Tag Archives: William Least-Heat Moon

Rob’s Update: The World is Loaded

Week 9 of 2018

Greetings all

Sorry that I’m a day late on my update. I was exhausted last night from not sleeping well the previous two nights, and I just went to bed early.

However, it was a pretty good week of writing with both Brief Is My Flame and None Call Me Mother. I mentioned last week that I had an epiphany and realized I needed to go about something backwards. I’ve cleaned up Brief Is My Flame, which sent 1000s of words to None Call Me Mother, but I have also broken the 40k barrier. Major progress there.

This despite a week focused on helping my sweetie through a major work thing. That’s done, and we’re going to take a mini-vacation starting tonight. We’ll ramble our way to Minneapolis generally on the blue highways.

If you don’t know the term blue highways, it comes from a book by the same name. It’s an amazing book, on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Highways-Journey-into-America-ebook/dp/B006BAW16O/. I just finished re-reading it, as a matter of fact.

We’ll see how much work I get done this week as we ramble. My sweetie has been working hard to get over this hump, and I want her to have a good time. I do have some sections just jumping out, though, so when I get opportunities, I’ll be productive.

This past week, I also went through and cleaned up my list of potential conventions. It’s something I’ve needed to do for a while, but part of that is because my sweetie kinda wants to know when I’ll be gone ahead of time. Shocking, I know. Anyway, I’ve added a number of upcoming events on that list. I have several others that I’m waiting on confirmation. Most of 2018 should be mapped out soon.

Now I’d better pack.

Current Playlist Song: Stop! by Jane’s Addiction. This is the opening song on Ritual de la Habitual, and it is one of my top five albums of all time. The radio song, Been Caught Stealing, is the one mediocre song on the album and Three Days might be may favorite song ever.

Quote of the Week

Quite possibly my favorite comedian provides this week’s quote:

I busted a mirror and got seven years bad luck, but my lawyer thinks he can get me five.
– Steven Wright

News and Works in Progress

  • TAV (1144)
  • AFS (2681)
  • Brief Is My Flame (40676)

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

J.F. Holmes has his Dragon award nominated Invasion, Book I: Resistance ebook for free on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0716YCLH4.

Today’s Weight: 386.2

Updated Word Count: 16796

Shijuren Wiki: 741 entries

Four Horsemen Wiki: 170 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

Currently Available Works

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 Windshield A Movie Screen

Weeks of 15 October – 4 November

I have finally unburied myself enough from the trip to get an update to you. Sorry for the missed weeks, but what a journey it was. It went something like this:

Council Bluffs, IA to Wichita, KS (304 miles / 304 miles total)
Wichita to Elk Falls, KS (84 / 388 )
Elk Falls to Memphis, TN (468 / 856 )
Memphis to Huntsville, AL (215 / 1071)
Huntsville to Maryville, TN (216 / 1287)
Maryville to Flat Rock, NC (138 / 1425)
Flat Rock to Columbus, NC then Tryon, NC and back (29 / 1454)
Columbus to Whitakers, NC (301 / 1755)
Whitakers to Booneville, NC (190 / 1945)
Booneville to Whitakers (190 / 2135)
Whitakers to Wilmington, NC (154 / 2289 )
Wilmington, NC to Charleston, SC (172 / 2461)
Charleston to Whitakers (318 / 2779)
Whitakers to Raleigh (55 / 2834)
Raleigh to Whitakers (55 / 2889)
Whitakers to Louisville, KY (620 / 3509)
Louisville to Wichita (697 / 4206)
Wichita to Council Bluffs (304 / 4510)

There you have it. Over 4500 miles, plus driving around cities. I went to two conventions, ConStellation and HonorCon and had a great time at both. My after action reports are at https://robhowell.org/blog/?p=856 and https://robhowell.org/blog/?p=862. I went to a big SCA event, War of the Wings. My report is at: https://robhowell.org/blog/?p=858.

I saw lots of relatives, some of whom I’d never even known existed. I also met my cousins. I haven’t seen them since the 1970s. I need to make visits to the Carolinas more common so I can keep in touch. Neither ConStellation nor HonorCon are continuing as such, but I’ll go back to War of the Wings.

I also toured the USS North Carolina in Wilmington, the USS Yorktown and USS Laffey in Charleston, and took the cruise to Fort Sumter. The North Carolina is the best battleship museum I’ve been to, and I’ve been on the Alabama (her sister ship), the Iowa, the Wisconsin, and the Texas. One specific extra cool thing on her is that you can actually go inside two of her 16in turrets. Tight quarters, but really neat to see. The Laffey was especially interesting, as I’d never been on a Sumner-class destroyer before. Also, I got fantastic pictures of the Yorktown as the cruise ship goes around her to get to Fort Sumter.

Fort Sumter is a place everyone should go. It’s part of a series of forts that guarded Charleston harbor and it’s fascinating to think how one would try and attack the harbor. You see fairly quickly why Fort Wagner had to be taken, and this why the 54th Massachusetts was thrown against its walls as shown in the movie Glory.

We had planned to take a more leisurely trip home, but by the end of HonorCon I was ready to get home. We drove the quick route back and did not visit Cape Girardeau on this trip as we had planned. The drive was generally smooth, though the really high winds and light snow on I-77 through the mountains north of Greensboro added a bit of difficulty factor.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip. Mom and I had a great time, though it was exhausting. From a professional standpoint, I thought it went really well, even though I barely had a chance to write anything. I’m feeling the lack, because writing is like working out, if you do it consistently it feels better.

But that’s what I’m ramping back up on since I got home. I’ve gotten a few thousand words in Brief Is My Flame, but I’m not yet back into form. That’s coming though, as I recover.

Fortunately, there’s not much travel between now and January, so I can get back into the rhythm.

Quote of the Week

Whenever I’m on a long trip, I can’t help but think of William Least-Heat Moon and Blue Highways. If you haven’t read this book, go do so. It’s a fantastic read, with all sorts of philosophical thought, history, and a sample of 1970s America.
“A car whipped past, the driver eating and a passenger clicking a camera. Moving without going anywhere, taking a trip instead of making one. I laughed at the absurdity of the photographs and then realized I, too, was rolling effortlessly along, turning the windshield into a movie screen in which I, the viewer, did the moving while the subject held still. That was the temptation of the American highway, of the American vacation (from the Latin vacare, “to be empty”).”
― William Least Heat-Moon, Blue Highways

News and Works in Progress

  • Brief Is My Flame

Recent Blog Posts and Wiki Additions

Upcoming Events

Spotlight

I met another of my fellow contributors to For a Few Credits More at HonorCon, Ian J. Malone. You can find him on Amazon at: https://www.amazon.com/Ian-J.-Malone/e/B00BJ5QO50/

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

Currently Available Works

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