Rob's Update: Cool Happenings
In which Rob gets to watch his wife recognized for being awesome.
Week 20 of 2026
Greetings all!
It’s a cool day outside, and a cool weekend coming up. But first, here’s a picture of Wynnifred coolly keeping the dragons at bay!
This weekend is especially cool for me because my wife will be elevated to the Pelican. Those in the SCA are joining me in thinking, “That’s really cool!”
For those of you not in the SCA, what this means is she’s getting recognized for decades of work behind the scenes. Think of it like a knighthood, but for service instead of battle deeds. She absolutely deserves this, in part because so much of her work went unnoticed. That’s actually a good thing because if people had known about it, then likely something really bad had happened.
That’s why we’re closing the store this weekend (Side note: we’re closing the store this weekend). We’ll be out at the lake doing cool things!
Speaking of more cool things, A Lake Most Deep is on sale for $0.99 this week. Grab book one in the "Sam Spade walking the mean streets of a Balkan version of Minas Tirith" series here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CCKVLPBL.
BalloonFest went about as well as it could have, given the weather. The balloons had no shot of flying. They can’t fly if wind at ground level is going more than 8mph because it’s much faster as soon as you go higher. This weekend, the wind was almost always in the 20s. Ah well. It was also hot, so attendance was down. Still, a lot of people had a great time.
I cut out at about 1:30, though, because it was also the granddaughter’s second dance recital. I earned huge Opa points because I scrounged up a bouquet of flowers at the last minute. She’s beaming in the pictures, and that’s the coolest thing all week!
I didn’t get as much writing or editing done this week, not surprisingly, and I’ll be short next week too. However, it wasn’t without some progress, especially in figuring out how I’m going to structure the next book.
With that, though, I’ve got more packing to do!
Rob’s Ramblings
The podcast this week went off the rails! Basically, what I’d planned wasn’t going to work so we made do. Cedar Sanderson and Mike Burke joined me for MADNESS! We talked about cheese, writing, cheese, books, cheese, movies, and also… wait for it… cheese! And Mexican food.
https://robhowell.substack.com/publish/post/198491403
Honestly, this was one of the best shows we’ve had, even though my internet died at about an hour. I suspect the MADNESS shows will become a staple with various guests joining me.
Guest Info
Speaking of guests, I had two awesome folks joining me.
Here’s Mike—I mean—Spearman Burke’s Amazon page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Spearman-Burke/author/B0CPT1ZQ6Q.
And here’s Cedar Sanderson’s website: https://www.cedarwrites.com/tag/sanderley-studios/. I’m pointing you there instead of her Amazon page because she’s way more than just a writer. She’s also an artist (made the dragon logos for our store), gardener, cook, and all sorts of things. Basically, she rocks.
Oh, and since the two recently put out a book together, here’s a link for Giant Counting Robots: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DP3LW97T.
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: 310.8lbs
Amazon Author Page: amazon.com/-/e/B00X95LBB0
Website: robhowell.org
Blog: robhowell.org/blog
The Firehall Sagas: firehallsagas.com/
Facebook Author Page: facebook.com/robhowell.org/
Twitter: twitter.com/Rhodri2112
Congratulations to your Lady! It's been a couple of decades since I hung up my shield, but I've admired all the Pelicans I met.