Robin P. Nolet's Blog, page 8

'One Word' Resolution!

I hate New Year's resolutions...so much so, that it's taken me until almost mid-January to consider making one! Writers are the worst kind of procrastinators, but given a truly worthy cause, we can ratchet it up to Olympic levels! The super whammy of holidays/house guests/dreary weather/play-off losses/virus-du-jour has really taken me into gold medal territory this year.





So-enough! It's time I resolve something I know I can achieve. As we all know (you know you do!) the only way to break...

The Shell Keeper/Quote Outtakes: Chapter Nine

The signs that presage growth, so similar, it seems to me, to those in early adolescence: discontent, restlessness, doubt, despair, longing, are interpreted falsely as signs of decay.

Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh




This chapter starts with Claire dealing with, Madison, her client's mischievous child. After a long day of showing homes to buyers who can't make up their minds, they've finally decided on a house. That evening Claire is processing paperwork and polishi...

Sneak Peek at Sequel to The Shell Keeper!

Hi to all! Yes, I'm hard at work on the sequel to my first book, The Shell Keeper! Sorry, no title yet-these things are harder than you'd think! But the story picks up a few months after the end of the first book, and my gals, though they are no longer all in one place, are still great friends and helping each other through some sometime daunting, sometimes humorous challenges!



I know I'm always anxious to read the next book in any series, and even more so when I know it's still in product...

Feeling the Loss of a Friend...

James Horner wrote a wonderful piece for The Field of Dreams
called The Place Where Dreams Come True. I love that movie. The music always reminds me of life’s great
possibilities and that there is something or someone greater at play in the
universe. It’s one of those things I turn to when I need to be reminded that
there’s a bigger purpose out there…whether I know what it is or not.




Time and events take and give from the cavernous spaces of the
heart that hold our dearest memories. Bu...

The Shell Keeper/Quote Outtakes: Chapter 8

Woman must come of age by herself. This is the essence of "coming of age"--to learn how to stand alone.

Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh 




Del is sitting in her car in the local ShopCo parking lot. Think of it like Costco. She's working up the nerve to go inside and apply for a job, but when she finally does, every step of the process leaves her more confused and flustered than the last. I have to admit I laughed as I wrote this one...poor Del, she's in it up to her neck,...

Short and Sweet Review: Open Season by CJ Box

This book is the first in Box's Joe Pickett series. Joe is a Game Warden in Wyoming and he's underpaid, under appreciated, living in a house he doesn't own with his devoted pregnant wife and two little girls. And a dog (who I personally felt needed more character development...but I'm a dog person).



Joe's the right guy for this job-aside from the pay and lack of appreciation he really loves what he does. Unfortunately, the bad guys don't. They are worried that Joe will discover their littl...

The Shell Keeper/Quote Outtakes: Chapter 7

I mean to lead a simple life, to chose a simple shell I can carry easily--like a hermit crab. But I do not. I find the my frame of life does not foster simplicity. 

Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh




Gwen meets with her friend Terrie, the manager of the Green Valley ShopCO (think Costco or Sams Club). Gwen's finance's have led her to seek out someone who can help her pinch a few pennies on supplies for her bakery and Terrie is just the person.




During their meeting we le...

Short and Sweet Review: Fool Me Twice by Robert B. Parker...sorta

Just as with the sad demise of Dick Francis, I grieved not only the loss of a great literary talent,  Robert B. Parker, but the loss of the stories he might have written. But also, as with Dick Francis, someone came along to pick up the gauntlet and carry on. And I'm thrilled he did!



Over the years I've read just about every Spenser novel Parker produced-and that's a considerable amount! Oh yes, that includes those oldies but goodies with bell bottoms and afros! But Spenser,...

The Shell Keeper/Quote Outtakes: Chapter 6

In a growing relationship...the original essence is not lost but merely buried under the impedimenta of life.

A Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh




In chapter 6 the reader gets to know Gwen a little better. For me, she is the center of this book. Everything comes together around Gwen and spirals out, like a shell, from her. (fyi, the next book centers on Claire-who will definitely be a fish out of water in Colorado's wine country!)




Gwen's back-story involves a divor...