Tell us a little about yourself.
I was born and raised in Montana but escaped those winter climes as soon as I could for California, which I consider my true home. I live not far from the State Capitol surrounded by stately old growth trees. I believe in reinvention, having done so a number of times in life, my most recent as fulltime writer.
What type of books/stories do you write?
I write novels-based-on-true-stories and science fiction.
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| SUNCATCHER, Robin's Sci Fi novel |
What does the start of a project look like for you?
For the true/novels, something that happened to me I witnessed or is told to me is the beginning of crafting the story. For scifi, I let my mad imagination take flight, often in lucid dreaming which I have been doing since childhood, calling something to mind as I fall asleep, and the story writes itself! I have on but to get up quickly enough to write it down.
What did your path to publication look like?
I’d all but given up every getting Accept the Broken Heart published, since it straddled so many genres. 18 months ago someone introduced me to a small press who weren’t concerned with this conundrum, they just wanted good work. And they also were not concerned that I wrote in different genres! They immediately accepted my first scifi novel, Suncatcher.
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| ACCEPT THE BROKEN HEART, Robin's novel based on her own experiences |
Is there anything that you’ve learned through the process that you wish you’d known at the beginning?
Never listen to anything but my own gut. I allowed myself to be distracted and sidetracked by the voices of others who did not believe in me.
Do you have any tips/tricks/resources you’d like to share with other writers?
NEVER TALK ABOUT a story before you have written the first draft. Take that “first best energy” and put it into the story, just let it all come out. DO NOT stop to edit as you go along. As my dear pal the late Ray Bradbury (to whom ATBH is dedicated) said: Vomit on the page, then clean up.
What part of the writing process do you find most exciting?
There is always that magical moment when the story comes alive, often taking on a life of its own that I never anticipated. This is another piece of advice to other writers: get out of your own way, let it happen. If you insist on adhering to your arbitrary outline, you could simply stumble right over top of that magic.
What part of the writing process do you find most challenging?
Knowing when enough is enough! I often find myself wanting to add and add and…and there comes a time that you simply have to know, this is the story, I don’t need all that detail.
Any new work from you we should be watching for?
I am working on two new True/novels, one about gangs and one about a WitSec situation, and two new scifi pieces and a fantasy piece I call “a grownup’s faery tale”. No dates of completion for any of them at this moment.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give new writers?
Don’t stop, never give up. You can keep dreaming AND be practical, many writers work and write on the side. Don’t think you have to sacrifice your life for your art. Almost no one starts off a writing career with enough work and success to call it a fulltime income. I was working 60+ hour workweeks and it took me 54 weeks to write 186,000+ words that eventually became Accept the Broken Heart. If I can do that, what is stopping you?
Thanks, Robin!
If you want to find Robin or her work online, here's where to go:
Twitter: @rlauthor1
More about Robin's books:
ACCEPT THE BROKEN HEART
What can be said of hell, when at its most quiet, I was most terrified? The explosions that had rocked every fiber of my being and made my bones feel like they could simply shatter like tempered glass still resonated. I looked over at the wounded, wondering if I had the same haunted look in my eyes, and thought I probably did. In this war, no one leaves. No one goes home...and everyone is a casualty of war. You 'don't read war stories'? This is unlike any other you'll ever read, unbelievable love set against unbearable challenges. This true story is a cautionary tale against involvement of yet another war where we don't belong and soldiers and innocent civilians are put in harm's way. I lived every word of this novel. We need to learn, and teach others, to study war no more.
SUNCATCHER
A meteor shower forces Lieutenant Ard Jay
Solstad to crash land on a sandy, unknown planet. He knows it’ll be at least 90
days before a droid rescue ship will reach him. With 9 weeks of food
left, Ard sets out to map the desolate planet and is stunned to meet the
planet's sole survivor, a silicon-based humanoid. Despite all odds, they fall in love.
Leaving the planet will kill her, staying will kill him. When the droid
ship arrives, Ard must leave TeeCee behind knowing she won't survive. Three Years pass and Ard, now Captain, returns to the Preth planet to stake his
mining claim and to reestablish a generational world there, a fitting tribute
to the unique woman he loved. With him come the miners and everyone else
needed to set up a new society and reclaim the now empty world. But what he
finds will challenge him in ways he never expected and bring Captain Solstad to
an amazing point in the evolution of humanity.
A love story for the universe! Venture to a world where aliens are valued
and respected and the correct side wins!
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