R.W. Krpoun's Blog

It has been a long time since my last update, and I do apoligize. Grog VII is plugging along in its final plot arc (of the novel, not the series). My wifes second hip replacement of the year (she’s doing great, btw) and the resulting caretaking has taken a big bite out of my time and attention to writing, but G-7 is now just shy of 68k words, with the goal of 80k comfortably in my sights.

Grog VII has reached 60k words rough draft; its a downhill run to a minimum of 80k words. The plot is holding up, so fingers crossed, I’m on the last leg.

After a terrible case of writer’s block, G-7 is

moving again, having reached 53k with

hopefully enough story arc ahead to go the

distance. I will try to post more frequently.

Just finished a session which has moved Grog 7 across the halfway line, and the plot is still holding up. I won’t make any predictions as to completion, but it has moved out of the doldrums.

For me, the first 18k or so words go pretty fast, and then I hit the doldrums of the 20-30k range, where the plot seems to be burning out too fast and the word count moving too slowly. Once past 40k, the mood lightens, and writing goes easier.

Not sure what I did, but after yet another attempt, the audio feature started working for me. It looks like all my books are available in audio now, or in a few days.

Its only robot-voice, but I have priced each at $3.99 to compensate.

Two puppies have been named after characters of mine:

The brown one is Grog, and the black one is Burk!.

In other news, Grog 7 has reached 31k words.

Hello to all!

I believe I have recovered from my usual post-publishing ‘dry well of inspiration’ and have pushed Grog 7 to 23,000 words out of a targeted 80,000+.

We shall see if the steak holds.

Meanwhile, I am examining the automated voice audio options.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas or Hanukah!

I am still working on various books. The well of inspiration has been tapped hard, but it is slowly refilling, and I plan on adding one or two books in 2025.

I have long been interested in FN’s 5.7mm cartridge. It’s a throated pistol round with very interesting ballistic performance. It’s a scratch-built round, an unusual situation in this day and age.

The FN P90 individual weapon has also caught my eye for a long time; I was, and am not, thrilled by the bullpup concept, but given the P90s unique magazine placement, I was not so quick to condemn the design, although I had a very strong suspicious that I would shoot my left hand off if I used one.

Despite that concern, I finally got around to renting one, and running a hundred rounds through it.

Now, the P90 certainly looks cool, and the 5.7mm round in very impressive, and FN’s quality is unchallenged. But when I actually got my hands on the weapon, I was not impressed. It feels like a toy, and not in a good way: it feels flimsy. Now, I’m not one of the ‘steel and hardwood’ purists, although I am of that generation, but I want a weapon to feel like a weapon, and the P90 felt like plastic and junk.

The integral optic sight is awful; luckily you are literally looking down the barrel. There is no selector switch; instead, you have a two-stage trigger, pull to the first stage for semi, long draw for full auto. And this with a trigger action that a barnyard gate could match. Its not a hard pull for either, but it is a loooonnnnggg draw for either. I would hate to use the P90 up close where fast reactions count for a lot.

Firing was nice enough, there’s not much felt recoil, and at pistol ranges you can put the round where you want it, even with the crappy optic sight. I did not shoot my left hand off, BTW.

But the ergonomics were not good for me. I felt hunched and my arc of view constrained, which is not a good thing at the ranges the P90 is designed for. Close-in snap-shooting without sights, or using a laser, is not a comfortable fit with the P90s design, and its boxy, plank-shaped construction makes releasing your off-hand to open a door or similar task problematic, and also can place your left hand out in front of your muzzle.

Overall, it was a disappointment. An MP-5 with a good sling would give the user far more options and ease of use, albeit with the less effective 9mm rounds, but I feel the greater arc of vision and better trigger control would be worth it. An M-4 is longer, but I believe would sill out-perform the P90 at close quarters due to ergonomics and vision.

If you were going to deploy the P90, it would require extensive re-training and practice to bring users up to a basic proficiency. Frankly, I would suggest using the round in the AR-57 configurations, which is just a M-4 chambered for 5.7mm.      

So in the wake of publishing Grog VI i have been puttering with another of my ‘first scene’ projects, which is where I write a opening scene and then shelve it until inspiration follows,. Grog was a ‘first scene’ project that took ten years to reach fruition.

I also had to re-format the paperback, as they changed the submission system, and Grog VI was originally too small of a font.

Then I spent ten days trying to get my AC fixed, which was finally sorted out.

I have begun collecting ideas and inspirations for Grog VII, but it is a slow process, and I will work on other projects while waiting for inspiration and motivation to accumulate.

I am deeply humbled by the volume of sales and reviews. My thanks to my many readers.