Sam Robb

Happy Black Friday y'all! Whether you're done with your Black Friday strategic strikes, or just plotting your online shopping spree today, here's a few holiday gift suggestions for the sci-fi/fantasy reader in your life... (See ⬇️ for the Amazon connections!) ONE OCTOBER NIGHT - One story every night, born from a drawing. Fantasy, science fiction, mystery, this collection has it all. Come for the night and see what you find, because it's never boring here in October. RECALL NOTICE - (ebook only) Eddie's had a rough thirteen months. He's been cursed by a gypsy, assigned his own sister as his court appointed witch, and is up to his neck in mandated community service. When he picks up a new client, his luck finally changes — for the worse. Can this PI turned black cat navigate a world of friendly zombies, orcish goons, and bad luck by the crate to somehow save the day? MINSTRELS IN THE GALAXY - A dozen science fiction authors spin their own yarns, inspired by the music of Jethro Tull. Belly up to the bar somewhere out among the stars. Grab yourself a drink, and settle in for some colorful tales from our minstrels in the galaxy. Stories of things that could have been, things that might have been...and of things that should have been, but never were. TALES FROM THE WOOD - A dozen fantasy authors spin their own tales, inspired by the music of Jethro Tull. Come join us around the fire for stories of all manner of witches, wizards, dragons, and fae beings both light and dark as these bards bring you their Tales from the Wood. 2024 HIGH CALIBER AWARDS - A young traveling judge on the road with an Imperial Magus struggles to keep his own magical talent hidden while investigating a series of crimes that look to be the work of a powerful necromancer. (I'm working on continuing this story into a full novel for Cannon Publishing! 😁) WYRD WEST - Out in the Wasaya territory of the Old West, myth collides with reality, and anything can be true. A missing town draws a Federal Marshal and an itinerant preacher together to confront an ancient evil that wants to consume them all - and more. Get my story and another nine from stellar authors in this volume! ZNB PRESENTS: YEAR TWO - What would happen if the "Chosen One" was a sixty year-old widowed fisherwoman? Find out in "Harrold of the Gods", only one of the two dozen stories in this anthology! And more! That's a sample of what you can find on my Amazon Author's page. Take a look and find something for the geek that you love, and give them a gift they can enjoy while they're curled up next to a fire this holiday season! Oh, and if you're looking for some additional information, I list some of my favorite indie publishers and samples of what they offer in a Substack post - pop over and check it out. substack.com/home/post/p-15…

“I am going to poop. Inside or outside is up to you.”

In this episode, author and filmmaker @DavidBadurina joins the program to discuss his writing career, AI filmmaking, and the anthology collection he curated, "Crashed Landings,” that is coming out on @raconteur_press Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the…

Are you brave enough to dive into The Midnight Sea? Kickstarter launches tomorrow. Join Leonidas and his deadly crew as they set out against monsters, maniacs, and mystical cabals. Gunfights, knife fights, and spellslinging await!

Speaking of which, check out Full Steam Ahead! amzn.to/3Yx1PI1 #affiliatelink

Check out Prometheus Award finalist @jkenton2000's dystopian space opera, A Kiss For Damocles! amzn.to/4lKAOen #affiliatelink

@tuuu28283 Hawaii. Though if you're coming to the continent, head for Pittsburgh. I love my city and it's fun to explore.

アメリカの兄弟達 友達にアメリカ今度行きたいんだけど 初級編でハワイかニューヨークいきたいって伝えたら ニューヨークは危ないって言われたんだけど兄弟達どう思う？？

Do you remember how, in old computer RPGs, if you got poisoned, you'd walk around and every turn or so your characters would go "ouch!" and take a point of damage, until they finally died? Yeah, no idea why that came to mind.

You can read more about Nissa in 𝘈 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳, coming May 17th. Preorder it from Amazon today: amazon.com/dp/B0GXSFYQ1K

Nissa grew up on her own, outside the protection of the Black House. Unfortunately, in the eternal war between the Empire and the Accuser, those who work the Weave are a weapon. One that each side will seek to use... or to eliminate.

You can read more about Nissa in 𝘈 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳, coming May 17th. Preorder it from Amazon today: amazon.com/dp/B0GXSFYQ1K

Unlike most seers, Nissa grew up on her own, outside the walls of the Black House. She eventually sought them out because in the eternal war the Empire wages against the Accuser, those who work the Weave are a weapon... one that both sides seek to use, or to eliminate.

@AlphaMercX Story of my life, man. Story of my life. Best I can hope for is entertaining nonsense.

Look, I'm not saying nano sucks. I'm just saying that it's possible to edit files using cat and sed, and that doesn't make you want to rip your hair out.

This is a real photo of a sunset on the Red Planet. 117 billion humans lived and died without ever seeing this. You just did.

Brisket sushi. U.S.-Japan Alliance.

Before LLMs, there was the Hemingway app and the Flesch Reading Ease Score. Writing courses love to give blanket advice to cut your writing to the bone, shorten your sentences, and avoid “telling” at all cost. And the Flesch test is one of “standards” that often gets recommended to authors. The problem with using the Flesch Reading Ease Score, however, is that it was never meant for fiction. Rudolf Flesch developed it in the 40s primarily to evaluate nonfiction, particularly journalism and government documents. In those cases, it’s extremely important for writers to make functional, informational text that’s accessible to general readers. The formula works reasonably well for that purpose, but when applied to fiction, it penalizes stylistic choices that literary and historical authors make. Faulkner, McCarthy, Henry James have long, intricate sentences that would fail the Flesch test miserably. Except they aren’t readability failures. They are artistic choices by the author, and probably sharpened by the editor. It ignores narrative complexity entirely. Likewise, it can’t account for genre conventions. Romance, horror, and literary fiction all have different baseline rhythms that the formula treats as if they should be the same. It simply isn’t suited for fiction. Voice, pacing, and emotional resonance don’t fit in a formula, and those are the very heart of a novel.

It looks like the first of my seven drawings in May will feature the trio of dungeon-crawling adventurers, from the very first installment of the D&D comic strip ads. Look for the finished version in my store soon.

Adding to yesterday's release news, I'm also happy to announce that my story, "The Others," will be featured in this collection, coming in early June.

@FredWPhillips Congrats, Fred!

Through the "magic" of technology, today's pre-order celebration for "Sons of Gold and Fire" became a release party. 😆 The good news is that you get to meet Skrunt and catch up with your (hopefully) favorite boy and his dragon a couple of weeks earlier than expected. You know where to find it.