Rob's Update: A Day at the Lake
In which my wife gets wings!
Week 21 of 2026
Greetings all!
This past weekend out at El Dorado Lake, my wife got her Pelican, which is a big deal in the SCA. I got to write the ceremony, which was based on Venetian traditions, including an oath drawn from the oaths spoken by Doges. Not much better ways to spend at the lake than to see loved ones getting cool stuff.
Speaking of loved ones, here’s Bella posing for the camera.
The wife’s oath, by the way, went like this:
I, Giulia Isabella de Venezia, do promise to promise.
I shall endeavor to increase the prestige of Calontir, treat all citizens fairly, promptly do justice to all, keep secret what is debated in councils, not collect or appropriate assets or annuities due to the populace, pursue counterfeiters so as to keep the currency in good condition, and arm at my own expense my dependents.
Furthermore, I swear to not influence the election of the Bishops and the Patriarch, nor send personal letters to the Pontiffs or Emperors, though I retain the right to speak with such I happen to meet directly.
May this promissory charter remain in full force until the Crown release me, the world ends, or death take me.
Giulia Isabella de Venezia
The “do promise to promise” part comes from a standard phrase in Latin (promittentes promittimus) the Doges spoke to start their oaths. My favorite part of this, by the way, is the part where she can’t write letters to Popes or Emperors, so I guess that’s now my job.
For my real job, I’ve been cranking out words in my main WIP, which is now up to about 12,000, or about a quarter done. I also started work on my final Okkorim editing project, helped out a new writer, and cleared out a bunch of advertising things, including the new ad for the Pennsic site book.
Not bad for a week where I didn’t get home until Monday evening and have been recovering from two pretty big weeks.
This Week’s Show
This week’s show starred the amazing(ly bearded) Wally Waltner! We talked about his series, The Muses War. Book two of that series, Fugue of Fire, just came out.
Now, I’d heard the term fugue before thanks to Bach, but I didn’t really know exactly what it meant. Now I do! It turns out Wally’s got an extensive music theory background and he’s littered The Muses War with all sorts of musical references as you can see.
Wally’s a really interesting guy, and you can check him out at a variety of places on the web:
Next Week’s Show
Next week we’ll have Lewis D’Aubin, one of the strangest and most twisted minds I’ve had the pleasure to interview. Want proof? Watch this delicious and delightful music video, the Zombie Apocalypse Barbecue!
He’s one of the guys behind Consortium of Genius, which is the best hard rock science fiction comedy group out there! Of course, as far as I know, they’re the only hard rock science fiction comedy group out there, but they’re still awesome.
Come join us as we talk more about music, especially Rush, because he’s a big fan of them too and the tour’s about to start!
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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
My Weight Today: 310.6lbs
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