup, 2 kinds of cranberry sauce, veggies, a cheese plate, pumpkin pie, and oatmeal raisin cookies. We ate well, as did our portable black hole, Wynnifred.
As you can see, she’s still hungry.
Anyway, lots to get to this week. First, I had a great time at 20Books Vegas. Rather than going into detail here, here’s my AAR: robhowell.org/blog/?p=2950.
Side note: Welcome to all my new readers from 20Books. Thanks for signing up!
That leaves time to talk about Responsibility of the Throne, which comes out on Tuesday the 29th. This is the 2nd in G. Scott Huggins’ excellent Endless Ocean series. And check out this cover from the amazing J Caleb Studios.
Azriyqam is home, and discovering that princesses have to live up to their titles.
Responsibility of the Throne
Living up to the example of her parents involves more than she ever imagined, like inheriting the title of Holder of the Two Keys, who judges between dragons and humans, and keeping watch for Consortium agents ready to destroy her homeland.
While she’s being trained in the law she’s supposed to uphold, the people she’s supposed to judge are a far greater mystery. And though she’s received harsh lessons in the treachery of humans, she has not yet begun to fathom the motives and designs of the kingdom’s dragons. And these are the key to a challenge that could fracture the entire kingdom.
Can she stand up to the fire and destruction facing her, or will bitter enemies and cruel traitors send her sinking to the bottom of the Endless Ocean?
I got a decent number of words written before the con started, but between travel, recovery, the con, the holiday, and other work, I haven’t had a chance to touch anything since a week ago Sunday. I’ll get back on the horse tomorrow.
Finally, there’s less than a week left until the deadline for the 2023 FantaSci Short Story Contest open call. It’s due on the 30th. We’ve had a bunch of great submissions, but yours might just be better, so send it in.
And now, off to do more editing. Have a great rest of your weekend.
What I’m Listening To
It’s Thanksgiving. I’m a huge football fan. Soooo…, after watching the Cowboys beat the Giants (Go Cowboys), I’ve got the Patriots in Minnesota on right now.
Quote of the Week
I get frustrated at the blind stupidity of the NFL, but sometimes they get one right. They are honoring John Madden at all Thanksgiving games going forward.
He was such a fixture on this day for me, and he was always one of my favorites. Go he go too far overboard? Sure. But you never doubted his passion for the game.
“Since 1981, I’ve spent every Thanksgiving Day broadcasting a game, and it is one of my favorite days. You can say, ‘Woe is me, I never get to be part of the tradition,’ or you can say, ‘Heck, we’ve got our own tradition, and it’s pretty good.'”
– John Madden
The theme is Bonds of Valor, and you story must include deeds of valor centered around bonds between characters. This could be a romantic relationship, a buddy adventure, oaths to kings, or whatever you can come up with.
Deadline: November 30th, 2022
Word Count: 7-10,000 words
Specifics: Times New Roman, 12 point font, 1.5 line spaced.
This week we have the second book in D.T. Read’s The Seventh Shaman series, entitled Mountains of the Gods. How good is this? Chris reads more than a few books each year and he says it’s the best thing he’s read all year. Find out yourself here: amazon.com/dp/B0BMM99PPQ.
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.
I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. The wife-formerly-known-as-sweetie and I went to visit the now-for-reals-stepdaughter. We had a good meal and then ice cream at Braums.
And then, on the drive back, we got to see lots of fireworks. It’s happened of late that I’m driving on the 4th of July evening, and it’s quite enjoyable to see fireworks lining the hills off in the distance. It’s a movable feast of “oooh” and “aaah.”
The Forgotten King
The big news this week is the cover reveal for The Forgotten King by Mark Stallings. This is another great cover from Jake Caleb, who is an absolute rock star.
With all that’s happened of late, between wedding, Lilies, and holiday, I’m a little behind revealing the cover as The Forgotten King comes out next Tuesday. Where did all the time go?
Anyway, this is a fast-paced swords and sorcery tale that has LitRPG influences along with epic fantasy. It’s really fun.
This past week was a good one working on Embers & Ash. This is by Marie Whittaker and introduces us to Pyranon, the last of the five continents in the Eldros Legacy. This is a coming of age princess epic fantasy merged with some gothic influences and you’re going to love it.
You’re also going to love some of the things coming down the road. Full release schedule is below, but we’re starting to get to the point where New Mythology is getting to two books a month.
There’s stuff coming from Chris Nuttall, Trisha Wooldridge, G. Scott Huggins, Courtney Farrell, Kendra Merritt, and Jamie Ibson. It’s a great list of authors I’m proud to work with and these are great stories.
With that, it’s time for me to go record the next Dudes in Hyperspace podcast.
What I’m Listening To
Gordon Lightfoot’s Canadian Railroad Trilogy. This might surprise those of you who think I only listen to Rush and metal, but this is one of those I have hear a couple times every time it pops up in the rotation.
Quote of the Week
Today is a bit of a holiday in my mind, at least it should be. It’s Robert Heinlein’s birthday and I owe so much to him. First, the stories. Second, his books were one of my favorite memories of my father and how we connected.
There are so many quotes from Heinlein to choose from. I’ll take the one that really encapsulates my vision of work.
“Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.”
The latest show includes an interview with the mighty Chris Kennedy himself. We just recorded a show entitled Crafting Short Stories v. Series which will be out in the next day or two.
And this time, it’s a video! You get to see our smiling faces.
The theme is Bonds of Valor, and you story must include deeds of valor centered around bonds between characters. This could be a romantic relationship, a buddy adventure, oaths to kings, or whatever you can come up with.
Deadline: November 30th, 2022
Word Count: 7-10,000 words
Specifics: Times New Roman, 12 point font, 1.5 line spaced.
It must also be a fantasy story. Any type is welcome, urban, epic, high, western, gothic, whatever, it just have to have magic. Finally, it cannot have been published anywhere else before.
I’m currently working on Embers & Ash, the next Eldros Legacy novel.
New Mythology Schedule
July 12th: The Forgotten King (Eldros Legacy 6), by Mark Stallings
August 16th: Embers & Ash (Eldros Legacy 7), by Marie Whittaker
September 13th: Dark and Secret Paths (Eldros Legacy 8), by Courtney Farrell
September 20th: Chimera Coup ( Chimera 1), by Chris Nuttall)
October 4th: Heart, Wings Fire (27 Kingdoms 1), by Trisha Wooldridge
October 11th: The Pain Bearer (Eldros Legacy 9) by Kendra Merritt
November 8th: A Murder of Wolves (Eldros Legacy 10) by Jamie Ibson
November 22nd: Responsibility of the Throne (Endless Ocean 2), by G. Scott Huggins
This isn’t a giveaway, it’s a collection of books and authors that Kacey Ezell thinks rocks. I’m honored to be listed here, and take a look and see what else is there.
This week’s new release is Fallen Hunter, Book 2 of Mike Wyant’s Anisian Convergence. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0B5D91VTM. More space opera from CKP!
And don’t forget, The Forgotten King by Mark Stallings, sixth book in the Eldros Legacy, comes out on Tuesday the 12th.
Tracked Items
Today’s Weight: 323.0
Updated Word Count: 145,521
Eldros Legacy Archives: 813 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.
2021 was the biggest year of my publishing career, but I suspect I’ll write the same exact words next year with all that’s happening. Nevertheless, here’s what I was involved in that came out in 2021:
2021 Mosaic
This mosaic, by the way, doesn’t include stuff that’ll come out in 2022 which I worked on, such as Quincy J. Allen’s Seeds of Dominion, coming out on Tuesday.
By my reckoning, I put out 384,836 total words in 2021. Now, there are some statistical points to be made, out of honesty.
I only wrote 139,340 words of new stuff. That’s 1 novel, and only 6 short stories.
I keep track of my blog posts too, as it’s one way to ensure I’m putting out consistent content. That was 49,811.
The remaining 195,685 is 1/4 of the words in books I edited for New Mythology Press in 2021, 4 anthologies and 5 novels. I agree I should keep some track of that, as if I hadn’t done all that I would have definitely written more. I’m not convinced 1/4 is the right number. I’m thinking I may go to 1/5 in 2022. We’ll see.
Still, any way you want to stack it, that’s not a bad year. Add on to that I spent many hours helping develop the Eldros Legacy and learning how to do a bunch of new things for New Mythology Press, and I would say it wasn’t a wasted year.
That’s especially true since I only count things I’ve finished in a calendar year. This total doesn’t include, for example, the 70k or so I’ve got written in The Door Into Winter nor the editing I’ve done for The Keen Edge of Valor, as they aren’t yet finished.
I’m proud of all the stories I wrote and helped put out in 2021. This is highlighted, of course, by The Ravening of Wolves. This novel really came together, I think, thanks to a bunch of tales given to me by friends who’ve seen the challenges behind the scenes in the military. Much of what went into that book are inspired by actual SNAFUs, because the main universal truth in military history that I can find is: “Shit happens.”
Of my short stories, I tried a number of whimsical things. For example, Careful With That Axe, E.U. Gene included over 200 song and band references hidden within about 9000 words. The biggest result, of course, is The Incomparable Treasure, which comes out at some point in 2022 as part of Larry Correia and Kacey Ezell’s next SF/F noir anthology, No Game for Knights. This is a huge honor for me, and I’m really excited about it.
I certainly learned a ton with New Mythology Press this year. I can’t thank Chris Kennedy enough for the opportunity and I hope I live up to his expectations.
I would say I earned a B- grade for my work as publisher in 2021. I tend to be a harsh grader, but as I look back I see areas I can improve upon. Now, to be fair, the biggest area I need to improve upon is simply experience, and that’s happening, but I could have accelerated my learning curve in places.
Nevertheless, I did learn and improve as the year’s gone on. I’d better, as I have a bunch of things to publish in 2022, which I’ll talk about in another blog post.
I am most proud of Responsibility of the Crown, I think. It was the first novel I’d ever edited, and I think it came out fantastic. It helps that G. Scott Huggins is a great writer, but I do think I contributed.
It was nerve-wracking for me, in some ways, but the results really fired me up. Like many writers (and now as publisher), I suffer from constant self-doubt and seeing the difference between the original draft Scott sent me of Responsibilityand the final draft helps me believe I have some skill in this process. Again, though, it’s not a great story without Scott doing the heavy lifting.
I’m also proud of the Talons & Talismans anthologies. They were a challenge, one that made Chris shake his head and chuckle at my expense a time or eight.
However, those anthologies did much of what I wanted. I got involved with experienced writers I hadn’t worked with before, like Aaron Rosenberg, who I hope to publish a bunch more times down the road. I got a bunch of new writers opportunities, like Michael Gants, who I think you’ll be seeing fairly often in the future.
I also got to rummage around in the process of making anthologies at a much more detailed level. I’d done two prior to Talons & Talismans, but this was more, and I needed it.
On the behind the scenes side of things, I had a couple of hiccups with my mailing list, but I’m pleased with where I’m at now. I started working with the Writers House of Corrections to build that mailing list even more. Long term, I think that list and this blog, not Facebook or other social media platforms, will be my primary forms of interaction.
I learned a ton about how book art gets made. I knew some of it from self-publishing my first six novels, but there’s always more to learn. I’m amazed at what artists like Melissa Gay and Jake Caleb constantly produce.
Most fun of all is getting to know the editing staff of Chris Kennedy Publishing better. Mia Kleve is an amazing bedrock of competence. It was she, in fact, who created the above mosaic of covers, within like 2 minutes. Tiffany Reynolds is incredibly fast and skilled. I didn’t get to work with Beth Agajew as much in 2021, but I’ve had the pleasure before. We brought in Jonathan Miller too. He edited Seeds of Dominion and we have more plans for him.
I also got to interact with the advance readers more. Shawn Carey is a machine. He is an unseen, but much appreciated member of the team. Another is Zach Ritz, who routinely catches a bunch of errors that have slipped past all of our editors, including me. That’s a much less common skill than I think people realize.
A long time ago, I realized writing was about creating a team around the writer. That’s even more true about publishing. If I want to point at any one single thing I’m pleased with in 2021 it’s the creation of a new team around me, one which I’m already blessed to be a part of.
I’m just going to conclude that I’m looking at my shelf of books, the shelf holding books I’ll be selling at conventions. There’s Jon Osborne’s Milesian Accords series, including The House Between Worlds which I helped publish. There’s Khyven the Unkillable, by Todd Fahnestock, first of the Eldros Legacy novels. There are Four Horsemen Universe titles, especially The Ravening of Wolves. And there’s all sorts of titles produced prior to 2021. There’s a lot of titles there, but a bunch more are coming.
Talons & Talismans II comes out next Tuesday, the 9th. Already heard back from some reviewers and they’re excited, not just about the window into the Eldros Legacy. Here’s the great cover done by J. Caleb Designs. A Manticore, a Goblin, and a Unicorn, oh my!
Speaking of the Eldros Legacy, our first monthly newsletter went out last week. That’ll be the fourth Thursday each month and you’d like to join, go here: https://www.eldroslegacy.com/contact/newsletter/.
Khyven the Unkillable, by Todd Fahnestock, the first Eldros Legacy novel, goes out to advance readers late next week. They’re gonna love it.
Showed the Eldros Legacy Founders J. Caleb Design’s art for the 2nd EL novel, Seeds of Dominion, this week. Ooohs and ahhhs from all, especially Quincy J. Allen, the author.
Didn’t write as much this week as I wanted to, mostly because I was recovering and re-adjusting to home after the trip. This is not surprising. In fact, it’s something I’ve come to expect and plan for. I normally work two or three half-shifts a day to let my mind refresh. I allowed myself a couple days of only one this week to recover.
But I’m completely back now and excited to go. So I better toss words on the page.
What I’m Listening To
Stuff overhead at Brewbaker’s. Speaking of which, I’m going to have something fun to announce about this place coming soon.
Quote of the Week
Happy 142nd to Will Rogers! He has so many quotes. Here’s one, and, well, I know which category I fall into.
“There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by readin’. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.”
– Will Rogers
Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy
Khyven the Unkillable
Talons & Talismans II has eight Eldros Legacy stories, and the advance readers have already shown their enthusiasm to me.
I’m currently working on Seeds of Dominion, book 2 of the Eldros Legacy. It’s getting there. After that, I’ll be turning toward Embers & Ash by Marie Whittaker, book 3.
I’m also starting work on something that will, I hope, occupy a large chunk of our production schedule of 2022. Let’s just say I finished the first novel in one night because I couldn’t put it down. How’s that for vaguebooking?
It’s a double week at CKP, with new stuff in our two biggest franchises.
First, there’s It Takes More Kinds, an anthology in Kevin Steverson’s Salvage Title universe. This is the follow-up to It Takes AllKinds, which included my story “Careful With That Axe, E.U. Gene.” Like the first anthology, It Takes More Kinds is an anthology of new alien races in this universe. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KPF57JN.
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.