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Rob’s Update: New Beginnings

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Week 16 of 2024

Greetings all

It’s April 11th, which is sort of a personal holiday for me. In 2011, we closed on the Olathe house on April 11th. In 2023, we closed on this old mortuary in Anthony.

Happy Closing Day to me!

Of course, it’s not just a day of new beginnings where we live, we’re only 8 days from the full release of Paladins of Valor at FantaSci. I hope to see a bunch of you there.

Paladins of Valor
Paladins of Valor

As promised here’s the full list of stories and authors in Paladins of Valor, which is on pre-sale now here: amazon.com/dp/B0CY9T4DHG/.

  • Preface by Rob Howell
  • Family Heirloom by Howard Andrew Jones (A Chronicles of Hanuvar Story)
  • Paladins of the Unbroken Light by D.J. Butler (A Tales of Indrajit and Fix Story)
  • High Water Mark by Chris Hepler
  • The Passing of the Mantle by David R. Birdsall (A Fractured Brotherhood Story)
  • The Purloined Heart by Christopher G. Nuttall (A Schooled in Magic Story)
  • Apprentice in Trouble by Chad Boyer (A Chronicles of the Dimensional Mage Story)
  • SEALed With a Kiss by C.V. Walter
  • Romancing Some Rock by Edie Skye (A Titan Mage Story)
  • Space Mage Secrets by Daniel M. Hoyt
  • The Oaths That Bind by H.Y. Gregor and David Shadoin (A Milesian Accords Story)
  • Valor’s Wirth by Jon R. Osborne (A Milesian Accords Story)
  • Welcome to Detroit by Nathan Balyeat (A Powers of the Night Story)
  • Those Who Went Before by Glen Cook (The Black Company on the Long Run)
  • The Muses Darling by Sarah A. Hoyt (A Tale of The Muses Darling)

What an amazing list! The Black Company. indrajit and Fix. Hanuvar. Titan Mage. Schooled in Magic. These are some of the best-selling universes in fantasy right now. Plus several worlds you’ll love and stories that stand on their own.

And did I mention not just one, but two Milesian Accords stories? Spoiler alert: Big doings in that universe over the next year!

This is surely the deepest list of authors ever for the Libri Valoris, and we’ve had a bunch of great authors take part.

It was a productive week reorganizing the shop. It’s a much different layout now, but with lots more books and shelf space. Plus I did a bunch of prepwork for a variety of things including heading out to North Carolina.

And with that, I’m going to go play with the grandbaby.

What I’m Listening To

Watching Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. I really enjoy both it and Elementary, which will always be connected in time and space to me.

Quote of the Week

Kurt Vonnegut died seventeen years on April 11th. Such a creative mind.

 Laughing is good exercise. It’s like jogging on the inside.
– Kurt Vonnegut

New Mythology Works in Progress

Of note, this now includes our recent releases, so if you’re not sure what we’ve put out lately, you can go here and check.

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (3,405)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week we have Revelation, the third and final book in the Sol Saga series by James Fox. The revolution on Mars is gaining steam… at least until President Trent decides to break out the Rods from God! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0CW6C4Y7D.

This week’s pre-release is Prince Dominator, the eighth book in Fred Hughes’ Prince of Britannia series. Hazard has taken the Sol System… but will he be able to hold onto it while getting the information back to Britannia? Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0D19WN6HN.

And then, of course, there’s Paladins of Valor!

They defend the weak, no matter the time, place, or foe.

They stand up for others in the cold dark of space, the dusty Wild West, and lands of mystical empires.

They fight with any weapon that can help them save those behind them, whether it’s battlemechs, magic, swords, or even Sharps rifles. Along the way, they discover they can be more than they ever thought.

So come join us as we visit, in fourteen great stories, the worlds of Hanuvar, the Black Company, Kish, the Milesian Accords, and more great universes because there are always those who stand up for those who can’t.

We call them paladins.

Pre-order it here: amazon.com/dp/B0CY9T4DHG/.

Your pre-release this week is PRERELEASE.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 367.2 lbs

Updated Word Count: 93,586

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: Paladins on the Horizon

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Week 15 of 2024

Greetings all

Paladins of Valor
Paladins of Valor

We have a bunch going on with Paladins of Valor right now! First, take a look at that amazing cover by J. Caleb Designs! He always seems to know what I want.

Next, it’s up for preorder! We don’t usually do this but we thought we’d try it out this time. Go to amazon.com/dp/B0CY9T4DHG/ to preorder a copy now!

We’ll do a reveal of the Table of Contents next week so you can see all the authors and the universes you get to see again. There’s some awesome worlds in it!

I had somewhat of a surreal week in many good ways, but not necessarily the most productive. On the down side, I’m struggling to get back into the creative flow. Not surprising given the recent push, but still something I’ll fix next week.

Overall, though, it was a positive week. I’ll get to the surreal bits in a moment, but let’s start with some things I did get done.

We’ve had a bunch of great books come in and I’ve had to expand my bookshelves! I spent much of this week getting things re-arranged. I’m still a long way to go, and I know I’ve got another batch coming tomorrow.

I don’t entirely know what’s in that batch, but here’s what I can say. We now have a YA section! It’s not huge, but it’s not tiny either. We also have a western section! And our romance section grew a ton. Plus, I haven’t even had a chance to line up all the mysteries, as they forced me to rearrange everything!

Exciting times there.

I also did a bunch of fairly mundane catchup work. I finally sent some emails after GaryCon. I also cleaned up on some invoicing, both some to pay out and to pay in. Fortunately, lots more coming in. I also ordered a new laptop to replace the old soldier.

I expect I’ll have to start looking at going to Linux for all my systems. I hope Office 2010 can work smoothly on it. However, I refuse to go to Windows 11 with the massive amount of spyware you can’t opt out of. That’s a fall project, I think.

Anyway, time for the surreal and cool things!

First, the small one. I somehow ended up on the Anthony Chamber of Commerce board. Still not quite sure how that happened. Anyway, if you see me posting odd questions like, “What kind of cool things does your town do,” you’ll know why.

By the way, what kind of cool things does your town do?

The best for last, however, was Easter weekend with a 1-year-old grandbaby. We took her to her first easter egg hunt. The Kiwanis here sponsor one and it’s divided by age group. The 0-2 age group wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but there were still a bunch of smiles.

What I’m Listening To

The Raven by Alan Parsons Project. It’s part of their album Tales of Mystery and Imagination, and homage to Edgar Allan Poe. It’s a fun album for Poe fans, and I’m certainly one!

Quote of the Week

Since I already mentioned Poe, let’s have a quote.

“Lo! Death has reared himself a throne
In a strange city lying alone
Far down within the dim West,
Where the good and the bad and the worst and the best
Have gone to their eternal rest.”
– Edgar Allan Poe

Rob’s Riddles

I have a Patreon where I write Old English style riddles and provide snippets of my work. You can find it here: patreon.com/rhodri2112, along with a sample riddle.

I’m back, starting on April 11th! 2nd and 4th Monday of every month!

First Line of Next Riddle:

I am the killer of worlds    And the keeper of trust.

Dragon’s Tidings

Lot’s of new books, as I already said. Plus blocks of the month, new fabric, and more!

Check out our class schedule:
reddragonquilts.com/calendar.htm

New Mythology Works in Progress

Paladins of Valor right now! Go to amazon.com/dp/B0CY9T4DHG/ to preorder a copy now!

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (5,612)

Upcoming Events

Freebies and Cool Stuff

FREEBIES

New Releases

This week we have Holy War, 10th book in P.A. Piatt’s Abner Fortis, ISMC series. Abner has made it a habit of jumping out of the frying pan into the fire, and then having to pull his troops back out of it again. This time, the Kuiper Knights are back, and it’s time to take them out. But Abner has a long history with them, and they don’t like him very much. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0CZ7G7VYP.

You get two pre-releases this week! First is Revelation, the third and final book in the Sol Saga series by James Fox. The revolution on Mars is gaining steam… at least until President Trent decides to break out the Rods from God! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0CW6C4Y7D.

And then, of course, there’s Paladins of Valor!

They defend the weak, no matter the time, place, or foe.

They stand up for others in the cold dark of space, the dusty Wild West, and lands of mystical empires.

They fight with any weapon that can help them save those behind them, whether it’s battlemechs, magic, swords, or even Sharps rifles. Along the way, they discover they can be more than they ever thought.

So come join us as we visit, in fourteen great stories, the worlds of Hanuvar, the Black Company, Kish, the Milesian Accords, and more great universes because there are always those who stand up for those who can’t.

We call them paladins.

Pre-order it here: amazon.com/dp/B0CY9T4DHG/.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 370.2lbs

Updated Word Count: 92,760

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: Leaping into Leprechaun Month

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Week 9 of 2024

Greetings all

Happy Leap Day. Congrats to all the people who were born on February 29th and get a birthday every 4 years (well, except for years evenly divisible by 100 but not by 400).

I had another productive week, especially with Paladins of Valor. It’s now a complete manuscript and went off to the editor on Tuesday.

Plus, I got to see the first draft of the art by J. Caleb Design. Great stuff! We’ll have a reveal at some point in March.

However, to get your whistle wetted, we’ve got interviews with some of the authors in Paladins of Valor writers. I’ll post those on my blog in the middle of April as we get close to the release.

However, you can get a sneak peak on these interviews by joining the New Mythology Mailing List here: chriskennedypublishing.com/fantasy-mailer/.

I got a goodly amount of writing done, both in The Feasting of Vengeance and a new sooper sekrit project. It’s in bits and pieces on a few different computers, but I got about 5k done all told.

I spent the past week editing a bunch of stuff in Okkorim in order to have new modules looking ship-shape for Gary Con in a less than a month. OMG, it’s less than a month!

Speaking of things sneaking up on me, Planet Comicon is next weekend! Whaaa? How did March get here so fast?

In any case, I’ll be in booth 1746. Come on by!

With that, I’m getting back to writing. Have a great week!

What I’m Listening To

I thought I’d change this up to new and cool stuff that I found, and some weeks that will still be the case. However, I’ve honestly had my head buried in work, so I barely notice anything new.

So, back to the old way.
This week, I’m currently listening to my favorite Cream song, Tales of Brave Ulysses.

Quote of the Week

The Riddlemaster of Hed is such a good book, one of those books I read in grade school that inspired my love of fantasy. Happy birthday to Patricia McKillip and many thanks to her memory for all the inspiration she gave to bunch of us.

“When you open your mind and hands and heart to the knowing of a thing, there is no room in you for fear.”
― Patricia A. McKillip, Riddle-Master

Dragon’s Tidings

We have a bunch of new stuff. Dozens of new bolts of fabric and hundreds more books. Come in and see all the cool stuff!

Check out our class schedule:
reddragonquilts.com/calendar.htm

New Mythology Works in Progress

Of note, this now includes our recent releases, so if you’re not sure what we’ve put out lately, you can go here and check.

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (4,809)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week we have book 2 in James Fox’s Sol Saga universe. It’s called Retaliation and you can get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0CW29B39G.

Your pre-release this week is Fallout on Darsaana, most Salvage Title action from Melissa Olthoff. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0CW1FNXP1.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 369.0lbs

Updated Word Count: 81,777

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: Overcoming the Odds

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Week 8 of 2024

Greetings all

As I mentioned, I ended last week with a nasty cold. It knocked me back on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. However, despite all that, I had a really productive week, though not necessarily on everything I anticipated.

Divine Revelations
Divine Revelations

Let’s start with Okkorim because I have art to show off!

Over the last few months I’ve been fleshing out the pantheon of gods in Okkorim. This batch included 10 major gods and 30 lesser ones, and is over 60,000 words of description, dogma, new spells, new magic items, and religious institutions.

Okkorim is already a cool setting, but I can absolutely tell you there’s some amazing stuff in here. Divine Revelations is a small primer of the cosmology of Okkorim available to Luke’s Patreon followers. He wrote most of it, but I’m also editing a bunch of stuff they have, as I did with this.

Mirelie
Mirelie

Next is Mirelie, the deity of magic among other things. Luke came up with the basic concept, but this supplement is the fuller depiction of Mirelie. What do the priests do? What symbols represent the deity? Where are their major religious sites? What are the religious orders who follow Mirelie? And of course, several new spells and magic items.

I’m excited about what I’ve been able to contribute, and I think it’s going to be something players of D&D 5E and Castles and Crusades will love.

Again, if you’re interested, go to: patreon.com/GaxxWorx and sign up for at least the Silver Membership ($5/month). That gives you all the G20 magazine stuff that comes out, and let me tell you, I’m editing a ton.

Let’s turn to Paladins of Valor. It’s basically in the can and goes to the editor next week. Just waiting on a few edits.

I’ll give you a tease of two authors I was excited to work with in here. First, there’s Edie Skye, the author of the Titan Mage fantasy romance series. Here stories can be spicy or not, but they always have a lot of action.

On a completely different note, we also have Glen Cook returning with another Black Company story. I’ve been honored over the years by his support.

Speaking of New Mythology Press, we’ve been kinda quiet lately. This has been because we’re rearranging some of the foundational stuff in the background to make it work smoother for us to produce and cooler for you to read.

I can’t yet get into specifics, but I’ll tell you this, the schedule for later in the year is starting to come together.

One of the changes, by the way, is that we’re moving the bigger announcements and stuff to New Mythology’s mailing list, as I announced some time ago.

Here’s the link to join: chriskennedypublishing.com/fantasy-mailer/

Also, I started another sooper-seekrit project this week. It’ll be some months before I can talk about it, but I think it’ll be really.

Oh, one last thing. The local historic theater is going to show Star Wars on Saturday, May 4th. We’re planning a shindig and I have a question for you:

What is your favorite Star Wars-themed food?

Quote of the Week

Still hits me in the feels 43 years later.

“Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”
– Al Michaels on February 22, 1980, as time ran out in the USA-USSR hockey game in Lake Placed.

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (4,411)

Upcoming Events

Freebies and Cool Stuff

SF/F Giveaway February 

https://storyoriginapp.com/to/r964Jvy

New Releases

This week’s release takes us back to the Fallen World, as Brisco Woods continues his saga of the first nanite-enhanced Specialist in Truth and Consequences. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0CVNF5F6R.

That’s the 20th book in the Fallen World now! Wow!

Your pre-release this week is book 2 in James Fox’s Sol Saga universe. It’s called Retaliation and you can get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0CW29B39G.

Tracked Items

My Weight Today: 371.4 lbs

Updated Word Count: Need to update the spreadsheet, somewhere around 40k this year so far.

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