Tag Archives: The House Between Worlds

Rob’s Update: Looking at the Sound

Week 41 of 2021

Greetings all

I’m currently at FactoryCon looking out over Currituck Sound at the Outer Banks on a lovely evening.

Not a bad place to work. I didn’t get much done on the drive out here, but I’ve been making up the time with some great days so far. Talons & Talismans II is ready to go, plus a number of other projects with more to come.

Speaking of Talons & Talismans II, we decided to push it back a week to balance the releases a bit better. The scheduling conflict that pushed The House Between Worlds to release next Tuesday, the 26th meant we’d be cramming in all that promo stuff into one week. This felt tight to me, so we’re giving that one two weeks and then three weeks before Khyven the Unkillable. I’m still sorting out the pacing with New Mythology, which surprises me not at all.

The House Between Worlds
The House Between Worlds

Oh, by the way, T-minus 5 days to The House Between Worlds by Jon R. Osborne. This is the fourth in his Milesian Accords setting. I always know a book is great when I finish my editing in about half the time I usually take. This is one of those.

I’ve been plugging away at The Door Into Winter when I can, but it’s been a challenging week to write because of the drive. After clearing the decks, starting Monday, I suspect I’ll get some major jumps in word counts as I’ve got what I want to do in my head. Will probably do another sprint tonight, in fact.

Tomorrow, FactoryCon proper starts with the goings on. Tonight, there’ll be hanging out, though. There’s already been a bunch of that, but to be honest, driving three straight days takes it out of me and the last couple of days have been work followed by enjoying playoff baseball, a rare treat for me these days.

I also get to announce today that I’m adding a new feature to my mailing list, giveaways. I’ve got my two Santa Claus, PI stories set up on a couple of promo sites to help broaden my reader list. What that means for you is that if you haven’t already downloaded these, you have another chance. I’ll be adding my next one in December, working title of Fleece Navidad.

With that, I better get to writing.

What I’m Listening To

Decided this was a week for productivity, so that means Rush. Currently listening to Clockwork Angels. I’m different in many ways, but I’m the rare Rush fan that’s been around for the long haul who thinks this is their best album ever. It’s truly majestic.

Quote of the Week

Today is Ursula K. Le Guin’s birthday. The Wizard of Earthsea was one of my foundational stories. I still read it periodically.

One of the things I fight against in my writing is trying to explain too much. A book is really a collaboration between writer and reader. My goal is to create a foundation for the reader to something awesome. Here’s a good reminder for me when I overexplain.

 As you read a book word by word and page by page, you participate in its creation, just as a cellist playing a Bach suite participates, note by note, in the creation, the coming-to-be, the existence, of the music. And, as you read and re-read, the book of course participates in the creation of you, your thoughts and feelings, the size and temper of your soul.
– Ursula K. Le Guin

Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy

Talons & Talismans II has eight new Eldros Legacy stories. There’s one from each of the founders plus three more from Elowyn Fahnestock, Sam Witt, and Jamie Ibson.

We’re less than two months from Khyven the Unkillable by Todd Fahnestock and I am so excited for what’s coming.

New Mythology Works in Progress

Current open anthology calls:

I’m currently working on Seeds of Dominion, the next Eldros Legacy novel by Quincy J. Allen. He’s a really creative guy and you’ll get to see all of his talent in this.

Giveaways

Friends are Everything Promo
Friends are Everything Promo

This week’s giveaway is the Friends are Everything Promo. You can find it here: https://storyoriginapp.com/bundles/1883c340-e768-11eb-8372-fb3b36c7c525?bundleLinkId=mdi15cP

As I mentioned, I have a couple of stories there, but go check it out for a bunch of free stuff from a host of cool authors.

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • The Door Into Winter (19,109)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

This week’s new release is a new story in Chuck Gannon’s Murphy’s Lawless series by Griffin Barber. I’ve been a fan of his since he and Kacey Ezell did a great noir style story called Second Chance Angel and of course there’s his stuff in the 1632 series. This book is Infiltration and you can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09JLGBXW7.

Two releases this week! The second is another P.A. Piatt’s Abner Fortis, ISMC series. It’s called Fresh Fruit and Ammo and you can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09FS7QR4M.

Not yet released, but on the way, is Jon R. Osborne’s excellent The House Between Worlds. Look for links to that on Tuesday.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 334.8

Updated Word Count: 285,556

Shijuren Wiki: 797 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

Rob’s Update: The Bon Homme Richard

Weeks 36-7 of 2021

Greetings all

Oh, hey, where did last week go? I looked up and suddenly it’s Thursday. The next Thursday.

Sorry about missing an update, but it’s been a really good time around here.

The big news is the release of It Takes All Kinds, an anthology in the Salvage Title universe created by Kevin Steverson. It includes my story “Careful With That Axe, E.U. Gene.”

My, what an interesting title, and clearly obvious to Pink Floyd fans where it came from. In fact, I put 232 intentional band name and song title references into the story (Not lyrics, that goes against copyright laws). I also put in an occasional historical rock reference.

Here’s the deal. The first person to send me a list of all 232 correct references will receive a free gift copy of all six of my fantasy novels. Yep, that’s right, I’ll send all six to your Amazon account for free (can’t do other accounts because of KU restrictions).

To enter, track the references in my story and send me an email to rob at rob howell dot org. You find all 232 references and you get 6 free novels. If, after 15 October, no one has found all 232, the person who’s send me the most will win, so if you only found 226, send it over. Who knows, you might be the one.

I might have had a little fun writing that one.

Last week, with the help of Chris Kennedy, we got Talons & Talismans I in the can. I’m even starting to get some things back from the advance reviewers and they like it. I’m not surprised.

I finished a story last week, which of course I’ll talk about at the right time.

I’ve been working on The Door Into Winter, which is starting to shape up. That should be done at the end of December. This is my first entry in Eldros Legacy / Shijuren, starting a new series entitled the Legacy of Legends. This will be a four book story arc and, with the help of Mark Stallings, Marie Whittaker, Todd Fahnestock, and Quincy J. Allen, will culminate with big doings in Ertha (the new world name as opposed to the continent of Shijuren).

In the meantime, I’ve been hammering away at New Mythology projects, which I’ll touch on soon.

What I’m Listening To

Perry Mason episodes. The sweetie is working from home and it’s one of her favorites.

Quote of the Week

It’s the anniversary of the Battle of Flamborough Head. What else could today’s quote be, but:

“I have not yet begun to fight!”
– John Paul Jones, from the deck of the Bon Homme Richard.

Cool Stuff In Eldros Legacy

Khyven the Unkillable is about to reach the final editing stage. This is Todd Fahnestock’s first in his Legacy of Shadow series. That comes out in December.

Quincy J. Allen has been hammering away at Seeds of Dominion, the first in his Legacy of Demons series. Expect that one in January.

New Mythology Works in Progress

Talons & Talismans I is in the can. Go Team! Not only that, but check out this amazing cover art!

Talons and Talisman I
Talons and Talisman I

Talons & Talismans II is in the final editing stage. I’ll show you that cover in a couple of weeks.

The House Between Worlds, book 4 in the fantastic Milesian Accords series by Jon R. Osborne, is almost done. I’ll be looking for advance readers next week.

Wow, that’s a lot! And more coming.

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • The Door Into Winter (5,337)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
  • SOTI (9, 761)

Upcoming Events

New Releases

Not just one, but two new Salvage Title books.That’s what happens when I miss a week around here.

First, It Takes All Kinds, an anthology of new beings in the universe including my Rolling Stones in “Careful With That Axe, E.U. Gene.” That one is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FZVXQ8M.

Then there’s Salvage Mother, by Kevin Steverson and Kacey Ezell. That one is here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09G9HW68Q.

Then there’s a new 4HU novel by Casey Moores, Rise of the Bull. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09FNV6XRF.

Tracked Items

Today’s Weight: 334.2

Updated Word Count: 282,946

Shijuren Wiki: 791 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 Archive

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org

Rob’s Update: The Natural Road

Week 33 of 2021

Greetings all

The first thing I want to announce is… Wait for it… An Announcement!!!

Yes, I’ll be making a special announcement next week. It’s the soooper-seekrit project I’ve been working on and we’re ready to talk about it.

Having announced the announcement, let’s talk about a good week of editing with a little writing.

All of the first Talons & Talismans anthology is out to the authors and most are back and in the can. The second anthology is mostly done and back to the authors. By the end of this weekend, I suspect we’ll be down to mostly fiddly bits.

On the editing side, I’m turning to The House Between Worlds next. This is the fourth book in Jon Osborne’s great Milesian Accords series. Target release date is October.

Writing wise there’s been some work on a short story and a few words on The Door Into Winter. Not much, thought, as the editing/publishing side of thing has taken precedence for about a month.

Still, it all counts and thus was a very productive week here.

What I’m Listening To

Not much. I’ve been working in the office with my sweetie today as she gets one of her treasured work from home days, so we didn’t play music or anything.

Quote of the Week
I am a big believer in this week’s quote.
“We must trust to nothing but facts: These are presented to us by Nature, and cannot deceive. We ought, in every instance, to submit our reasoning to the test of experiment, and never to search for truth but by the natural road of experiment and observation.”
Antoine Lavoisier, Elements of Chemistry
New Mythology Works in Progress
Current open anthology calls:

I’m currently working on the last bits of Talons & Talismans and turning to Jon Osborne’s The House Between Worlds.

Rob’s Works in Progress

  • The Door Into Winter (242)
  • Rick Blaine (8,845)
  • CB (8,418)
  • MON (6226)

Upcoming Events

  • Gulf Wars, 2-10 October, Lumberton, MS
    www.gulfwars.org
  • FactoryCon, 22-24 October, Coinjock, NC
    Details in the CKP – Factory Floor on Facebook.
  • 20BooksTo50K, 8-12 November, Las Vegas, NV
    http://20booksvegas.com/

New Releases

Jim Cartwright is back! One of my favorite characters in the 4HU. Cartwright’s Cavaliers: Descent is now available here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CYL66KT.

Craig Martelle is publishing an anthology with a bunch of great writers including CKP’s Kacey Ezell, Paul Piatt, and the big boss, Chris Kennedy. It’s called The Expanding Universe 7: An Intergalactic Adventure Anthology and you can find the preorder here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09C114GTG. I should point out it’s only $3.99 for those who preorder.

Tracked ItemsToday’s Weight: 335.2

Updated Word Count: 184,064

Shijuren Wiki: 767 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

Author of the Shijuren-series of novels

Weekly Update Archive

If you think you received this email incorrectly or wish to be unsubscribed, please send an email to shijuren-owner@robhowell.org