3/28/2024 0 Comments How We WriteAs we mentioned last month, we get questions from readers. One that comes up regularly is, who does what to get a Robin Paul romance into the hands of our wonderful readers?
The answer is, it’s complicated. There’s much more to getting our books on shelves than writing them, particularly when you aren’t tied to a big publisher. We choose to publish our own books. That puts us in pretty good company. Best-selling authors like Colleen Hoover, Lucy Score, Mark Dawson, Hugh Howey, and others are indie authors. It allows us to choose our own destiny. The downside? We are responsible for everything. EVERYTHING. Writing, editing, cover art, print prep, marketing, and finances. That means there is plenty to do. So, who does what? It all starts with an idea. We brainstorm constantly and keep a file of potential story ideas. Our first book, Christmas Presence, is the story of a nurse who returns to her hometown. Robin spent much of her professional life as a nurse. Her experiences played into that story from the first page to the last. Once we figure out the story, Paul starts writing, usually about 1500 words a day. As each chapter is complete, we read it aloud. Paul loves writing dialogue. Robin infuses scenes with emotion and setting, and checks for continuity mistakes (such as a secondary character whose name changes). Robin is also better at the mushy stuff, so she gets to punch up the romance scenes. This is usually the time we begin working with Berni, our UK-based designer, on the new book’s cover. Once a manuscript is complete and we’re satisfied with the story, it goes off to Jen, our editor in Kansas City. A month later, it returns with hundreds of notes and suggestions, including grammar and spelling errors, ways to make things more concise, and plenty more. Paul spends two weeks going through the edited manuscript page by page, considering and, most times, accepting Jen’s edits while Robin prepares to record the audiobook. A marketing plan is put together about this time, too. We advertise heavily on Facebook and Amazon. Paul’s background is in marketing, so he leads this effort. Finally, about six months after putting the first words on a blank computer screen, Paul uploads the final manuscript onto Amazon while Robin heads to the recording studio in Sarasota to record the audiobook. And just like that, a new book is born! There’s a lot more that goes on, such as newsletters, attendance at conferences, answering reader emails, and this blog that is handled by whoever has the time. It might not be ideal, but it works well for us. And it helps that we kind of like each other!
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2/22/2024 0 Comments Things We LikeIt tickles us when readers want to know more about us. We get asked about family, past jobs, favorite foods, TV shows, movies, and so on. We’re not private people. We’ve lived in too many small towns to worry what people think about us. It’s just that we’re… not that interesting. But since some of you asked, we’ve put together this list of things we like. And a few things we don’t. Many we agree on, on others we’re not even close. Okay, here we go… try to stay awake! Family: We’re a blended family of four kids. The joke is that we’ve been together so long that no one can remember which kids are whose. Paul and Cody had part-time gigs with the Kansas City Royals in the early 2010s. A supervisor approached Paul and said he’d just learned that Cody was his son. “I can’t believe I didn’t already know,” he said. “You look so much alike!” You guessed it. Cody came with Robin. In addition to three daughters and a son, we have two sons-in-law, a daughter-in-law, and a future son-in-law. We also have three granddaughters and two grandsons. Two of our kids live in the Kansas City area, one is in Tampa, and one is in New Jersey. They and their significant others have jobs ranging from teacher and aviation mechanic to stay-at-home mom and football coach. Our oldest daughter recently returned to school to become a physician’s assistant. What we’re most proud of is that they’ve all grown into caring and loving adults. Robin is a nurse by trade, but for the past fifteen years she’s worked in leadership. First as director of obstetrics in a suburban Kansas City hospital and, more recently, as an executive for a multinational company that makes medical education products. She has an MBA and a PhD. Paul spent thirty years as a teacher and school administrator before transitioning to full-time writing a decade ago. Of all the jobs he held, it was the time he spent as a high school teacher that was most rewarding. Over the years our careers have taken us from rural communities to Kansas City and the Tampa Bay area. But enough of that stuff. Let’s get to the important issues. Ready?
Where did we get married? Gulf Shores, Alabama. On the beach! At sunset! Cody was ringbearer. He lost the ring. That’s a story for another day. Favorite food? Both of us love pizza! Robin likes pineapple, so we order half-and-half. TV shows? Ted Lasso (Robin). Everybody Loves Raymond (Paul). Movies? Pretty Woman and anything Hallmark (Robin). Mr. Holland’s Opus (Paul) But he also loves those vigilante movies like Billy Jack and Equalizer. He binges them when Robin is out of town. Music? Both of us love 70s/80’s pop. Robin leans toward Little River Band (She’s seen them in concert at least five times) and Lionel Richie. She also loves classic country. Paul's secret love is 80s R&B acts like Johnny Gill and Surface. Person Most Admired? Robin is quick to say her mom for her intelligence and sass. Paul goes with Ronald Reagan, who he first heard speak at a college rally. Things Robin likes that Paul doesn’t? Sauerkraut, cottage cheese, coffee, vegetables, shopping (Paul is a terrible shopper). Things Paul likes that Robin doesn’t? Running, bratwurst, fantasy baseball, biographies, talk radio (Robin falls asleep). Favorite things to do together? Family time, chill at home, eat out, Friday beach walks, pickleball, hanging with friends. And writing books. And speaking of writing books, another question that comes up is, who does what? How do two people write together? That’s a question for next time. Love y'all, Robin Paul 5/8/2023 0 Comments Who Was THAT TEACHER For You?This is from Paul... Robin and I love teachers. That’s not just some throwaway line for Teacher Appreciation Week. We really LOVE teachers. We love teachers because at one time or another we were teachers. Three of our four children are teachers. Our son is married to a teacher. Our second daughter is marrying a teacher this summer. Our youngest dates a teacher. Yeah, we love teachers. As a kid I never missed a TV show called Room 222. It centered on a high school history teacher named Pete Dixon. Students loved Mr. Dixon and he loved them back. I wanted to be Pete Dixon. I also wanted to be Mark Thackeray. If you’re a fan of classic movies, you remember him as Sir in To Sir With Love. I’m currently listening to Lulu’s song of the same name, and remembering the final scene. It still gives me the feels. Teachers like Pete Dixon and Sir are fictional characters, and as heroic as they seem, don’t compare to the real-life educators who impact our lives so completely. You know who I’m talking about. They begin the school year as strangers and by May, they’ve changed us. Ask anyone to name that teacher and without hesitation they will.
Who is yours? For me, it wasn’t just one, but several. And I can still tell you what made them THAT teacher. There was Mr. Lake, who taught me that a person’s skin color doesn't matter. Mr. Wood and Miss Falin showed me that guys could write stories and poems and still be guys. Mr. Lamparter encouraged me to pursue talents I didn’t know I had. And Dr. Boles, who sadly passed a few months ago, taught me that it is okay to let your students know the real you. This is Teacher Appreciation Week. There’s no better time to think back to that special one. Or special two. And if you want to share a memory below, please do. Don't miss any of our Robin Paul romances. You can find them here. And thanks for reading! 11/16/2022 0 Comments You Would Never Do That Today!What you are to me has no ending, unless you can understand what forever really means. A.R. Asher, Poet True love lasts forever. We all believe that don’t we? If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be gobbling up romance novels where everyone falls in love and lives happily ever after. Or binging on Hallmark movies like Christmas Class Reunion. Or listening to all those sweet love songs on our playlists. One of my favorites is Taylor Dayne’s I’ll Always Love You. Remember that one? Gotta love that late-80's hair, right? Anyone else miss MTV videos? Did anyone not know that MTV actually used to play videos? We all want what Taylor is singing about, don’t we? You are the one that I’ve been searching for. You are my everything. Tell me, who could ask for more? Yes, please. Pretty please! Give me that! But while real love is forever, the way it’s portrayed in books and on screen isn’t. Ready for an example? Try this passage from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, written in 1847. I have for the first time found what I can truly love–I have found you. You are my sympathy–my better self–my good angel–I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wrap my existence about you–and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one. What do you think? It probably depends on your perspective.
If you’re a lover of the classics, you’re swooning as you visualize Mr. Rochester proclaiming his love of Jane. The rest of us? And I include myself in this group. We're not swooning. This scene starts out pretty good. I have for the first time found what I can truly love. Nice opener, Mr. Rochester. Unfortunately, you lose me when you claim you are bound to me with a strong attachment. And then you go completely off the rails at a solemn passion is conceived in your heart. I’m a lot of things, buddy, but solemn isn’t one of them. Not many women want their lover to call them solemn. Beautiful? Smart? Sexy? Yeah. Solemn? No, thank you. And that last line, about us fusing together? Mr. Rochester, are you talking dirty to me? I think we can agree, Romantics, that while true love is eternal, the way we write about it is always changing. Many of us would be hard to slog through Bronte after a long day at work. I pay better attention when expressions like solemn passion and kindling in pure, powerful flame aren’t being strung together. By now you’re probably wondering why I’m writing about this. It really has nothing to do with Charlotte Bronte. It has everything to do with General Hospital. 9/25/2021 0 Comments Our Kind of Romance
We’re going to go out on a limb and guess you’re a fan of romance. We certainly are, and while our choice to write romance was an easy one, we had no idea it would lead to so many decisions that wouldn’t be as easy. Like what kind of romance to write. And what you expect. Do you read different types of romance? If so, you probably know there are many genres, but how many are you familiar with? Billionaire romance? That’s where one of the lead characters is uber-rich. This used to be millionaire romance, but everything costs more these days. There’s even a sub-genre called billionaire cowboy romance. There’s Gothic, which Paul thought was like the Addams Family or the Munsters but isn’t really that at all. There’s medical and military, LGBTQ and paranormal, and a bunch of categories involving vampires and werewolves and time travel. And we can’t leave out romantic comedy, romantic suspense, and sports romance. The list goes on and on. Okay, before we get too friendly let’s get something out of the way.
Robin Paul isn’t a real person. If you stopped by the front page of our website you already know that. If you missed it, sorry for the surprise. Take a moment now to jump over and meet the people behind Robin Paul. Are we all on the same page now? Good. Please keep reading. When we decided to collaborate we actually gave ourselves titles, but they seemed kind of dumb so we left them off our new business cards. Robin is our Chief Romance Officer. She earned that title by being an awesome wife and by watching Hallmark movies nonstop from October through January. She has dragged Paul to a gazillion chick flicks by promising him the large tub of popcorn. Paul loves popcorn. A lot. His title is Director of Words. His vocabulary is endless. Robin has to remind him sometimes to tone it down. Not everyone uses words like extemporaneous or commonsensical. Paul does. And he doesn’t mind tossing them in with his order of long ends and fries at Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque. Paul loves barbeque. Alison loves barbeque too. When she was being tested for kindergarten, they asked what her three favorite foods were. Her answer? Burnt ends, ribs, and brisket. Alison is Robin Paul’s Counselor of Cool, because she’s young and keeps up on trends that Paul and Robin miss. Plus, she lives in New Jersey which is right next to New York where everything is cool. |