Robin Antalek's Blog, page 7

Bookshelves I Have Loved

For years my mother kept a copy of War and Peace on the shelf in the laundry room sandwiched between the box of Tide and a bottle of Clorox bleach.  The book, covered in faded navy blue linen, was worn, and the title printed in gold gothic lettering, had all but disappeared from handling along the thick cracked spine.
I remember the heft of the book in my hands, the tissue paper texture of the pages of which the once upon a time gilt edges bore the wrinkled watermark stains from a laundry...

The Nervous Breakdown

I have a post up over at a really great site called: The Nervous Breakdown.  It's a collection of writers, voices from all over the globe on any topic you could imagine.  It's definitely worth a bookmark....check it out!

the galleys

More Nice Words....

I've been so fortunate to have Will Allison, author of the amazing: What You Have Left  offer a blurb for my book:

"Sibling love and rivalry take center stage in Robin Antalek's The Summer We Fell Apart, the story of the four Haas children, disconnected and adrift in the world, who somehow find their way back to one another in spite of themselves. Full of the best kind of heartache, it's an unforgettable, big-hearted debut that will make you want to pick up the phone and call your own brother ...

September

  September is a month of beginnings, first steps, new school, new papers, new pencils, new shoes.  Is is a month that begs to be separated from the frivolity of August, of sun baked skin, of dog walks at dusk, of ice cream at midnight just because it's hot and we can.  September is cool mornings that feel like Fall and late afternoons full of sun that remind us ever so gently of August.  The curling brown leaves on the tomato vines, the last few fruit warmed deep orange, thin skin splitting at

cruising and crying

Just back from a two week drive from New York to Marco Island, Florida to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday with family. Well, we didn't drive for two weeks - there was about ten days of vacation sandwiched in between - although my daughters' might disagree and add that it felt like two weeks of driving.I had a ton of books with me - but it seemed the themes always led to tears. I laughed and cried my way through Kathryn Stockett's The Help - which is amazing and if you haven't read it you mus

the nicest things

The title of my book has changed a few times. I thought it would feel odd, but it hasn't. The new title, the one the designers at Harper's have come up with a fabulous cover for is: THE SUMMER WE FELL APART.I can't wait to share the cover... but in the meantime I can share two blurbs that came in from the most wonderful authors: Diana Spechler author of the amazing WHO BY FIRE and Juliette Fay author of the beautiful SHELTER ME.
From Diana Spechler: "Robin Antalek's debut is as haunting as it i

so sorry...it's summertime

THIS IS JUST TO SAYI have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

-William Carlos Williams

now what?

The fourteen year old daughter is bored. Just ten official days into summer and she's more bored than she has ever been in her entire life. (her exact words) Summer used to be fun, she wailed to me from her bed while I offered suggestions that were either infuriating or downright ignorable. I agree, summer used to be fun. But now it's work. All because I won't hand her money every time she wants to go somewhere, and yes, I will make her empty the dishwasher and do her own laundry and keep her

tug

What would it feel like to devote time, solid blocks of blissful time to one thing?  To write and not think about the laundry, the meals, the dogs, the horrific mounds of dog hair that collect in the corners of our old house, the daughters', the husband....
It would probably feel weird.