Tag Archives: Mike Jack Stoumbos

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Marathon, Part II

Leave a comment

Week 16 of 2023

Greetings all

I’m beat. Moving is hard, and that’s with movers helping. We still have way too much stuff at the old house.

So I did almost nothing workwise this week. Answered emails. Did some brainless editing prep, not much else.

Fortunately, people around me are kicking it, especially those at Podium.

Last week, we announced the pre-release for Hunting the Hart, book 5 in Jon R. Osbourne’s modern fantasy series The Milesian Accords. Pre-order it here: audible.com/pd/Hunting-the-Hart-Audiobook/B0C24XX31G.

But wait, there’s more! Podium has also opened up Pandora’s Box, book 2 in Christopher G. Nuttall’s excellent swords and sorcery post-apocalyptic series Heirs of Cataclysm. Pre-order is here: audible.com/pd/Pandoras-Box-Audiobook/B0C2QMZLHF.

Stay tuned next week for some special tidbits on these.

There’s more to talk about, but I think I’m going to bed so I can pack some more tomorrow. Where did all this stuff come from?

What I’m Listening To

My favorite Black Sabbath song, Sign of the Southern Cross.

Quote of the Week

Moving is such a hard trek, even when things go smoothly. Rush’s Marathon has the perfect quote.

It’s a test of ultimate will
The heartbreak climb uphill
– Rush, Marathon

And sometimes it’s the heartbreak climb upstairs with yet another box.

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.

Note: The move has delayed a couple of normal entries in the Patreon. I’ll be resuming on Monday.

First Line of Next Riddle:

I have saved a realm       Riding on the waves

Latest Snippet: Chapter 5 of Farewell, My Ugly

New Mythology Works in Progress

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • Farewell, My Ugly (72,812)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (3,405)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

We begin with Mike Jack Stoumbos’ first foray into the 4HU, Defender’s Rise. This book gives you a look at the elSha and opSha, a couple of races that—until now—have been secondary in nature, so it’s not to be missed. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/1648557058.

Your pre-release this week is The Backbone of Surprise, by C.S. Ferguson. This is book one in a new MilSF series called the Transhuman War. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0C2XYB421.

Podium has opened up Pandora’s Box, book 2 in Christopher G. Nuttall’s excellent swords and sorcery post-apocalyptic series Heirs of Cataclysm. Pre-order is here: audible.com/pd/Pandoras-Box-Audiobook/B0C2QMZLHF.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 351.0

Updated Word Count: 110,397

Firehall Sagas Archives: 737 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

Uncategorized

Rob’s Update: On the Move

2 Comments

Week 15 of 2023

Greetings all

I promised big news last week on a non-writing project and here it is. Before I get to that, I have another announcement.

Huge congratulations to Sheellah Kennedy for being unremarkable! Well, she’s not, as you know. She’s awesome, but in this case, it means that she’s on top of her health issues. The warning signs noted by the doctor were, in turns out, unremarkable.

Which is wonderful to hear.

Hunting the Hart
Hunting the Hart

Now onto the big announcement… errr… after another one.

Hunting the Hart, book 5 in Jon R. Osbourne’s modern fantasy series The Milesian Accords, is now available to pre-order for Audible.

Pre-order it here: audible.com/pd/Hunting-the-Hart-Audiobook/B0C24XX31G.

OK, now onto the big announcement, and this time I mean it.

The wife and I are on the move. We closed on a great building in Anthony, KS where we can open up the quilt/craft/yarn/weaving store she’s always wanted and I can have a bookstore.

That means my writing/editing has suffered as I pack frantically. We’ve got the movers coming on Monday, and we want to make sure we have enough stuff packed to make the expense worthwhile.

This just in, we have too many books. And skeins of yarn. And games. And and and.

Normally, we’d take time to pare through stuff and see what we’re willing to part with. However, the new place is so big, we don’t have any space issues and we don’t have time to pay that much attention.

Sooooo… if you wanna come help us pack on Sunday, you’re welcome to volunteer.

I’m late this week on a number of projects. I didn’t get my riddle sent out, which I’m aiming to fix today. I didn’t get much writing or editing done.

However, I’m taking my own advice. I tell my writers that there’s a difference between reasons and excuses. Avoid excuses, even to the point of chastising yourself when you use them.

But reasons? Just accept they exist and power through them. The most important thing when you’re dealing with reasons is to prevent yourself from getting angry with yourself. That leads to a spiral that ruins your productivity for a long time.

I’m puttering with writing and editing when I can, and hopefully this is just a blip. Lots of fun plans for the summer, when everything settles down a bit.

In the meantime, welcome to my madness!

What I’m Listening To

Speaking of madness, I’m currently listening to Ozzy Osbourne’s No More Tears, which has one of my favorite bass lines by Bob Daisley.

Quote of the Week

One of the great events in Japanese history happened today in 1612: Miyamoto Musashi defeated Sasaki Kojirō at Funajima island. Since we haven’t had a quote from Musashi in a while, here’s one of many great quotes by him.

Also, it’s relevant to the reasons/excuses thing. So much of writing is keeping your head in a good place. Give what’s in yourself a chance to be awesome.

“There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself.”
― Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy

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.

First Line of Next Riddle:

I have saved a realm       Riding on the waves

Latest Snippet: Chapter 5 of Farewell, My Ugly

New Mythology Works in Progress

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • Farewell, My Ugly (72,812)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (3,405)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week we have Children of the Fall, by J.P. Chandler. It’s a new release in the excellent post-apocalyptic Fallen World universe. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0C1J99413.

Your pre-release this week is Mike Jack Stoumbos’ first foray into the 4HU, Defender’s Rise. This book gives you a look at the elSha and opSha, a couple of races that—until now—have been secondary in nature, so it’s not to be missed. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/1648557058.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 351.0

Updated Word Count: 109,884

Firehall Sagas Archives: 737 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: The Bullseye of Success

Leave a comment

Week 45 of 2022

Greetings all

First, thanks to everyone who responded about my new world name either with direct emails or Facebook, Discord, and Twitter. I really appreciate all that feedback.

And I have made a decision!

But I’m going to hold off telling you all what that decision is until I have the domain, logo, and website ready to go. I anticipate that right after I get back from Vegas.

Not my most productive week. I had some distractions, some were good and fun distractions, but still distractions. Mostly, though, with all the changes, I’ve been thinking through a bunch of things and I haven’t slept well. That’s probably my worst production limiter.

I did get a bunch of foundational work done, so there’s that. I also did a bunch of detail work on Farewell, My Ugly. While the word count isn’t as big as I wanted for this week (only 3k for the week), I made important and significant progress clearing out a bunch of notes.

My goal is to basically have a draft done by the end of the month. It’ll be tight, but I thought of an important transition today that’ll speed up the next part of the process.

Sometimes, when writing a mystery, the challenge isn’t coming up with a plot, but a plausible way to find a particular clue. That’s been a big one here. I’ve had a fun idea from the beginning, but it’s not something that would necessarily jump off the page to someone from the Byzantine Empire.

So, while it wasn’t a great week for production, it wasn’t awful. I kept plugging along, and usually just plugging along gets me to where I want to go.

Now, I’m going to get back to work.

What I’m Listening To

The World Series. What else this week?

Quote of the Week

I’ve always been fascinated by Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, especially Annie Oakley. She died on this day in 1926, but she left us this wonderful gem of a quote.

Aim for the high mark and you will hit it. No, not the first time, not the second time and maybe not the third. But keep on aiming and keep on shooting for only practice will make you perfect. Finally you’ll hit the bullseye of success.
– Annie Oakley

Dudes In Hyperspace

Follow the Dudes In Hyperspace here:
bleav.com/shows/the-dudes-in-hyperspace-podcast/

The latest show includes a great conversation with Sarah Burris and what libraries can offer.

Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy

Get five free stories and signed up with the Eldros Legacy mailing list! Here There Be Giants is at: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/qabsr57lq3+.

Get all the Eldros Legacy novels at: amazon.com/dp/B09Z9WVKYV

New Mythology Works in Progress

2023 FantaSci Short Story Contest open call.

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.

Current Schedule of New Mythology Press

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)
  • Farewell, My Ugly (41,571)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
  • The Feasting of Vengeance (3,405)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

Two new releases this week! First, we have a new This Fine Crew book by Mike Jack Stoumbos. This is book 4 in the series and is entitled The Impossible Moon. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0BKLL4F82.

Next we have something I’ve been waiting on. I met Fred Hughes at FenCon and I’m excited to read his Prince of Britannia series, which begins with The Prince Awakens. Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0BK232YT2.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 331.2

Updated Word Count: 398,717

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.

Have a great week, everyone.

Rob Howell

Founder in the Eldros Legacy series

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: Coming Down the Mountainside

Leave a comment

Week 10 of 2021

Greetings all

This was a discombobulated week. In order to help the sweetie’s parents, I had to drive up to North Dakota and back essentially over the weekend. 13 hours each way plus hotel stays will take a bite out of a week, that’s for sure.

Still, I was productive this week. I sent off a story last week, got it accepted and edited this week. My story is entitled “Chooser of the Slain,” and it’ s going to come out in the Hit World anthology entitled “Valkyries” edited by Marisa Wolf. I had a lot of fun combining a valkyrie with Sam Spade and the crazy fun that is Hit World. That anthology will come out in the summer or early fall, I believe.

I also made progress on some editing. I hope to have the current editing project out the door this week, despite losing essentially 4 days.

And I’ve been kicking butt with The Door Into Winter. All told, I added about 7000 words, though the editing process killed about 2000 of what I had already.

When I write, if I know I’ll need a chapter to do a certain thing up ahead in the narrative, and I don’t really know what to write directly in the narrative at the point where I’m at, I will go ahead and scribble a very rough draft of that scene. Raw material more than anything. I’m at the point where I’m integrating a number of those into the narrative because I’ve gotten that far, which means some of the raw material goes away.

But it’s a great sign when I catch up to those points, because it’s another sign I’m getting close to the end.

What I’m Listening To

Lots of Sabaton this week. It’s been quiet around the house and I’ve wanted high-energy stuff.

It’s hard to pick just one, but one can’t go wrong with Winged Hussars.

Quote of the Week

Today is Chuck Norris’s birthday, and I’m not about to risk a roundhouse kick to the face by not having him provide today’s quote. Besides, I really like this one.

“The only time we fail is when we stop trying.”
– Chuck Norris

Dudes In Hyperspace

Follow the Dudes In Hyperspace here:
bleav.com/shows/the-dudes-in-hyperspace-podcast/

The latest show includes a interview with Joe DeLeone, especially focusing on spring football.

Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy

Get five free stories and signed up with the Eldros Legacy mailing list! Here There Be Giants is at: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/qabsr57lq3+.

Deadly Fortune by Aaron Rosenberg is coming soon!

Currently available:

New Mythology Works in Progress

We have no current open anthology calls but will have a new one announced at FantaSci.

Keen Edge of Valor is out to the advance readers. Deadly Fortune goes out to the advance readers next week. I’m currently editing something new, and I have to say, it’s awesome.

Rob’s Works in Progress
  • The Door Into Winter (86,556)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
Upcoming Events
New Releases

Mike Jack Stoumbos released his 3rd novel in the This Fine Crew series, Seed in the Sky, this week. You can get it here: www.amazon.com/dp/B09TS7FBF1/

And this is really cool. Kevin J. Anderson curated a bundle of fantasy novels, and he included the first book in the Eldros Legacy, Khyven the Unkillable by Todd Fahnestock. You can get this bundle here: storybundle.com/fantasy. It’s a great honor for one of our books to be included and I hope you all take advantage.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 322.4

Updated Word Count: 24,104

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.

Have a great week, everyone.

Rob Howell

Founder in the Eldros Legacy series

Weekly Update

Rob’s Update: The Excalispork

Leave a comment

Week 4 of 2021

Greetings all

Sorry about not posting last week. I’ve been under the weather since ChattaCon. My turn in the Covid box, which I’ve long expected. To be frank, it wasn’t bad for me, just draining. I’m certainly on the mend now.

I did manage to get the base manuscript for Keen Edge of Valor complete and sent off to the editor. That will be released at FantaSci, and to ensure we have print copies there, we needed it done early. Which it is.

I’ve been working on Deadly Fortune, by Aaron Rosenberg. Due to some need to shift things around, this will be the next Eldros Legacy novel. It’s set in Shijuren (my continent), and it involves piracy, murder, treachery, intrigue, and all sorts of great things like that. To coin a phrase: “Killed by pirates is good.”

Side note: we watched Princess Bride over the holidays again. It’s been a month and I’m still basking in the great quotes, as you can see.

I haven’t really had a chance to do much writing and it’s been gnawing at me. The good news is that once I get my portion of Deadly Fortune and Keen Edge of Valor done, I have February basically open for writing. I do owe a short story by the end of the month, but I will get bunches done in the The Door Into Winter too.

I had planned to do a full ChattaCon AAR, but there isn’t much to discuss. The con organizers did all they could and worked their tails off, but attendance was down. No panel was particularly well attended that I saw. Again, not the fault of the organizers.

I had one panel go really well, and that’s the Iron Writing Panel, which was basically a Whose Line style story creation thing where I kept adding/changing characters and settings and events. Quite fun. Long live the Excalispork!

That will be among the cards in the next version of this game.

Also, part of why I don’t have much to say is that I left early to get ahead of the weather. I’m really glad I did as I had smooth sailing, which wouldn’t have happened had I stayed throughout.

I’m glad I went, especially since I got to hang out more with William Joseph Roberts. He’s a smart man who’s doing real cool things.

Anyway, I think it’s time for me to edit.

What I’m Listening To

Not surprising, but since I was sick and not able to focus on work, I’ve been watching Rush concerts and documentaries, so it’s the current thing on the playlist. I’m mostly listening to it in whole album chunks and I’m currently on Power Windows. Like always, I hear one of Rush’s albums and two things happen. One, I remember just how good that album was especially since I always hear some intricacy I hadn’t heard before. Two, I remember that particular time in my life in sharper focus. Every new Rush album marked my life like signposts.

Quote of the Week

Fifty-five years since the mission that never flew, Apollo 1.

“If we die, we want people to accept it. We’re in a risky business, and we hope that if anything happens to us, it will not delay the program. The conquest of space is worth the risk of life.”
– Gus Grissom

Dudes In Hyperspace

Follow the Dudes In Hyperspace here:
https://www.sharkflight.com/dudes/

The latest show includes an interview with Craig Martelle of 20Books and IASFA.

Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy

Get five free stories and signed up with the Eldros Legacy mailing list! Here There Be Giants is at: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/qabsr57lq3+.

We’re doing some consolidation of the process right now, meaning there will be some special things happening in February. I’ll talk more about that soon.

Khyven the Unkillable is here: amazon.com/dp/B09N288DCC

Seeds of Dominion is here: amazon.com/dp/B09PK1QYDY/

New Mythology Works in Progress

We have no current open anthology calls but will have a new one in January.

I’m currently working on Keen Edge of Valor for release at FantaSci.

Giveaways

Lots this week because I missed last week.

Sci-Fi Generation
Sci-Fi Generation

Sci-Fi Generation

storyoriginapp.com/bundles/bd544624-6341-11ec-bae8-9fe13dd3b276

Warriors for Good
Warriors for Good

Warriors for Good

storyoriginapp.com/bundles/1b13bb6a-1418-11ec-9a16-9f45996aea4e

Start the year with an adventure
Start the year with an adventure

Start the year with an adventure

storyoriginapp.com/bundles/4f277d00-693c-11ec-81b9-7fb7fa4bcdef

January Sci-Fi Giveaway
January Sci-Fi Giveaway

January Sci-Fi Giveaway

storyoriginapp.com/bundles/e9d06e20-63fb-11ec-a3ca-8bb708dff2d2

Unlimited Reading
Unlimited Reading

Unlimited Reading

books.bookfunnel.com/unlimitedreading/cp9vd3wqhr

Rob’s Works in Progress
  • The Door Into Winter (74,029)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
Upcoming Events
New Releases

Two new releases this week, mostly because I didn’t do one last week. The first is A Rupture In Time by Mike Jack Stoumbos, the second of the This Fine Crew series. You can find it here: amazon.com/dp/B09QPJJ7XC.

Next is The Magnetar by Jo Boone. This is the first in the Combined Service series. You can get it here: amazon.com/dp/B09QC78PLJ.

By the way, these are two recent additions to the CKP stable. Chris is always keeping an eye out for you guys. You want good stories and he wants to give them to you, and here is proof.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 318.2 (Not a typo. I was already trending down a bit and then I got sick and haven’t eaten much. Not ideal to lose that much that fast, and I expect it will creep up some in the next weeks, but it’s still exciting to be under 320)

Updated Word Count: 3,696

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.

Have a great week, everyone.

Rob Howell

Founder in the Eldros Legacy series

Uncategorized

Rob’s Update: Speak Softly

Leave a comment

Week 49 of 2021

Greetings all

I made a mistake last time because I didn’t double-check something. Shame on me. I said Seeds of Dominion is coming out on the 2nd of January, but it is, in fact, coming out on the 4th of January. My apologies for the confusion, but the good news is that it’s the best thing of Quincy’s I’ve ever read, and he’s got a lot of cool stuff out there.

This was also not my most productive work week, largely in part to Christmas-y stuff, along with pet stuff. I basically lost all weekend and all day today. Pets are totally worth the effort, but man, they can be exhausting.

Still, I’m basically done with the first draft of Fleece Navidad, my freebie story which I’ll be sending out to all of you on my mailing list. I also made progress on Embers & Ash, by Marie Whittaker, which is the third Eldros Legacy book. I also did some foundational work, but still, not as much as I’d hoped. Some weeks are like that.

We also recorded a special Dudes in Hyperspace, finishing the episode tonight. We interviewed Emily Berson, who is a USO rep. That’s quite an honor for me, and they do so much cool stuff for our service members.

Of course, we’ve been enjoying the response to Khyven the Unkillable. It’s done very well, despite Amazon having not one, but now two AWS outages. It’s too hot for them to handle, apparently.

Seeds of Dominion, by Quincy J. Allen, is the next Eldros Legacy book, and it’s basically ready to go and comes out on the 4th of January, as I clarified above. See below for the cover reveal.

I think that’s it for now. Everyone have a great week, and I’ll touch base again next Christmas Eve Eve.

What I’m Listening To

Chiefs at Chargers. It’s a heckuva matchup and I’ve been looking forward to it. I’ve liked the Chargers as sort of a second team since the Dan Fouts/Kellen Winslow/Charlie Joiner/Chuck Muncie days. That was such a fun team to watch.

Quote of the Week

The Great White Fleet began it’s circumnavigation of the world on this day in 1907. That means there’s only quote appropriate for the day.

“Speak softly, and carry a big stick.
– Teddy Roosevelt

Dudes In Hyperspace

Follow the Dudes In Hyperspace here:
https://www.sharkflight.com/dudes/

The latest show includes an interview with Emily Bernson, a member of the USO, though it won’t be live until tomorrow, the 17th.

Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy

Get five free stories and signed up with the Eldros Legacy mailing list! Here There Be Giants is at: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/qabsr57lq3+.

Khyven the Unkillable is out and getting great response from its readers. You can find it here: amazon.co.uk/dp/B09N288DCC.

Seeds of Dominion
Seeds of Dominion

But the big thing this week is the fantastic cover of Seeds of Dominion. Jake Caleb created the art, and you can see just how awesome he is.

New Mythology Works in Progress

We have no current open anthology calls but will have a new one in January.

I’m currently working on getting Embers & Ash and The Keen Edge of Valor.

Rob’s Works in Progress
  • The Door Into Winter (58,990)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
  • Fleece Navidad (7,151)
Upcoming Events
New Releases

OK, OK, I realize it was last week, but I’m still excited about Khyven the Unkillable. You can get it here: amazon.co.uk/dp/B09N288DCC.

Two releases from the boss this week. First, there’s Jurassic Jail from William Alan Webb. He’s such an innovative guy, and he’s in charge of the non-fiction publishing of CKP now because he’s just that sharp. You can find Jurassic Jail here: amazon.com/dp/B09NFN84BP.

And then there’s the first book by Mike Jack Stoumbos with CKP. It’s entitled The Signal Out of Space, and starts the Fine Crew series. You can get it here: amazon.com/dp/B09N8VHGFP.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 332.8

Updated Word Count: 355,326

Eldros Legacy Archives: 802 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

Founder in the Eldros Legacy series