Rob's Update: My Lady Is The Sea
Where I use a song lyric in vague fashion to talk about cool things!
Week 24 of 2026
Greetings all!
I had a very fun and productive week. Words and research done on the new book, prep for LibertyCon, prep for Pennsic, and packing for the wife to do a quilt show up in Wichita.
But first, Bella has found a new sleeping spot:
Apparently, the cat carrier isn’t the worst place in the world. I wonder what she’ll do next time we take her to the vet. For now, though, it’s very cute.
And a bonus image this week, something nautical related. I bought a new book!
How geeky am I? I actually find all the ships in the US Navy interesting, including ones like AO-23 Neosho. “AO”, by the way, is the designation of an oiler. The Neosho was supporting the American task forces at the Battle of the Coral Sea when the Japanese mistook her for an aircraft carrier and launched a strike that ultimately sank her and her escort, the destroyer Sims.
Anyway, I find them all interesting and I know exactly when that interest was piqued. When I in Jr. High I ran across Samuel Eliot Morison’s History of United States Naval Operations in World War II and fell in love with it. In its appendices is a list of all the US Navy ships, including the auxiliaries. That was the moment.
Yes, I have the full 15-volume collection on my shelves about 6 feet away.
Anyway, this book is already amazing and I’m only a few pages in. Best part? I’m already mining it for story ideas. Well, that’s not really the best part. The best part is finding new auxiliary types. Or wait, the best part is… Never mind. I’m not sure you all are prepared for me to show how truly geeky I am!
Side note: One of the things I don’t like about 4X games is the dearth of auxiliaries. They always hide them in abstract mechanics. If I ever get a chance to build a 4X game of my own, I’ll use the abstract mechanics but also add auxiliaries. Having AOs, for example to extend fleet range, or AE (ammunition ships) to provide more striking power, or whatever.
Side note to the side note: Here’s the list of ship classifications: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_hull_classifications. Play the home game and see how you’d add these ships to a game!
However, I didn’t just geek out, as I said. I wrote a goodly amount in the next book, which included a bunch of research to build the story.
The big problem with this book is that Shattered Spear is set in 902 and draws from a major incident in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Unfortunately, the next major incident in the Chronicle is in 907, which I plan on using, but the main character is 11 in 902 and would be 16 in 907 and I want one with him in between.
It took a while to find a hint of something to draw from, but I have, and now I’ve even been able to pinpoint a specific location to set the main battle. Interestingly, I’ve been to this location. I won’t tell you where, exactly, but it’s on the Offa’s Dyke Trail.
When I write fiction and come to something I want to research, my common practice is to type XX, which is my indicator to come back and fix something (Side note three: All authors should have a way to mark spots to come back to so they can just keep typing the story).
Anyway, historical fiction requires me to use that technique less often. Sometimes the research is crucial to the way the story is structured. If I have a battle in a location where we know the terrain and the reader can look it up, I have to have that terrain in front of me to keep me in line.
Anyway to the anyway, I’m ecstatic. I think I’ve turned the corner from the challenging small word count days to the groove part where I’m chunking them out. This always happens in books for me, and is so delightful when it does.
You know, saying that, I just thought of a scene. Y’all have a great week!
This Week’s Show
What a fun show this week! I had the pleasure of hosting Brandy Bolgeo Hendren, the big boss of LibertyCon (which is next week). We had a great time talking about her, the con, and all the great people who are a part of it. If you go to LibertyCon, you don’t want to miss it!
Next Week’s Show
Next week I’ll Melissa Olthoff! She’s a great author whose book Tempered by Fire comes out on July 7th. This is the 2nd of her Griffin Corps series, which is fantasy both epic and military. Great stuff.
Join us at 7pm Central next Tuesday as we talk about that, LibertyCon, and whatever else seems fun!
Upcoming Schedule
June 30th, NO SHOW, watching Rush in Fort Worth
July 7th, 250th Birthday with guests that will surprise all of us.
The rest of July is open! What do you want to see?
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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
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