Tiffany A. Robbins's Blog, page 3
April 14, 2016
Blackout Poetry: Borrowed Plumage
he is a devoted gentleman were it not for his borrowed plumage
April 13, 2016
Poetry: Is There Room For Me?
Is There Room For Me?
Do not fear my affection. There are far more drastic things that wound. Like my war and my peace – my power. Consume.
Do not leave me wanting. There’s danger in my need. I can’t use your platitudes – your grief. Useless.
Do not keep me silent. The quiet speaks your truths. Honesty can heal. Grow a blanket – your loudness. Exposed.
February 22, 2016
A Response to Trisha Lynn and the Drama of ConQuesT 46
I received a comment from Trisha Lynn on my blog post ConQuesT 45: 10 Things I Learned from Selina Rosen: “Based on the recent Facebook post by a Fan Guest of Honor who was on the same panel as Ms. Rosen, I’m curious as to why you felt empowered by her taking her pants off during a panel. Can you help me put her actions into context? Based on Mark Oshiro’s words, he didn’t similarly feel empowered by her actions at ConQuesT 46 when she did the same thing on the panel about whether or not fans are open-minded.”
I have a few things I’d like to say regarding this comment and the fact that I was quoted on another blog at Mark Oshiro Says ConQuesT Didn’t Act On His Harassment Complaints.
1) I feel like I’m getting dragged into the drama of ConQuesT 46 when I was not even in attendance. Shame on all involved for dragging a fan into this drama. It is entirely inappropriate. I should not have to justify my thoughts on the convention I attended. My blog post was complete on my thoughts and comments. I should not have to expound upon them further. My blog comments were entirely in the spirit of a fan enjoying the event of ConQuesT 45 and my experiences with Ms. Rosen AND Mr. Oshiro.
2) I have never had a personal conversation with Mark Oshiro, but I have sat in on a few of his ConQuesT panels. I do not know his work, so I can’t really call myself a fan, but from listening to him talk on panels, I had really liked the man. I’m going to quote myself here “We finished the day with ‘The Art of Adaptation: Different Media, Different Approaches’ where there was a lively discussion of book to movie adaptations. There, I fell in love with Mark Oshiro. He’s a witty man with very similar viewpoints as myself and my husband. He’s quite lovable as well.” from my blog post Conquest 45 Noir.
3) I am and remain a big fan of Ms. Rosen. I’ve only read one of her novels, but I fell in love with her personality from the two times I’ve been to ConQuesT. She is lively, articulate on her strong opinions, and she is a strong woman. No, I do not always agree with her. In fact, I often greatly disagree with her and her methods of dealing with situations. It in no way changes my respect for her. She doesn’t need me to agree with her for her to be comfortable in her skin. We can disagree, and it in no way takes away from her person. That’s the biggest reason I like the woman. So, in my opinion, she can pull her pants down whenever she wants. Her white legged exposure at ConQuesT 45 was in no way indecent, and no one was assaulted by anything more than her wit, charm, and strong opinions. And honestly, if that’s not what you’re looking for, then you probably shouldn’t go to a convention filled with writers. If the writers at a convention are going to be overtly nice and congenial, I’m not going to pay a hefty entry fee to go listen to their polite little opinions. I go to conventions because of the lively discussion of various opinions from very opinionate writers. If I leave feeling strongly about something, even if that feeling is offense, then in my opinion, the panelists have done their jobs and done them well.
4) I was not present at ConQuesT 46 and cannot speak to the events that happened there.
In Conclusion, I WILL NOT COMMENT ON CONQUEST 46.
January 27, 2016
unconscious conclusion
they observed bygones
The two of them hastened sunshine.
they never discussed improvement
unconscious conclusion
-by Tiffany A. Robbins
September 18, 2014
Labor Day Blog
This is a very late blog post. I wrote it over Labor Day and am just now getting it written and posted.
Writing anything (blogs, poetry, novels) reminds me about the things I really want out of life. While I’m in my creative process, I center myself with the universe and various aspects of the world around me. In the moments of introspection between character creation, world building, and point of view decisions, the world becomes very clear. I’m able to focus on the bits of life that heal my soul and are important to the life I long to make for myself.
When I immerse myself in my writing, such as on a three day writing retreat, I always hit a moment of hyper focused catharsis that makes me want to go back to my life and make controlling changes to stear myself back towards the life I’ve strayed from the daily burdens of living life.
This particular three day writing retreat I’m on has been less than productive for my writing as I was ill prepared to meet the goals I set out to accomplish, but the focused catharsis I’ve received from my efforts is as powerful as it has ever been.
There are things in life that I want, and I ache terribly for those things. I want a tiny home (and the simple life that comes with it) that I build with my own two hands. This will take ingenuity and financial dedication that I struggle to achieve. I have a need to free-dive in large bodies of water. This will take creativity and dedication in training. I want to love my husband more. I want to show he’s appreciated and that nothing would bring me greater happiness than existing with him in the absence of all the superfluous distractions that we call our daily lives. I want to achieve a strong physical being so that I can tend to my physical body and it will in turn tend to my emotional body with the same dedication.
I may not have written the twenty five thousand words of focused, skilled yeti lore that I set out to write this weekend, but I did find a set of personal truths that I’d lost a firm grip upon (be it from work, too much television, or the stress that comes from bills I can’t pay). I know I need to enter these writing extravaganzas well prepared, but it is nice to know that even if I don’t, even if my writing is unfocused drivel that’ll never leave the pages of my much loved notebooks, I still achieved a peace that only writing can get me to. My lack of skill and preparation cannot diminish the clarity or peace that three days of pen to paper can bring me.
September 17, 2014
Things I Want to do in Life
Here is a list of things I want to do in life. Call it a bucket list if you’d like. I’ll write a blog post about each item if/when I do them. If you’re an amazing person and would like to help me check one of these items off my list, I promise you two things. 1) I’ll write a glowing blog post about the event that makes you look like an angel. 2) I’ll write a story featuring you as a fictional character of your choice (it may be flash fiction or as long as a novel depending on how interesting you are).
The fluid list:
Build a tiny house with my own hands
Teach myself to free-dive for a minimum of 45 seconds
Go free-diving in Table Rock Lake
Go free-diving in the Caribbean
Go free-diving on the Great Barrier Reef
Own a motorcycle
Publish a full length novel
Learn to play all of the Bach cello suites
Make a stained glass window for my mother’s house
Successfully keep a bonsai alive for 5 years
Walk around Wyandotte County Lake Park
Run a 10k with Cameron
Run a marathon with Cameron
Complete a triathlon
Get a tattoo
Get a piercing somewhere other than on my ear
Find a way to voice my political thoughts in a blog post
Decide what my religious views are
Find a way to voice my religious views in a blog post
Volunteer for something that will help out my old hometown in a significant way
Own a piece of land
Grow my graphic design clientele to the point that it is 90% of what I do in my job
Take Cameron to a country he’s never been to
Learn to weld
Learn to develop film
September 16, 2014
First Review: Something with Cigarettes
Mr. Jim Murdoch was kind enough to write my first review for Something with Cigarettes. He was a pleasure to talk to and get to know. Go check it out!
August 22, 2014
Between the Lines
Submission for NYCMidnight’s Flash Fiction Challenge 2014 Challenge #1
Group 8
Genre: Fairy Tale
Location: A Book Store
Include: A Chocolate Rabbit
Between the Lines by Tiffany A. Robbins
Long ago, a lonely young woman named Annabelle stepped delicately through the entrance to a book store to look for a gift of a book-a special book. As she entered, she had to sidestep a bit to simultaneously keep her white, lace dress from being caught in the oily door hinge and dodge the large, elven man fleeing the store with a look of panic upon his face.
Odd, she thought, it’s not easy rattle an elf.
The book store was a new place for the woman, and upon entering, she let out a gasp of awe at the architecturally decorative piles of books. Very few shelves were to be seen in the store. Instead, the books grew from the floor in stacks of helixes, tunnels, and domes. All in all, it was a very impractical use of the dewy decimal system, but she found the effect striking. She thought that surely this would be the place to find that special book she needed.
Only one customer occupied the store. It was an elderly fairy that giggled to herself as she hovered two feet from the books and perused. Upon a messy desk, a shiny brass bell sat. To get the attention of the clerk, Annabelle reached to ding the bell.
Suddenly, a goblin leapt from where he’d been crouching behind the desk, and, upsetting a pile of books, put a
protective, clawed hand over the bell, effectually stopping her from her summons and rendering it unnecessary at the same time.
“Don’t ring the bell,” he said and made a hissing noise, “Your story hasn’t been chosen yet.”
“Oh, I’m looking for a book for my husband. A gift. He’s a voracious reader.”
“A gift. No. We’ll find a story for you.” He then said more congenially while analyzing Annabelle. “I’m certain we’ll find something suited to your…” he looked her up and down, “character.”
“No, really. I need a book for my husband. It’s our anniversary, and he needs a book that has children in it. you see, I’d like to have a baby, and this will be my way of telling him.”
The bookkeep waved off her comments. “You look boring. I can’t imagine you’d last long…” He muttered the last part, and then he perked up. “I recommend you to the horror section. They never stay on the shelves long.” He grabbed the bell in one hand, and the fair skin of her arm in the other as he began to tow her to where the books loomed overhead as though they were a cresting wave about to dash the store to pieces.
“No. I’m looking more for something with a happy ending than horror. He needs to want a child, not be scared of one.”
“Oh, those are over there.” He waved across the room to where the books grew as a tree from the side of a wrought iron staircase.
A thought struck the woman, “How am I to buy a book without messing up the beautiful book designs that, no doubt, you’ve labored over building.
“Labored? No, that’s not their work. They’re just bored.”
“Who?”
“The books.” he said casually.
She reached to run her hand along a spine, and he snatched her hand away in the same manner as he’d guarded the bell from her touch. He whispered, “Don’t get too close unless you’re certain it’s the story for you.” Then he continued with his salesman voice, “Anyway, you don’t buy these books. Why would you want to buy a book when there’s so many stories left unfinished.”
She looked at him, speechless, and decided he must be a lunatic. He began muttering to himself as they passed deeper and
deeper into the stacks. Annabelle decided it best not to pay the crazy bookkeep any attention, so she browsed as his muttering grew and took on the tone and nature of an auctioneer. Occasionally, he’d yell at a book for being ridiculous or unreasonable.
As they approached where the fairy patron hovered, he said to her, “Ah, Beatrice, back for another adventure I see.”
She smiled and nodded. Then, she looked at Annabelle with her elderly, knowing gaze and said, “Have fun, dear.”
The bookkeep nudged Annabelle along toward the back of the store. She began to wonder how she could politely excuse herself when the bookkeep stopped her and eyed a particular book sternly. He turned back to the woman and gave her the same look.
Then, he hit the brass bell he’d been cradling, and hollered, “Sold!”
Abruptly, a young, troll girl tumbled from the book and looked around dazedly. “Thank, god,” she cried out.
As the atmosphere reverberated louder and louder with the continuing ring of the bell, the air began to shatter and cyclone around Annabelle and into the book.
“What’s happening?” she screamed.
“You see, young lady,” he said to her as she reached and grasped desperately to keep from being sucked into the pages of the book, “You don’t buy books. They buy you. I hope you find your happy ending.”
When the world finally came to make sense to the woman once again, she was sitting upon a layer of plastic greenery next to a person-size, chocolate bunny. All around her sat painted eggs that were three feet tall surround by a wall of wicker.
A shadow passed over the sun, and she looked up to see the gigantic, pudgy hand of a three-year-old child coming toward her as she heard his booming voice say, “Yummy.”
August 15, 2014
Smashwords Interview
Go and check out my interview on Smashwords! Where I discuss the following topics:
Who are your favorite authors?
What inspires you to get out of bed each day?
When you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?
How do you discover the ebooks you read?
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
What is your writing process?
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
How do you approach cover design?
What are your five favorite books, and why?
What do you read for pleasure?
What is your e-reading device of choice?
Describe your desk
Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
What’s the story behind your latest book?
After you check that out, check out my latest book, Something With Cigarettes. It’s available in paperback and Kindle. Other e-book formats will come in November.
August 9, 2014
Poem: “My Words”
My Words by Tiffany A. Robbins
The words aren’t pretty.
They don’t have to be.
The quirkier, the more they sound like me.
Ugly or not, the voice is all mine.
Ink and paper create the divine.
___________________
Check out my new novel “Something With Cigarettes” on Amazon.
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