Robin Burks's Blog, page 3

A Reminder About Memphis Comic Expo

I just wanted to remind everyone that I will be at Memphis Comic Expo in Artist Alley with books ready to be signed on September 24th and 25th at AgriCenter International in Memphis, Tennessee.

If you’ll be there, please stop by my table and say hello!

I Said, “Hey, What’s Going On?”

What’s up, my lovelies? I’m trying to be much better about posting updates here, and some of you even got an email from me recently (and if you want monthly updated, be sure to sign up for my newsletter!). I just wanted to let you know what’s going on with me!

First, I’m about halfway through with re-writes on Children of Magic: The Dream Seeker, the first book in my Children of Magic series. I only have about two days a week to really work on it, but I get to focus solely on it during those days and it’s getting really good. I can’t wait to share this story with you all. If you want to get regular updates and sneak peeks, be sure to head on over to my Patreon and sign up! Just $1/month gets you those sneak peeks, plus cat photos! I mean, who doesn’t love cat photos?

I’ve also got an upcoming appearance to tell you about. I’ll be returning to Memphis Comic Expo this year. I’ll have a table where you can come say hi to me and buy my books. If you already have copies of my books, bring them on over and I’ll sign them! It’s September 24th-25th at AgriCenter International in Memphis, TN. I hope to see you there!

Those are my latest updates, but I hope to have even more soon, so check back again soon!

The Mother Of All Updates

Yes, I know, it’s been a while since my last update here. If you’ve been following me on social media, you’ve probably seen some of the things I’ve been going through. It’s been a struggle, to say the least. Not only was I struggling with my work/life balance, but I also got diagnosed with a chronic condition, and started having regular panic attacks (anxiety sucks).

But I have good news — I’m better now. I’m on medication to help with the medical stuff and my head is in a much better place with my work and life (and I have a day job I truly love). That means I actually have some updates for you.

First, I’ve finished the rough draft of the next book in The Alex Grosjean Adventures series, The Search For Prometheus. I’m putting it aside for a little while to let it stew, but in the meantime, I’ve started to work on final edits for Children of Magic, the book I was working on pre-pandemic. Yes, it’s finally going to see the light of day, with a potential release for this fall.

I’ve also set up a Patreon — so if you’ve read my work and want to support me regularly, please check it out here: Robin Burks Patreon. Just $1/month will get you regular updates, cat photos, AND exclusive sneak peeks at my current work in progress. Support me at higher levels to get special video messages from me and even entire works (right now, I’m uploading a chapter a week from a WHOLE BOOK for my $10/month supporters).

I’m also over on TikTok at @sunriserobin — so you can find me there, too. I’ll be promoting my work a little over there, but it’s mostly for me to upload fun cat videos, cosplay stuff, and talk about what I’m reading.

Finally, I’ll be returning to Memphis Comic Expo again this year — I’ll have a table there, complete with books to sell and sign (and if you already have my books, bring them by and I’ll be happy to sign them for you!).

So there are a LOT of updates for you. I’ll try to be better. I’m also going to get my newsletter properly up and running to let you know when I have new info., appearances, and releases to share. So be sure to sign up for that (on the right).

Until later, thanks for reading, friends!

I Have An Actual Upcoming Virtual Appearance!

Hey, everyone! I just wanted to put up a quick update to remind you to tune in on September 8th at 8 p.m. CST/9 p.m. EST for Back of the Cereal Box Presents Cosplay Cafe. I’ll be a guest on the inaugural show talking about cosplay and cosplay twinning with my dear friend Andrea! And maybe I’ll mention my books, too. It should be a lot of fun, so be sure to tune in!

It’s been a while…

Well, what can I say? What a year, right? On top of a pandemic, a new job, and some health issues, I’ve had a struggle (but haven’t we all?). But I’m finally in a place where I can write again, both mentally and physically. And I’m starting to work on an outline for the next book in the Alex Grosjean Adventures series. Yes, The Search For Prometheus is finally happening.

And if you want to stay updated on the progress of the book, get some cool cat photos (I mean, who doesn’t love cat photos?), AND get access to some super exclusive content, I’ve organized a community on Patreon where you can support me and help me, well, eat! Because writers do need to eat!

So please consider joining my Patreon community here.

Become a Patron!

Come “See” Me at HallowCon This Weekend!

HallowCon

Hey, everyone! Yes, I’ve been quiet, but I’ve been struggling and trying to write. I also started a full-time job, so there go all those posts about those games I want to play! But in the meantime, I’m still trying to get myself out there, and wanted to let you all know about my next appearance.

I will be attending Virtual HallowCon this Saturday, October 31st (my birthday!). And I’ll be running a panel at 12PM EST called “How To Write Your First Novel.” I figure I’ve got a little experience with this novel-writing thing, so, hopefully, I can share that info. with everyone! There will be a Q&A session at the end of my panel, too, if you have any specific questions about writing.

And as always, there’s a good chance I’ll be wearing a cosplay, maybe something a little… EVIL?

So come hang with me on Saturday and let’s have a fun Halloween together, shall we?

Fun with Onirim, Writing and D&D

Hello, dear readers. It’s me again. I’ve been trying to blog about things, but there’s so very little to blog about. There is, quite literally, nothing exciting happening in my life right now, although I am still diligently typing away as I work on the rewrite for the first Children of Magic book. I also have numerous notes for my next two novels, because that’s how the brain works: it might be impossible to focus on the current project, but future projects? ALL THE IDEAS!

However, I am trying to feel my “stay at home” time with fun things to do, although I will admit that I’m growing stir crazy. I had to reschedule my November Disneyland trip, which left me feeling very sad. And it doesn’t seem like there’s an end in sight with the way the pandemic is raging through the U.S. I’m entertaining notions of driving to New Orleans in the fall, but I am not even sure that this is something that would be safely possible. I just need something to look forward to!

I have continued to feed my new tabletop and board gaming addiction, though. My D&D group has taken on a life of its own and we’ve been roleplaying via DIscord between our actual sessions. It’s been a great source of inspiration, as well as entertainment, for me. I also re-played the solo D&D adventure I mentioned in my last post and managed to get my bard completely killed off. But there will be revenge: I rolled up a new half-orc barbarian to replay the campaign once more. Take that, Death Knight!

I also started playing the Onirim card game, which is wildly addictive. It’s like a creative version of Solitaire, with seven different expansions to keep it interesting. Even better, I can play a round in 15-20 minutes here and there throughout the day for a little challenge. I highly recommend it. The artwork on the cards is also really nice, too.

Finally, I’m still playing Arkham Horror The Card Game, and I can already tell this one is going to get expensive. I have played through the campaign several times with different characters and different results, but I’m about ready to start looking at expansions. And there are a lot of expansions. But I can’t help but love the world of Cthulhu. Yes I realize that H.P. Lovecraft was a complete tool and racist, but he’s dead. I feel it’s okay to like the work (and he’s certainly not profiting off it) based on it. I have the same feeling about Harry Potter. Sometimes the works become something greater than the authors and that’s okay. It belongs to the fans.

My writing continues and I’m going to be working a little more again over at ScreenRant. I’ll post links to my gaming reviews and articles as they go up for anyone who’s interested and follows me on social media.

Keeping busy during quarantine

Life is so strange right now: it’s a blur of days and nights that sort of blend in together and it’s rare when I actually know exactly what day it is. Somehow, though, we’ve made it halfway through 2020, a year that we can all agree has brought about unprecedented challenges. Unfortunately, the pandemic is still raging through the U.S., and I’ve chosen to be responsible and stay at home and limit contact with other human beings.

At first, as an introvert, this was actually pretty easy. However, as time progressed, I realized that even I, the hermit, really missed connecting with people. I’ve stayed in touch via social media and text messaging, but, alas, that wasn’t necessarily enough. Fortunately, one of my friends invited me to start doing trivia with Takeout Trivia, and that’s actually started to fill in a little of my free time (which I have entirely too much of). I’ve done everything from Harry Potter trivia to Disney trivia and even won a costume contest (with my cat) for Marvel trivia. We connect via Facebook live chat while we play and those sessions usually end long after trivia actually has. I’m reconnecting with my people, thanks to technology. And that, my friends, has been a godsend.

I have continued my costuming charity work, albeit online. I’ve been continuing to dress up for kids and send birthday messages and words of encouragement as much as I can. Just last week, I recorded 15 messages as the Evil Queen, all for some kids’ birthdays. I will continue to do this as I can, because being able to do something for others is important to me, even when I’m staying at home.

I also started playing D&D online with a group: we meet virtually every two weeks. I’ve long been a fan of tabletop games, but it had been a long time since I had last played. However, I fell in love with D&D again. However, I still have a lot of free time, so I sought out ways to play D&D as a solo player. Believe it or not, I stumbled up on some wonderful solo D&D adventures via the Dungeon Master’s Guild. I played through one this past holiday weekend and it was a lot of fun. I’ll also get to play it again because I did not defeat the big baddie and there is still loot to be discovered for my half-elf bard.

This led me to searching for other solo tabletop games, and lo and behold, such things do exist. I discovered Arkham Horror: The Card Game and immediately bought it as a long-time fan of Call of Cthulhu. This one, though, is not for the faint of heart (or the impatient). The game has a steep learning curve, a lot of rules and a lot of details to keep track of. It took me two test playthroughs to understand it, but once I played my first “real” game, I was hooked. I do think replayability might be limited, but the good news is there are many expansion sets and decks one can buy (the bad news is that they’re not exactly cheap).

Keep my time filled has helped me fight off a lot of the boredom that has plagued me. It has also inspired me, at least in some way, to get back to writing. I’ve been working steadily on rewrites for the first book in my Children of Magic series. I finally seemed to have found my writing mojo and I think part of it has to do with staying busy with other things, too. I plan on researching some more solo tabletop games just to see what’s out there, so I’ll report in on any that I find that I like.

In the meantime, stay busy, stay safe, WEAR A MASK and be smart.

A challenge to white educators, librarians and writers

I know it’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted anything here. Like everyone, I’m processing what’s happening in the U.S. as we spotlight the very real issue of racism and police brutality. And as a white woman, I didn’t want to flood channels with my words when so many more important messages were being sent. But I feel that it’s also my duty as a white woman to lift up and boost those messages and use my privilege to make sure they are seen and heard.

But I struggled with how to do this. Eventually, I realized that as a writer, as a published author, as an avid reader, that there were some failings in the systems I grew up with. And I thought that maybe I would write about those failings, as well as challenge other white people to do better. 

I grew up in Southeast Missouri, which pretty much identifies itself as the South. As a child who loved reading, I was never once introduced to books by black authors. Both in elementary school and high school, the stories and books I was given as reading assignments were by white people. When I got into genre fiction (sci-fi), no one once recommended authors to me that weren’t white. Not only did my teachers, my educators, fail me in this, but the librarians I so loved never once recommended black fiction to me. I was sheltered from other points of view and I didn’t even know it.

Sadly, this extended into my college years. I went to Southeast Missouri State University. I took several literature courses where I read a lot of books and short stories by white men and some white women. Even in a children’s literature course, the authors recommended were always white. University librarians never recommended books to me by anything other than white authors. I did stumble upon The Autobiography of Malcolm X, but even after reading that, no one seemed to be able to recommend anything else written for or about people of color.

I believe this is still a lot of the problem with white America. When I see what kids are reading in school, it’s usually words written by white people. When I see books being promoted at the library, it’s almost overwhelmingly stories by white people. When white authors make recommendations, it’s often books by white people. There are plenty of black authors out there, but white people just aren’t getting exposed to them at all.

A few years ago, I realized that this was an issue with my own reading and I vowed to start seeking out works written by black women. And then I realized that all those best of sci-fi lists were skewed not to include black people. How could a best of sci-fi list leave out Octavia Butler, one of the most prolific genre writers of our time? How did I just discover N.K. Jemisin, especially considering the number of awards she has won? I had this discussion with another white reader on Twitter a few days ago and realized that as white people, we have to do better.

So how do we do this? First, it starts with educators, librarians and writers. So this is the challenge I issue to those of you who are teachers, work in libraries and write:

Librarians: recommend more books by black authors. If you don’t know of any to recommend, then you need to educate yourself on those books. There are so many good resources online that can help you in this. Google is your friend.
Educators/Teachers: Assign your students short stories and novels written by black writers. How can you expect your students to learn anything if they’re reading the same points of view by white people over and over?
Writers: This applies to me, too, and I’m trying. Read books by black authors. Lift them up and promote them on social media. Review those books and boost them as much as you can. We’re all writers and we need to support each other, especially those with marginalized voices.
Readers: Seek out books written by black writers. Again, Google is your friend and there are a lot of lists out there, depending on your preferred genre.

As I said, we have to do better to lift up voices that aren’t being heard. And this is a good way to start. Reading is a window into the universe, but that universe is pretty limited if you’re only reading one point of view. Black lives matter. Black people matter. Their voices matter. Let’s make sure that they’re being heard.

The truth about impostor syndrome

I’ve been having some conversations this week with other writers and creators about the ever-dreaded impostor syndrome. This is a common thing that creative people (as well as others) go through that makes us constantly feel as if we somehow don’t belong in our respective creative communities and that we’re somehow a fraud and don’t deserve any success that we’ve earned. Pretty much everyone feels that at some point, including the most successful among us.

Neil Gaiman (American Gods, Coraline), who just happens to be one of my favorite authors, shared an interesting anecdote on his blog, about his own experience with impostor syndrome, which involves him meeting one of the most influential men in the world. Neil wrote:

“Some years ago, I was lucky enough invited to a gathering of great and good people: artists and scientists, writers and discoverers of things.  And I felt that at any moment they would realise that I didn’t qualify to be there, among these people who had really done things.

On my second or third night there, I was standing at the back of the hall, while a musical entertainment happened, and I started talking to a very nice, polite, elderly gentleman about several things, including our shared first name*. And then he pointed to the hall of people, and said words to the effect of, “I just look at all these people, and I think, what the heck am I doing here? They’ve made amazing things. I just went where I was sent.”

And I said, “Yes. But you were the first man on the moon. I think that counts for something.”

And I felt a bit better. Because if Neil Armstrong felt like an imposter, maybe everyone did. Maybe there weren’t any grown-ups, only people who had worked hard and also got lucky and were slightly out of their depth, all of us doing the best job we could, which is all we can really hope for.”

This actually reminded me of the depiction of Armstrong on the Netflix series The Crown, where Prince Philip is excited to have a conversation with the astronaut, expecting him to have words of wisdom for him. But Philip finds himself disappointed because Armstrong, who is suffering from a cold, basically says the same thing he told Gaiman. Although in reality, the Prince did meet Armstrong (and the former accidentally coughed in the Queen’s face), most of that account is fictional, but it still goes to show, along with Gaiman’s very real anecdote, that everyone feels like an impostor in their field at one time or another.