Things she needs when writing
The only things I really need while writing is my Mac and coffee. Granted, I work best at Starbucks--I’ve written five books at Starbucks but I didn’t plan to spend more time at Starbucks than most of the baristas.
I happily wrote Romeo, Romeo in my office at home around my three children, but then my middle child, my daughter who I call Twinkle Toes began dancing at one of the best ballet schools in the country, which was 90 miles away from home. For two years I home schooled Twinkle Toes, drove 180 miles a day, six days a week, and wrote at the Carlisle Crossing Starbucks while Twinkle Toes danced 40 hours a week.
When Twinkle Toes decided she wanted to go back to ‘real’ school, she moved away from home at the ripe old age of 14, lived with a host family, went to school, and danced.
All of a sudden I had time. I wouldn’t have to drive and teach eight hours a day, I’d be able to see my husband and spend more time with my other children. I kept thinking how much work I’d get done, but I spent the first three months sitting in my office, staring at my computer. Sure, part of it was that I was going through Twinkle Toes withdrawal. I went from spending eight hours a day with her to seeing her eight hours a week if I was lucky. But still, whenever I went up to Carlisle to visit, I’d write four times more than I would have if I stayed home. Starbucks was my writing nirvana! Of course the Carlisle Crossing Starbucks is special—I’d worked there for two years, I knew every barista—they became like part of the family, heck, a lot of the regular customers were too. I was under deadline and didn’t want to drive the hour and a half to my favorite Starbucks, so I went to the one a mile away. Granted, it wasn’t the same—I really missed my baristas in Carlisle, and the baristas at my home Starbucks weren’t as friendly, but hey, I was desperate. I got to work, picked out a favorite table and became a fixture there, and met my deadlines. Thank God!
Research she does for writing her books
(anything interesting she has come across while researching)
When it comes to research, I’m a lazy writer. Like most writers, I take advantage of everything I do and hear. Years ago I lived in Idaho and worked for an insurance agent who was also a part-time minister. He had a church in an old ghost town in the mountains. Atlanta, Idaho used to be a mining town back in the 1890’s. While I was there, I found an old miner’s journal and was fascinated. In the journal was a story about the three whores who worked the mine. There was another mine on the other side of the mountain pass. The mines had opposite paydays so the ladies would work the Rocky Bar mine, and then cross the pass to work in Atlanta on Atlanta’s payday.
One spring day, the ladies were crossing the pass to Rocky Bar when a freak blizzard hit. The ladies, Dutch Em, Anne, and Annie were trapped. Dutch Em and Anne froze to death before the miners from Atlanta could rescue them. Annie was lucky; she had her dog with her who kept her warm enough to stay alive, though she did lose a leg to frostbite. When the men found them, they put Dutch Em and Anne’s bodies on a toboggan for the arduous trip back down the pass for burial. The trail followed the river and was steep and covered with four feet of snow and ice. The toboggan got away from them and went over a cliff into the raging river never to be seen again. Luckily, the men were able to get Annie down, and one of her customers made her a peg leg, and she was called Peg Leg Annie after that. That story stayed with me. When I decided to write Yours for the Taking, I wanted the hero to have a ranch in the mountains outside of Atlanta, I called the area Three Whores Bend and used the story I found twenty years ago in that miner’s journal in my book. It worked out very well because my heroine’s mother was a sex worker and going to Three Whore’s Bend really brought the internal conflict to the surface.
Her Christmas list
This year there were only three things on my Christmas list:
A pair of fuzzy crocs because my pair is so worn out, they’ve become a hazard when it’s wet.
A sweater I saw at Chico’s. I gave my dear husband a picture of it from the catalogue and a 50% off coupon.
A bag I could use as a pocketbook but would be big enough to hold my MacBook Air so I wouldn’t have to carry two bags with me to Starbucks every day. After a year of looking, I found the perfect bag on ebags and bought it on sale and told my husband he got me the perfect gift.
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and best wishes for the New Year!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robin Kaye was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge next door to her Sicilian grandparents.
Living with an extended family that's a cross between Gilligan's Island and The Sopranos, minus the desert isle and illegal activities, explains both her comedic timing and the cast of quirky characters in her books.
She's lived in half a dozen states from Idaho to Florida, but the romance of Brooklyn has never left her heart.
She currently resides in Maryland with her husband, three children, two dogs, and a three-legged cat with attitude.
Find the author online: website
ABOUT THE BOOK
Whitewater-rafting guide Hunter Kincaid lands his dream job–guiding sportswear models through Idaho's rugged wilderness for a photo shoot. When he meets Toni Russo, the goth New York manager of Action Models, there are enough sparks to set the forest ablaze.When Hunter finds Toni's book on how to marry the man of your choice, he studies it as a joke. Before long Hunter realizes he's never cared enough for a woman to bother working this hard to get her. But the last man in the world this city girl wants is a Survivor Man wannabe...
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