'Van Gogh Gone' Audio Coming Soon and Giveaway

I just found out Van Gogh Gone (Remembrandt #2) is going to be an audiobook too! The lovely, Austenne Grey, will be narrating the book. Prep work is already underway and production starts next month. As the time nears, I'll keep everyone updated on the actual release date, but right now it looks like it will be by the end of the summer! Yay.

So in celebration, here's a giveaway for the first book, Remembrandt. Also, if you buy the first book either in print or ebook by July 15th, 2017 and send me a copy/snapshot of your receipt, I will give you a free copy of the audiobook for Remembrandt too - I love celebrating with you.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Remembrandt

by Robin M. King

Giveaway ends July 01, 2017.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Whitney Awards Nominee: Memory of Monet

I'm so grateful that Memory of Monet has been nominated for the Whitney Awards. Both Remembrandt and Van Gogh Gone were nominees, so I am hopeful that the 3rd time's the charm and this one will become a finalist!

The reviews that are coming in on this third and final book in the Remembrandt series are so great and make me so happy just thinking of them and all the work I put into the book. The review in the Deseret News calls Memory of Monet "another masterpiece in the collection." It describes the book as a "spy thriller meets teen romance." If you want to read the full article, you can check it out here.

An author isn't an author without readers so I am doubly grateful to all of those who have read my books :)!

And don't worry, just because the Remembrandt series is now complete, doesn't mean I don't have some things up my sleeve. I will be giving some updates on my progress and other books in early 2017!

Van Gogh Gone Book Launch

I know. I'm totally late in posting these, but they are finally here! Yay! I love this YA series so much and loved being hosted by The King's English Bookshop. They are by far one of my favorite places in Utah. Thanks to them for the location. A shout out to my friends Suzie and Bethany for the fabulous cookies. Thanks to the Durtschi's at Crio Bru for providing the amazing brewed cocoa bean drinks (yum!). Last of all, thanks to all my supporters for coming out and listening to me gush about this labor of love, Van Gogh Gone. You can still pick up a copy at your local Utah bookstore, Deseret Book, or Amazon. Don't forget to read Remembrandt first if you want to get the full story :)

It's go time!
I absolutely LOVE my cover to Van Gogh Gone (Remembrandt #2). It may be that I helped create it, but it's probably more because I got the gorgeous Marli to model for me and Summer Nicole Photo to take the cover photo.

My cheesy smile before the launch begins.

Thanks to my 7-year-old, these custom cookies were nearly gone before the launch even started.

Though some of these gorgeous cookies (made to mimic the symbol of the spy organization in the book) were damaged in transit, they tasted as good as they looked. Thanks, Suzie!

A launch wouldn't be complete without my biggest supporter, my daughter . . . and that child that I will not claim behind us :)

Crio Bru? Yes, please! You can't have a book launch on a chilly day without a warm brewed drink.

Bethany saved the day with these custom cookies she created just hours before the launch. It's a good thing we had them in addition to the others because every one of them disappeared minutes after the reading and Q&A.

There are so many people I love in this picture!

My cute friends from book club! Jen, Kara, and Julie - you guys are the best.

This mother-daughter duo are such good friends and great supporters. Love you, Krista and Shaustia!

Just waiting around with The King's English staff before I began.

Just giving a little back story on how Remembrandt and Van Gogh Gone came to be.

I know I was saying something super interesting here.

I'll be honest with you, I don't even remember what part of my book I read for the reading! Does anyone remember?

Either I said something really funny here or someone in the audience did ;)

My handsome hubby and youngest daughter totally enthralled by my words.

Some of my favorite people came!

Marissa from Rae Gun Ramblings came! She is amazingly cute blogger, crafter, and reader. Her etsy shop (cute and hip baby and toddler clothes) is TO DIE FOR!

See? Totally enthralled . . . 

I'm so funny! (and I was so 16 weeks pregnant too and no one knew)

I told you I was funny. Love you, Amy!

Whitney and Alix came too.

They couldn't wait to get reading.

Angie is my soul sister and seriously should not stand next to me because she's so gorgeous.

Signing time! The King's English has this cute little nook upstairs where authors sign their books. I love it.

I like to personalize my books before I sign my name. 

Finally, I got a chance to sit back and relax.

and drink some Crio Bru.

This was not posed. If it was, I wouldn't have a double chin :)

Kelly from Delicious Reads and LitJoy Crate is one of my favorite people and has supported me from the beginning.

Some of my Delicious Reads friends. I love you guys!

I love that you'll do crazy jumps in the air with me.

 I vaguely remember someone making an inappropriate comment here about my the placement of my books. Thanks to all my supporters (no pun intended) .

Seriously, this was the best book launch I could have asked for!

XoXo,

P.S. The final book in the Remembrandt series will be coming out fall 2016! I'll be announcing the title at an event this coming Saturday,

And the winners are . . .

Thanks for everyone that participated in the GoodReads Giveaway. We had over 1,242 entries! I'm so excited to have new readers and even more excited to have everyone read Van Gogh Gone (Remembrandt #2) when it comes out in November.

And the official title of book 2 in the Remembrandt series is . . .

It's been almost 8 months since my first book, Remembrandt, came out and Remembrandt 2 is done! At 84,533 words, this book is quite a bit longer than Remembrandt. I also spent much more time editing, researching and writing this baby. I'm so happy with how it looks now, but I know it will be even better as I work with my editor to polish it more. 

In celebration of completing the book, I figured it was time to announce the official title. Here goes:

“Espionage isn’t just her job, it’s a work of art.”

SO what do you think of the title? Do you like the little teaser for the book cover in the background? And the tagline . . . I love the tagline!

And here's the summary:

Seventeen-year-old Alexandra Stewart finally has a life worth remembering - a Spanish tutor who gives perfecto a new name, a roommate that could double as her sister, and a special role in a secret spy organization that exists in the basement of Brown University.

But when her colleague, Daly, returns from a recent trip to Moscow accompanied by a man she never thought she'd see again, Alex is ripped away from her life in Providence and sent across the globe in search of a stolen piece of art.  In desperate need to find the Van Gogh painting, she will do anything to find it. Anything.

From Barcelona to Paris with only Daly at her side, the bonds of friendship are stretched as the duo uncover a truth neither one of them saw coming. Finding the painting could mean discovering a part of Alex she is ashamed could even exist, but without it, she could lose everything. The world around Alex threatens to corrupt the memories she holds most dear and the person she loves the most is at stake.

 If you haven't read Remembrandt, you will want to get your hands on a copy before the sequel comes out. Van Gogh Gone will hit the shelves this fall.

Remembrandt Giveaway: Free Book and Gift!

Thank you, everyone, who has been a big support to me throughout this whole getting published process. As a thank you I get to have my first giveaway!!

Even if you have read Remembrandt, still enter for your chance to win it and give it as a gift for Christmas. The framed quote (thanks Delicious Reads) is perfect for any book lover.

Remembrandt Summary: Alexandra Stewart doesn't just walk down memory lane - she lives on it. The seventeen-year-old starts a new semester at Brown University, hoping to leave behind painful memories, which is nearly impossible when her eidetic memory replays everything in her mind in movie-esque detail. Things aren't always what they seem: her new running partner will show up in another important area of her life, her Russian professor is anything but ordinary and Brown University holds a well-kept secret.

The contest ends at 5pm MST Friday night!  Enter below through rafflecopter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winners will be notified via private message and on this page. I'm doing a similar giveaway on Instagram @byrobinking, but you can enter both giveaways for a chance to win 2 copies of each item!

Rules: Only those 18 years and older may enter (Sorry, younger teen friends. Ask your parents to enter!). Only residents of the United States. Participants, by entering the sweepstakes, fully release any entity from liability.

I'm a Spy in Real Life?

I couldn't help myself.

Since I'm pretty sure the CIA will no longer look at me because I'm too old. I decided to take matters into my own hands. Check out this thirty-something-mom-of-five who feel like she needs to spy her book on the shelf at Deseret Book. Maybe some clandestine organization will view this video and decide that my fabulous somersault is agent material. A girl can hope, right?

I really think I'm in the wrong line of work.

NaNoWriMo Winner 2014

I conquered NaNoWriMo!

I almost didn't make it. I had 8,000 words to go and only 2.5 days to do it, BUT I locked myself away in my office and got it done with only a few hours to spare. If you don't know what NaNoWriMo is, you can check out my article "NaNoWriMo Makes New York Times Best Sellers" on Delicious Reads. Authors like Marissa Meyer (Cinder) and Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus) have participated in NaNoWriMo too!

It all comes down to this: you have to write 50,000 words of a new novel in the month of November. To give you an idea of how much that is, my recently released novel, Remembrandt, ended up having 65,700 words. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle has 49,965, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone has 77,508. So in essence, 50K is the bulk of a young adult novel.

What did I write this year? I debated for a long time what I wanted to work on for 2014 because I have a contemporary fantasy series that I love and can't wait to write the 3rd book. I also have an idea for a stand alone realistic fiction novel that I want to write too. In the end, I decided to work on the 2nd book in the Remembrandt series because 1.) I already have a publisher for it 2.) I'd already written a summary for it and 3.) Alexandra is so fun to write!

This is my 3rd year in a row doing NaNoWriMo and being a "winner." You'd think it would get easier, but it was so hard this year! With my book launch, book marketing, a trip to Washington State to fulfill my duties as Capsule Keeper, and, oh, taking care of five kiddos, including an 18 month old who won't let me sit at a computer, let's just say I spent many days typing late into the night.

Whew! Now I'm going to hibernate through the rest of the winter . . . except now that I have 50,138 words done of Remembrandt #2, I'm itching to complete the novel. Hold on Alex and Golkov and William and Daly - your story will continue soon enough. I just need a little sleep . . .

NaNoWriMo Winner! Now I get to have a break, right?

How Remembrandt Got its Name

I've had several people ask me lately about how I came up with the title for Remembrandt. Did I have the title first and then write the book? What does it have to do with the story or characters?

The title comes from two words:

Remember + Rembrandt = Remembrandt

If you read the summary of the book, you will know that the main character, Alexandra (Alex), has an eidetic memory. Similar to a photographic memory, someone with an eidetic (pronounced eye-de-tik) memory can recall images, sounds, and objects in their mind's eye, almost like they are watching a movie in their head. So the first part of the title of my book is because Alex can "remember" everything. I always knew that my main character would have this quality.

The next part of the title comes, of course, from the Dutch painter, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Specifically, the painting "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee."

When I first began writing Remembrandt, I hadn't planned on using this painting or artist. I just knew I wanted there to be a famous painting or sculpture. As I searched through artists and found Rembrandt, I knew it just fit.

Here is the description of the painting from my book: 

Now, originally I was going to title the book, Providence, because that is where the story takes place, but I'm so happy that I happened upon this painter and painting. Though only a small part of the story is influenced by the painting, I feel like it plays a big roll in Alex's story and will influence the rest of the series. I can't really say more without spoiling the ending of the book, but I will plan on doing a post all about the painting and how it influenced the book once Remembrandt has been out a while.

Don't forget to pre-order your book from DeseretBook.com! That's right, my friends, you can pre-order it now. I just happened to be on their website and typed in the title of my book and WHAM, there it was. It will be available in the next month in eBook format too, but if you want to be one of the first to get the print version, order it here :)