Debut Authors!

Fellow Delicious Reads members and I at the Fierce Reads Tour with some up and coming authors:


Top Row from Left - Kelly Dearth, Kellie Hall. Debut Authors: Anna Banks (Of Poseidon), Jennifer Bosworth (Struck), Emmy Laybourne (Monument 14), Leigh Bardugo (Shadow and Bone), and Marissa Meyer (Cinder).
Bottom Row from left - Haley Stephens, Kate Johns, and Me

Fierce Reads Tour - A Win-Win

I never win anything.  Lots of people say it, but I'm overly unlucky. Really.  I'll never win the lottery (though that somewhat makes sense because I never buy a ticket).  I've never really won a raffle, drawing, or contest where chance is involved.  You know those sports games where the t-shirt is thrown to the crowd.  If you want to catch one, you should stand right next to me because chances are, it will hit me in the head and bounce right into your hands.  This has happened to me not once, but twice. 

So you can see that it came as a complete surprise last month when I "won" a spot in the lottery for the St.George Marathon 2012.  Now you non-runners out there are probably thinking, "Why is getting into a marathon considered a winning situation?" Think of it as the Superbowl for runners.  But for those avid marathoners out there, getting into the St. George Marathon is like getting the invite to walk (I mean, run) the red carpet.  Yeah, it's that cool.  I'll admit that I have mixed feelings about this "win". I mean it's twenty-six point freaking two miles.   But since I have tried to get into this marathon three times before and lost, I was happy to break my unlucky streak.


Running the Ogden Marathon 4 weeks ago

It turns out, my luck may be doing an about face permanently.  I recently had the opportunity to join some friends in attending the Fierce Reads Tour at their stop at Provo Library.  Don't worry, I didn't know what it was before I went either.  Basically, it's a book tour for Macmillan's new debut Young Adult authors (I'll post more on them later).  At the end of the night, they announced there was a giveaway.  I was about ready to get up and leave.  Why wait for the disappointment, right?  I decided to check under my chair anyway, and, lo and behold, I'd won a book!  And not just any book, but a book I've had on my Good Reads list for several months: Cinder by Marissa Meyer. 

Here's all the authors that attended:

So it's true I may never win an IPad or a new car, but I'm starting to feel little Irish.  Maybe I'll go to a BYU basketball game soon (but I'll wear a helmet, just in case).

It's About Time . . .

I'm just going to come out and say it:

I AM A WRITER.

I can see my high school AP Honors English teacher picking her jaw up off the floor (I had to beg for an A in that class). Yes, ladies and gentleman, I have been a "closet writer" since I was about ten. I am now "out"ing myself.

So you are probably asking yourselves, "Why now? And what does it matter anyway? What's so special about Robin that makes her think that she can actually write?"

I'd love to answer those questions, but, honestly, I don't know all the answers myself. The only thing I know for certain is that I actually love it! There is something fulfilling about getting your thoughts out on paper, twisting ideas and rearranging words so that they fully reflect what you think and feel.

The seed started with poetry (someday I'll reveal these), grew with volumes and volumes of journal entries (not sure if anyone should read these until I'm long gone), and now it is blossoming with this blog and . . . drum roll please . . . A BOOK. Yep, I'm writing a book. Is it any good? If you ask my mom or husband, they like it so far (they could be biased). If you ask my writing critique group, they'd probably tell you not to hold your breath. If you ask me, it's going to be amazing someday.

What's this blog going to entail? I plan on blogging about:

1. The writing experiences I have, the good and the bad
2. Books I've read & authors I've met that inspire me
3. Life experiences that shape my writing
4. Puzzles, conundrums, and codes to solve (motivated by my latest WIP)

My inspiration for writing this next week comes from The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (probably the best book I have read in the last few years - I may blog about later):

"It is important," the man in the grey suit interrupts. "someone needs to tell those tales. When the battles are fought and won and lost, when the pirates find the treasures and the dragons eat their foes for breakfast with a nice up of Lapsang souchong, someone needs to tell their bits of overlapping narrative. There's magic in that. It's in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone's soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it..."