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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