Rob Howell's Blog, page 2
August 5, 2025
Rob’s Update: At Pennsic War
Greetings all!
I’m writing this from booth at Pennsic! As usual, my days here are spent from about 10-6 writing and selling and my evenings from about 8 onward are out at bardic circles.
Pennsic 2025Last night, I told a new story about a friend who had recently passed. She was one of the best storytellers I’ve ever seen and a great mentor to me. I’ll miss her. I think she would have disapproved of my story because it made her into the hero, yet that’s exactly what she was.
Pennsic 2025One of these days I’ll collect my various SCA stories and poetry and publish it, but it is not this year. Nor next year, I think, as I’ve got another project I’ll publish at Pennsic next year. Two years, though? Maybe.
Pennsic 2025This week I’ve been editing some old stuff for republishing and nibbling away at some other projects, plus of course talking up my books.
Since I’ve got customers coming in and out, I’ll cut this short, but I’ll see you all soon!
What I’m Listening ToThe noise of a vibrant merchant area. Quite fun, actually.
Quote of the WeekHappy birthday to David Baldacci!
“But if I worried too much about publishers’ expectations, I’d probably paralyze myself and not be able to write anything.”
– David Baldacci
Rob’s Works in Progress
Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)Upcoming EventsPennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PApennsicwar.org/iCT Comicon, August 30-31, Wichita KS,
ictcomiccon.com/P-Con, September 19-21, Dallas, TX
p-con.us/Tracked Items
My Weight Today: 360.2lbs
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
July 22, 2025
Rob’s Update: Diary of a Madman
Greetings all
It’s almost time for Pennsic! If you see me there and mention you saw this message, I’ll give you a special discount.
I’ve spent much of the past two weeks packing and prepping. At Gulf Wars, I tried out a new layout. It wasn’t perfect on the trial run, of course, but I enjoyed it anyway and I think this will be better. Let’s hope my measurements work.
I also edited another module in Okkorim. We put one out each month, and I like the steadiness of the work.
Most of what I did these past two weeks is worldbuilding, or rather, galaxy building. I’ve had an idea for a mil SF in the style of Red Storm Rising, one of my favorite books, and I’ve written a bunch of snippets here and there over the past few years. I’m finally getting serious about it.
I focused on the astrography and political structure. This involved picking out a nearby set of stars that might have planets, setting up governments, fleets, and so on. I’m not done with that, but I’ve made huge progress. It’s exciting.
Over Pennsic, I aim to do a bunch of editing on some existing projects, expanding the worldbuilding, and perhaps even writing another short story for Raconteur Press.
With that, I’ll see you all soon!
What I’m Listening ToWe’re watching Burn Notice tonight. What a fun show.
Quote of the WeekI saw Ozzy a few times over the years, though sadly not the farewell show. No More Tears remains one of my favorite albums, though my favorite of his non-Sabbath songs is Diary of a Madman.
Today’s quote, however, is from Flying High Again.
I can see through mountains, watch me disappear
I can even touch the sky
Swallowing colours of the sound I hear
Am I just a crazy guy (you bet)
– Ozzy Osbourne, Diary of a Madman
Rob’s Works in Progress
Sowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)Upcoming EventsPennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PApennsicwar.org/P-Con, February 14-16, Dallas, TX
p-con.us//Tracked Items
My Weight Today: 360.2lbs
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
July 8, 2025
Rob’s Update: Vice Noir
Greetings all
Wooofff. It’s been a while, hasn’t it. I’ve definitely gotten out of the habit, but there’s no better time to get back on the horse than now, or so they say.
Anyway, thanks all for your patience.
I’ve been contemplating how better to serve you all with this newsletter, both to help you help me and also get value out of it. I’ve been dabbling with Substack and I think I might migrate over there. It’ll be free for you, but you might need to get a Substack account to access some of the better stuff. Anyway, it’s time for me to update this particular process, not simply get back to riding regularly.
Vice NoirThe big news this week is the upcoming release of Vice Noir, including as you can see from the cover, myself! My story is a riff off some happenings in Kansas City in the mid 80s. It also mentions Lawrence, KS, where I was theoretically attending the University of Kansas at the time of this story. So my character could’ve met me if, of course, I’d actually gone to class.
I’ve also been traveling quite a bit of late. There was the trip to Lilies, where the wife spent the whole week at our merchant booth and I covered the store.
Then there was LibertyCon a couple of weeks ago. I’d give you an AAR, but it’ll match every other one. Those people are awesome, I got to do a bunch of cool stuff with them, and I got to talk about writing and my work. Great times as always.
Also in June, I did a bunch of work on Okkorim stuff. I’m excited to see us expanding to the Shadowdark RPG, as it’s much stronger than 5E, IMHO.
I’ve also been working on a couple of other projects, nibbling away at them now because they’re large. I do hope to have a bunch of news on these in the fall, though. I have ideas and I’m putting them down on the page.
Next week, as well, I’ll go over a smaller project I’ve been working at for a while that is almost ready to come out.
Okay, that’s enough for now, but I’ll try to keep this going better. Also, please let me know what you think of Substack. It has some real possibilities for me to provide content in better way.
What I’m Listening ToSchism from Tool. I love how Tool manages to take disparate elements into something amazing.
Quote of the WeekToday, in 2011, the Space Shuttle Atlantis made the final shuttle launch. Despite the Challenger and Columbia tragedies, I looked upon these as something special. I’d like to see us get to space. For a while there, I’d lost hope, but SpaceX has been amazing.
Anyway, today’s quote is from Countdown, the song by Rush after they got to watch the very first shuttle launch.
The bright stuff of dreams is still in me.
Circling choppers slash the night
With roving searchlight beams
This magic day when super-science
Mingles with the bright stuff of dreams
– Countdown, Rush
Rob’s Works in ProgressSowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)Upcoming EventsPennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PApennsicwar.org/P-Con, February 14-16, Dallas, TX
p-con.us//New Releases
This week we have Vice Noir. I don’t have a link for it, but keep an eye on their Substack page for details: raconteurpress.substack.com.
Honestly, they’re kicking out so much awesome stuff, you should keep an eye there anyway.
Tracked ItemsMy Weight Today: 359.8lbs
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
May 28, 2025
Rob’s Update: Back on the Horse
Greetings all
Sorry for being a day late. I’d intended to write this when I got home from dinner last night, but the wife and I met a friend in Kingman, about 45 minutes away. On the way, home, we came across an accident, and got held up before backtracking and taking the long way home. By that point, I just went to bed.
However, it was a great week last week. I mentioned last week I wanted to get back on the horse after re-arranging the office. Well thanks to Jonna Hayden at Raconteur Press, I did better than that.
I didn’t write in the project I’d meant to write in, but she sent me the current list of Raconteur Press open calls, one of which is due on Sunday. At first, I was thinking that’s too soon, but I said the heck with it, let’s see if I can still go pretty quickly.
And, it turns, out, I can. I started Thursday and finished the first draft today, so about 5 days to get 6500 words. I’ll be editing the next couple of days but then I’ll send it in.
The story prompt is Noir 80s Vice. I’m not sure I ended up fitting the whole prompt, which was trying more for Miami Vice than what I ended up writing, so they may not accept it even if they think it’s good enough. Still, it’s very 80s and very noir, melding in a bunch of 1980s stuff from KC.
And one of the lines in there is absolutely one of my favorites that I’ve ever written.
I also did a final pass on the PDF for the big project in Okkorim and did some other work with stuff there. I have to say, the team that Matt and Luke gathered, including me, is pretty darn good.
And with that, I’m going to watch some TV before bediting the story later on. Have a great week everyone!
What I’m Listening ToSpeaking of the 80s, or at least the early 90s, we’re watching Inspector Morse tonight.
Quote of the WeekHappy birthday to James Bond! Or at least, Ian Fleming. Here’s a great quote we writers always need to remember.
There is only one recipe for a best seller and it is a very simple one. You have to get the reader to turn over the page.
– Ian Fleming
libertycon.org/Pennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PA
pennsicwar.org/Tracked Items
My Weight Today: 360.8lbs
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
May 20, 2025
Rob’s Update: Shoulder Pains
Greetings all
Over the last month or so, I’ve dealt with some severe shoulder pain. One night was so bad I literally couldn’t sleep. I even had so much pain, I went to the doctor.
The diagnosis is about what one would expect for a guy my age. I have a bone spur and some arthritis. I’m not a young punk any more, I guess, as my new occupational therapist is teaching me.
Part of the reason is new ergonomics that didn’t work out. I recently moved my office from up front to back of the building. This part has been excellent. I love the space in general, but part of that change wasn’t ideal.
I often write with my chair leaned back and elbow on the table next to me. When I moved, I put a credenza to that side, not noticing that it was about an inch higher than the desk I’d had there before. It turns out, that difference messes with my shoulder.
Today, with a friend’s help. we moved a new desk into my office. It’s actually a bigger workspace but with less walking space. That’s fine, I’ve got more room for bookshelves.
Anyway, over the next couple of days, I’m running all the cables again. That part’s tedious, but it’ll be a much better setup after all.
And that’s all on top of a pretty good week. Overall, I finished out at the Chamber last Wednesday, then finished a major project, then started and finished a different project.
The two projects are both in Okkorim, where I’ve got work lined up for the foreseeable future. I’m really lucky to have this opportunity.
Truth is, while it’s been great, it isn’t a full time job and I need to get back to chunking out new content of my own. Besides the Chamber job, I had another issue affecting my time with my butt in chair, hands on keyboard, which is the single most important part of the job. This is why the office move is so important.
I’ve got plans over Memorial Day, but I want to get a few thousand words into something new by the end of the weekend. Then get back into a regular groove both with Okkorim, some Firehall Sagas stuff, and this new project, which is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time.
Have a great week everyone!
What I’m Listening ToMoneyball with Brad Pitt. I rather enjoy it, though there’s a lot of changes to the real truth of the story.
Quote of the WeekGeorge Wendt passed away today, which really sucks. Here’s a great quote from Norm, one of my favorites.
“It’s a dog-eat-dog world, Sammy. And I’m wearing Milkbone underwear.” – Norm (George Wendt)
Rob’s Works in ProgressSowing Spring’s Wrath (3,213)Upcoming EventsLibertyCon, June 20-22, Chattanooga, TNlibertycon.org/Pennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PA
pennsicwar.org/Tracked Items
My Weight Today: 358.2lbs
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
May 13, 2025
Rob’s Update: I Chose the Wombat
Greetings all
Last weekend was Anthony’s Balloon Festival. It went pretty well. Lots of people having fun. It was also exhausting and I’m glad it’s done.
I’ve turned my attention to a bunch of Okkorim that has stacked up. We have a huge module we’re working on right now that combines a number of earlier modules.
This one is particularly interesting to me because we’re working more and more with Shadowdark. I’m warming up to this system. I like it’s torch mechanic, it’s use of range, and it’s peril system.
We’re expanding the world every month with the adventures we write every in the G20. I’m also about to start building up other sections of the world. Lots of fun stuff happening.
Truthfully, this has been an awful month for my production, admittedly for a reason. However, it’s nice to get back into the groove.
Tomorrow, I close out my time with the Anthony Chamber as Director. I suspect I’ll get asked to join the Chamber Board again in the fall, but for now, I’m stepping mostly away except for after action stuff from Balloon Fest. I want whoever runs it next year to have the leg up I didn’t really have.
Anyway, so here’s me getting back into updates. Have a great week!
What I’m Listening ToWe’re restarting Death in Paradise. It’s tasty comfort food.
Quote of the WeekHappy birthday to Alexander Nevsky! However, instead of quoting something about leading a cavalry charge against ships over a frozen ice, I’m going to pivot to Roger Zelazny, who was also born today. And since I’m feeling whimsical, you get this.
When you are about to die, a wombat is better than no company at all.
– Roger Zelazny
libertycon.org/Pennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PA
pennsicwar.org/
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
April 22, 2025
Rob’s Update: To Tuesday
Greetings all
Welll…. That experiment didn’t work. Apparently, if I don’t post every week, I lose track of things. So, I’m going back to posting every week, with the occasional exception because of events. However, I am still switching things up and moving to Tuesdays.
That being said, welcome back! Sorry for the month-long absence.
What’s been happening this past month? Mostly it’s been work on Anthony’s Balloon Festival. When I’d volunteered to assist the Anthony Chamber of Commerce, I’d anticipated more of a clerical job, but it’s morphed into an event administrator. While I enjoy event administration, it has significantly distracted me from writing and editing. Hence, I’m stepping away from that job after this event.
This is another reason I’ve been poor at these updates. I’ve almost been taken completely away from my real work, so while I’ve gotten paid, it’s been a net loss for me. Ah, well live and learn.
I am working on several short stories and editing some old stuff for re-release. I’d hoped to be much farther along by now, but we’ll get rolling as soon as we can.
For now, though, have a great week!
What I’m Listening ToNFL Draft talk, As you probably remember, I’m a big draft fan and will be watching closely for developments all week long. For the record, I want Dallas to trade down from 12 and get Emeka Egbuka, the WR from Ohio State in the later part of the first round.
Quote of the WeekLots of interesting birthdays on April 22nd, but I’ll got with Janet Evanovich. Here’s a quote from her that’s one of my main writing principals.
“Make sure your main characters are likeable. They can be flawed, but your readers need to be able to root for them.”
– Janet Evanovich
libertycon.org/KantCon, June 26-29, Kansas City, MO
kantcon.com/Pennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PA
pennsicwar.org/P-Con, September 19-21, Dallas, TX
p-con.us/New Releases
This week’s advanced sale is Shadow on the Moon, the 12th book in John E. Siers’ Lunar Free State series. This is the final book in the first arc, so don’t miss out on the conclusion! Everything comes down to this! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0F51QZ7XW/
Your pre-release this week is Recon by Fire, the 4th book in Chris Kennedy’s Symbiote Wars series. With only one book to go in the series (which will be out on June 6), now’s the time to jump in on the series if you haven’t. The Sutton siblings are in it up to their elbows this time! Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DZJ3XNX8/
Tracked ItemsMy Weight Today: 354.6lbs
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
March 27, 2025
Rob’s Update: A Gauntlet Run
Greetings all
My favorite video game growing up was Gauntlet. I loved it so much it ended up being one reason I flunked out of KU. Of course, given who I was then, it would have been something else if it hadn’t been that.
Why do I mention that? No real reason, except that March was a bit of a gauntlet, and it’s likely to be a regular thing going forward. Gulf Wars would, I think, have been an unqualified success if we hadn’t lost two prime selling days.
And then there’s GaryCon.
The downside of GaryCon is expense. The hotel cost is significant, plus of course food at the Grand Geneva isn’t cheap. The amazing dealing room doesn’t help, either.
Last year, I wondered if it would be worth all that money. However, like so many things, if you go multiple years, things start to stack, and this year’s experience showed this is stacking quickly. I had a much more productive time this year and I expect it to be even better going forward. Name recognition is important, and I had several people go, “Oh, you’re the writer guy” or something like it.
I have some ideas about next year. I’m going to try and meld some different experiences with the gaming community there.
Chentoufi, City of Intrigue and SecretsThe big highlight was the release of Chentoufi: A City of Intrigue and Secrets. It’s awesome to see that in the wild.
Another highlight came Sunday evening. Ernie Gygax passed away recently, and we participated in a charity game for him. This was held at his house, hosted by his wife Donna, and ran by an excellent GM who had an interesting plan.
He divided the game into 3 parts and used each part to give the players a chance to experience early role-playing. The first part was a Braunstein game, which was one of the earliest progenitors of D&D. Basically, players get a character with a series of goals and resources and negotiate amongst each other.
I’ve experienced something like this in Model UN and in some of the Junior Achievement events. I liked those events a ton in part because they felt like D&D, and this brought it around full circle.
Then we played a sort of make up your own version of D&D. Basically, we had no books, but we were told our characters were experienced adventurers. Then the DM told us to do things experienced adventurers would do. We had to guess from our descriptions everything we could do. If we could cast spells, we had to essentially make them up on the spot.
It was an intriguing thing. As experienced players, we all fell back on various spells and things we did, but it was still basically a player saying to the judge, “We want to do X,” and the judge ruling on it.
I rather liked it. I might try something like that with my players.
Anyway, this past month has been productive on a number of fronts, including some editing and writing here and there. Not as much as I’ll do in April given that I’ll be home the bulk of the time, but I managed a goodly amount in the margins.
Next week is reorganizing and getting back into the groove. I have a number of writing projects in mind, including some new ideas. I also have some editing projects to do.
For now, I’m enjoying the time with my wife and the kitties after running that gauntlet. Have a great week!
What I’m Listening ToInspector Lewis tonight. It’s the 3rd of the Morse trilogy of BBC mysteries. All 3 are great.
Quote of the WeekI had a hard time choosing this week’s quote. On the one hand, there’s Kevin J. Anderson, a fantastic writer and a great guy. On the other, there’s the Captain, Nathan Fillion. On the gripping hand, it’s Opening Day so there should be a baseball quote.
Baseball it is! This one comes from Humphrey Bogart, so I can think of him saying this while holding a golden falcon statue in a suave cabaret in Casablanca.
“A hot dog at the game beats roast beef at the Ritz.”
– Humphrey Bogart
libertycon.org/Pennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PA
pennsicwar.org/New Releases
This week we have Interstellar Gambit, the second book in Dawn Chapman’s Through Steel and Stars series. The first book in this series did outstandingly well, so if you missed it, grab it and jump in—it’s not too late! This book will have a simultaneous release in audio (to go with the ebook and paperback). Get whichever you prefer here: amazon.com/dp/B0DZK4F4TM.
Your pre-release this week is Bound and Determined, the second book in Michael LaVoice’s Gladius Leagues series. Nick Landry defeated the Onslaught on Miranatha, but will he be able to liberate his home world? Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0F2J47JJ3.
Tracked ItemsMy Weight Today: 357.0lbs
Updated Word Count: 40,000
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
March 19, 2025
Rob’s Update: A Writer of Intrigue and Secrets
Greetings all
I think this is week 12 of 2025, but to be honest, I’ve sort of lost track over the last month. I’ve traveled something like 5000 miles in the last 4-5 weeks and had two different book releases, along with a bunch of other stuff going on. It’s been really productive, but I’m not sure what day it is.
Like, I think today’s Wednesday (it is, my computer tells me), but I wasn’t sure when I woke up. And I know I usually send these out on Thursday, but tomorrow is literally packed from 7am to 10pm and I bet at that point I’m not setting up an update.
So you get it a day early, or really, 6 days late as I’d promised to send you one last Thursday. However… things didn’t go as planned at Gulf Wars. I’ll get to that in a bit.
Chentoufi, City of Intrigue and SecretsFirst, I have something awesome to share. Chentoufi, City of Intrigue and Secrets is now out, though it’s not yet available online.
Still, check out this cover! I have this copy in my hand and will have copies for sale down the road. Stay tuned for that information.
I can also add we’re already working on the next expansion.
We’re giving out a bunch of these to GMs at GaryCon, which is of course where I’m at now. I’ve already seen a bunch of people here I saw last year, and though I’ve yet to play any games this week, it’s already been a blast. I’ve gotten a chance to meet and chat with Zeb Cook and Ed Greenwood among others. So yeah, lots of bucket list items off the list.
Last week I was at Gulf Wars and I’d anticipated having time on Thursday to send this particular update out. However, as you might have heard, tornadoes went across Mississippi on Saturday. They missed the Gulf Wars site, but we knew severe weather was on the way, and so we packed out and left on Friday instead of Sunday, thereby avoiding any bad weather.
For the time I was there, however, Gulf went well. I sold a little less than I wanted, but I exceeded my daily goals, so an extra two days of sales would’ve cleared all my goals.
I didn’t have huge goals for Gulf, though. I do really well at Pennsic but some of that is because I’ve been selling there for 8 years straight. I have a fan base there that I don’t have at Gulf, having last sold there in 2019. Plus, of course, Gulf is about a 3rd the size of Pennsic.
Still, it was well worth going. I made a small profit, which means I did well given that number doesn’t include follow-up ebook sales. Plus, I got to try some new innovations Gwen a’Brooke and I have been talking about for Pennsic and I got a couple of great nights of singing, which are both really valuable.
Of course, we’re still only about a month from the release of The Feasting of Vengeance, the third book in my Foresters Trilogy. I have to say I’m astounded at the reaction given that we’re already up to 76 reviews. Thanks everyone!
If you haven’t read it, you can get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DWV68DQK.
Whew! What an exciting last few weeks. Now, I’m going to go hang out with a bunch of gamers. Have a great week.
What I’m Listening ToRoundabout by Yes on the hotel’s Classic Rock channel. Always a nice choice.
Quote of the WeekHappy birthday to Wyatt Earp! Among the many stories about Wyatt, I think my favorite is that he was an advisor on early western movies. One actor in particular studied him, and while I bet John Wayne would’ve done okay anyway, having Earp as an exemplar probably didn’t help.
And then there’s this quote. I really like “take your time in a hurry.”
“Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything. In a gun fight… You need to take your time in a hurry.”– Wyatt EarpUpcoming EventsGaryCon, March 20-23, Lake Geneva, WI
garycon.com/LibertyCon, June 20-22, Chattanooga, TN
libertycon.org/Pennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PA
pennsicwar.org/New Releases
This week we have Gaining the Edge, the third book in Chris Kennedy’s Symbiote Wars series. An opportunity has presented itself, and the siblings want to take advantage of it. When things don’t go as planned, though, will they still be able to gain the edge they’re looking for? Get it here: amazon.com/dp/B0DZJ34KZ7.
Your pre-release this week is Interstellar Gambit, the second book in Dawn Chapman’s Through Steel and Stars series. The first book in this series did outstandingly well, so if you missed it, grab it and jump in—it’s not too late! This book will have a simultaneous release in audio (to go with the ebook and paperback). Get whichever you prefer here: amazon.com/dp/B0DZK4F4TM.
Tracked ItemsMy Weight Today: 362.8lbs
Updated Word Count: 40,000
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
February 27, 2025
Rob’s Update: March Upcountry
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 VengeanceSpeaking 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 falconThere 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 ToInspector Lewis, one of our favorites. Frankly, the Endeavor, Morse, Lewis trilogy is really good if you like these sorts of mysteries.
Quote of the WeekHappy 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
gulfwars.org/GaryCon, March 20-23, Lake Geneva, WI
garycon.com/LibertyCon, June 20-22, Chattanooga, TN
libertycon.org/Pennsic War, July 25 – August 10, Slippery Rock, PA
pennsicwar.org/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 ItemsMy 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
