Tuesday, May 11, 2021
For Authors: How to Slay the Perfect Synopsis
Friday, January 15, 2021
Where in the World is Robin M. King?
I try and keep my social media updated, but sometimes my posts get lost in the abyss that is Facebook/Twitter/Instagram. I've had questions, so I figure it's time to answer them! But first, family photo time:
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The King Family 2020 |
What's your next book coming out?
I'm currently on submission with The Girl with Two Hearts, which means we have submitted the book to publishers and are waiting to hear back. I'm super excited for the book to get in the hands of readers! I've had such good feedback from beta readers (like over 100 readers giving it 5 stars!), so I have high hopes for this story about a Heterotrophic transplant survivor named Grace who has one last wish before her two hearts give out: get a standing ovation, but when a singing performance sends her to the hospital, Grace has to decide if giving up singing will break her hearts, instead of saving them.
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Mock Cover for my newest YA Contemporary The Girl with Two Hearts |
Did I hear you're writing a children's book?
YES! In fact, even though we haven't officially "released" it yet, its already available on AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, KOBO and more! What?!? There's a cute story behind this book. Many of you know that I used to be a teacher for several years and I've been a private tutor as well. One of my students, Alex, who is originally from Romania, is a seventh-grader now. We started writing a children's book together about a year ago. It was just a fun project to teach her about the process of writing, editing, creating graphics, and the journey of publishing. As we got more into the process, she asked if we could actually publish it. So we did! The book is called "Postcards from Pinky." It is about a young girl and her stuffed unicorn who accidentally gets put in Grandma's suitcase and ends up traveling the world with her and sending postcards along the way. It's a cute story for kids and those that love to see the world around us and travel. We will be doing an official book launch on January 30 (details to come!). You can order the book on most platforms now (including ebook) and bring it to the book signing for us to sign. We will also have several copies of the book at the launch for you to buy :)
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Postcards from Pinky by Alex Chase and Robin King, a fun picture book about a stuffed unicorn's adventure traveling the world. |
What are you writing now?
I just finished editing another YA contemporary romance called The Blemish Book about a teen birdwatcher who creates a Book of Rules to help him cope with his face blindness. When he starts breaking the rules for a girl he likes, the safe world he’s been living in begins to fall apart and the only thing that will save him is to find the supposedly extinct passenger pigeon. This one is set in Montauk, New York. The setting and bird watching will make you want to move there. For reals. I'm still working with my agent on this one and will probably do another edit in the next few weeks.
I'm also just finished writing my 10th novel! This book I call Tri Me is a YA contemporary romance about a girl with little athletic ability who joins a triathlon team to prove she can be an all-star athlete like her brothers. Falling for a teammate isn't part of her plan and neither is having to use the triathlon to help save her family's reputation. I adore this book for its sweet love story and the parts where I get to use my triathlete experience within the pages!
What happened with the Remembrandt series? Will Alexandra go on more adventures?![]() |
My son and I hiked to the top of Mount Timpanogas Fall 2020. Yes, he's taller than me now (he grew 3 inches in the last 6 months!) |
Monday, April 27, 2020
And the winner is . . .
Thank you for everyone that played along with the contest to win Jennifer A. Nielsen's books and my books. The winner of Jennifer A. Nielsen's books was Carson L.! We will contact you to get you your books.
The winner of my books was Ems! Congratulations. I will be contacting you today for your prizes. Thanks to everyone who participated.
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Jennifer A. Nielsen Cover Reveal Contest!
Ever since I read THE FALSE PRINCE by Jennifer A. Nielsen, I have been in love with her writing and stories. Her books are clever, timeless, fun, heart-wrenching, and manage to draw in a large span of age groups no matter what genre she writes.
EDITED TO ADD: The contest is now over. The winner of Jennifer A. Nielsen's books was Carson L. YAY!! We will contact you. The contest for my books has also ended. The winner was Ems! YAY!! I will contact you today too!
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You can win THREE of her books, including this one that hasn't even come out yet!! |
Here's the question you need to answer to enter the contest:
a. Getting enough food
Monday, February 24, 2020
How I Got Published
I finished writing my first book, Remembrandt, in 2013. Although it took me about a year to write and edit the book. I had a great writing group that read through the whole book and gave me feedback, as well as beta readers. I started querying the book (i.e. sending letters to agents to see if they were interested), and I actually had some interest, including several requests for the full manuscript. But no one offered to represent me. Truth be told, I was only actively searching for an agent for about a month. But I kept writing. I decided that I needed to get some more words under my belt before I started querying again. I wrote another book (a contemporary fantasy that I haven't yet tried to get published) and started a third one. During this time, I'd periodically get a rejection letter from an agent who I had sent to months before.
Then, about a year after I started querying, a got an email from an editor for Walnut Springs Press. They had originally been interested in my story, but because they were a smaller publisher (and my life was crazy busy with a new baby and living in Texas for the summer), I hadn't accepted their offer. Well, a year later, they noticed it hadn't been published and were still interested. Since I loved Remembrandt so much and it had been gathering dust, I pulled it out. I'd already done an overhaul revision of the book, but did another one before I sent it off to Walnut Springs Press.
A few weeks later, I was signing a publishing contract and only a few months later I was approving a book cover and pages. Remembrandt was published in October 2014.
I loved the experience of being published, my book launches, book signings, teaching at conferences, visiting schools, audiobooks. It was a great learning experience. But I wanted more. I wanted an agent who could get me with the big publishing houses.
I started querying a fantasy I wrote in 2016. I'd got a lot of requests for a full manuscript. I even met with two agents, but ultimately, it seemed like I'd broke into young adult fantasy when the market was saturated with it. After sending out about a hundred queries and still having no agent, I decided that I should start writing something else (even though I'd already written over half of the sequel to that book).
I wrote most of a young adult contemporary novel, The Girl with Two Hearts in November of 2018. It's the story of heterotrophic transplant survivor, Grace, who has one last wish before her two hearts give out: get a standing ovation, but when a singing performance sends her to the hospital, Grace has to decide if giving up singing will break her hearts, instead of saving them. I finished the book in February 2019. After only querying about 15 agents and having a lot of interest, I knew this book was something I wanted to fight for no matter what. I revised it a few times, debating at the ending several times, and then started querying even more. By September, I had about 5 full manuscripts sitting with agents. Liza Fleissig made me the first offer. I had 3 offers after that, but I felt strongly that they were the right fit for me.
And that's where I'm at now. We are submitting the novel to publishers in hopes that one will be interested in publishing the book. While I wait, I'm working on finishing two other contemporary YA books. So, my publishing journey isn't over. I feel like it's just beginning.
Saturday, July 6, 2019
The Making of a Book Cover: The Girl with Two Hearts
I first started out with a Pinterest board of the feel for my book, which is a young adult contemporary romance about a girl with a heterotrophic heart transplant (an extra heart grafted to her weak one) who wants nothing more than to get a standing ovation before her two hearts give out. The story is set in Seattle, the main characters meet doing tai chi together, and the boy helps the girl conquer her fear of singing on stage to help her win a singing competition.
After I scoured the internet for images that had the feel I wanted, then I just started playing around. This was the first round of covers I came up with:
I had some friends and my writing group vote. Many liked #2 and #11. But then everyone else had a different one they liked. Since several liked the idea of the photo in #8, and I still wanted to give the photo a hint of Seattle and also that the story has romantic elements, I decided I wanted a couple on the front cover, even though I wanted to focus on the fact that all Grace wants is to sing. This made me come up with some other ideas and this was what I came up with next:
Friday, June 28, 2019
DIY: Make Your Own Harry Potter Monster Book of Monsters Journal
a notebook (not spiral bound)
hot glue
2 flat marbles
felt in red and white
scissors
orange paper
a black marker
mod podge
Monday, June 10, 2019
Make Your Own Harry Potter Hogwarts House Flags
- 1 yard of each house color fabric – red, blue, yellow, and green (I used fabric from the quilting section of Jo-Ann Fabric. It is cheap without being too thin).
- Thread to match your flags
- Fabric Iron-on Kit with at least 4 transfers (I bought this one)
- Ink Jet printer with color ink
- 4 Wooden dowels (I got 1/2″ diameter ones that were about 36″ long at my local walmart)
- Black craft paint
- Rope or string to tie on the dowel
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Paint the wooden dowels black and set aside to dry.
- Fold your fabric in half (it usually comes this way) and iron it flat so that is is about 24″ wide and 36″ long.
- Cut into the pendant shape (see picture). I used a ruler to measure halfway across the shorter length and then about 12″ up from the bottom and put a dot there. Then I used a ruler and a pencil (you could use a fabric marker) and drew from each bottom corner to the center.
- Turn with right sides together. Sew around the edges with a 1/4″ seam, leaving about a 6″ opening. Snip the tips of the pendant (see this tutorial on making corners). Turn right side out. You might need to use a pointed object (I use closed scissors) to push out the tips. Iron around the edges and the opening so that it matches the seam. Sew it shut right on the edge of the opening.
- Fold the top edge over about 2″ (see photo above). Sew it down to make a pocket to slide the dowel through.
- Print off your Hogwarts House images. I scoured the internet and I found these made by (I can’t find the artist’s name, but if you know who it is, PLEASE let me know to give them credit). Follow the instructions on the iron-on package.
- Slide in the black painted dowel, tie your rope/twine/ribbon and hang!
Friday, June 7, 2019
Author Stalker: Erin Summerill
Friday, May 31, 2019
Book Boyfriends: Favorite Literary Romances
- Laslo and Sarai (from Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor) – if you love them too, LitJoy has a notebook that is to-die-for and some amazing trading cards featuring this lovely couple.
- Kai and Cinder (from Cinder in the Lunar Chronicles series)
- Rowen and Calaena/Aelin (from Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas) – For fans, check out these fae warrior leggings!
- Rose and Dimitri (from the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead)
- Jamie and Claire (from Outlander by Diana Gabaldon)
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Catwoman Cosplay
