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Rob’s Update: On the Move

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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: A New Wordhoard Unlocked

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Week 41 of 2020

Greetings all

Last week, my story “An Oath’s Other Edge” was released in the flash fiction Dragons and Dribbles : A Corner Scribblers Flash Collection w/ guest author, Rob Howell. This was a great honor for me, as the Corner Scribblers, a writing group in Chattanooga invited me to contribute both a story and the introduction.

Many thanks to them.

My story in the anthology is set in Shijuren and is about the foundation of the Order of the Fortress of Rabah, the order of chivalry that to which Ausartxango had sworn his life. It’s actually about oaths challenging Rabah and his brother Jaime.

It’s also only 1000 words long. That was the prompt. Write a fantasy story with no more than 1000 words. I managed, but it was tough. It was, however, a fantastic exercise, and one I will do again.

I also wrote the introduction. They wanted something to encourage writers, so I basically expanded on the basic point I often say in panels: There is one true way of writing and it’s what helps you get words on the page. Doesn’t matter if it does or doesn’t work for whichever big name you love, it only matters if it helps you get words on the page.

Coming up on Tuesday is the audiobook release of the The Feeding of Sorrows. James Patrick Cronin did the narration and did a fantastic job. It’s on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08K9DX13G/.

As mentioned, it’s on pre-order for Audible now and released on Tuesday. It is also, of course, available at the same link in both e-book and paperbook form.

A week of releases is always a good week, even if I didn’t make as much progress on more words on the page myself. I was kind of bleah all week long, and far less productive than normal. It happens, and it only really matters if I get mad at myself for it.

So, I’m not. Easy to say, but I think I’ll be able to avoid getting the downs. A good week will make a difference, and I expect to be productive. Also, I did quite a bit of pre-production stuff for None Call Me Mother. At some point next week, I’ll do the cover reveal.

What I’m Listening To

“Round and Round” by Ratt. I still like this song, though it has faded somewhat during the last 30 plus years. It’s no longer a song I’ll listen to over and over. That being said, I can watch the Geico “Ratt Problem” commercial repeatedly and still laugh. They get me with that entire series.

Quote of the Week

I’ve always loved the Old English term word hoard. Such a neat way to express the concept of vocabulary. Every time I write, I feel like I am playing with the greatest wealth there could be, the words that I have hoarded from Tolkien, Forester, and all the rest. So today’s quote is from Beowulf, where he replies to the coast guard.

I’ll only do the two lines here, but if you want a great paraphrase of what Beowulf says in the poem, go watch the part of 13th Warrior where they have just landed in Hrothgar’s land and are met by the herald.

Him se yldesta ondswarode,
werodes wisa, wordhord onleac:

Him the eldest answered
With his kin’s wisdom, unlocked his wordhoard
– Beowulf, lines 258-259.

News and Works in Progress

  • The Ravening of Wolves (32,068)
  • CB (8,418)
  • Cynewulf (8,642)
  • Gato (2,312)

New Releases

This week’s spotlight is on a local guy, Erwin K Roberts, and his latest Moon Man story. He’s a huge fan of pulp, and this is in that 1930s-40s style that I love. It’s called The Moon Man Showdown on the Plains: Sherwood in America and you can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HTM6F31.

We have another romance from CKP. Romance? Yep. He’s also publishing romance now, and here’s an anthology edited by Sheellah Kennedy and Joy Wandrey. It’s called Men in Uniform: A Steamy Romance Anthology. It’s on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KY55PCQ/.

Something you probably would expect more from one of my normal crew is Relations by Brisco Woods. This is set in Christopher Woods’s Fallen World universe, which is a lot of fun and continuing to grow. It’s here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KY55PCQ/.

Whew, I think that’s it. Oh, wait, did I mention my new Shijuren story, “An Oath’s Other Edge,” in Dragons and Dribbles : A Corner Scribblers Flash Collection w/ guest author, Rob Howell. I did? Oh, just making sure.

Today’s Weight: 360.8

Updated Word Count: 238,004

Shijuren Wiki: 874 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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