Author Interview & Contest: Robin D. Owens

Current Read: Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Today at Armchair Heroines we have an amazing Word Wizard, prolific writer, Robin D. Owens!

Robin took a few minutes out of her busy week - she is on deadline - to answer a few questions for us. We also have a signed copy of her book Heart Thief up for grabs, so be sure to post your comments. The drawing will be Tuesday, July 1st.


You have created some amazing worlds. How do you go about that? Where do you start and how do you organize all of the information?

I just started writing, then (mostly) kept track of it all, though I have had a couple of glitches. Actually, T'Ash, my hero came first, and he was throwing these divination dice that said he'd meet his HeartMate that day. Soooo, I had to have a world where a manly man would DO that -- throw divination dice and believe what they said. My surname is Owens and that's Welsh and Celta was born.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

I wrote on and off as a child, but began seriously writing after a relationship crashed. I roomed with a writer in college, whose father was also a writer, so that pretty much set me on the road.

You have done some acting with an improv group, are you still involved? Does it support your writing? How?

LOL, the improv group imploded. It was very good for me. I don't think fast on my feet, and that helped. Also, I developed different skills and I don't feel as awkward in public speaking situations as I did.

What are you working on now?

I am finishing the last book in my Summoning series. Big battle. Flying horses. Deafeating Evil planet-eating alien Dark. Due next week. Eeeeeeek!

You are a self-confirmed introvert. How does that affect you as an author?

I don't do as much in-person promotion as I feel I should, and sometimes I live in my head too much.

You won a RITA in 2002 for Heart Mate. Can you tell us a little about that experience?

That was very, very cool. Especially since the convention was here in Denver and I was the hometown girl. My Mom and many of my critique buddies came. I think it was because HeartMate was such a completely different book than others in the category.

Your random question: Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire; after saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be and why?

I have no clue...not the mouse ears...not the velvet witch's hat (two items sitting atop my bookcase in plain sight). I'd probably just grab any old thing if I were that crazy. And I have too much stuff. Ok, I'd grab the RITA statue, or maybe one of my prisms, or my RWA badge with all my pins. And a note on validation and writing. Outer validation is great, but you have to have inner validation to continue: knowing you wrote the best book of your heart you could at the time with the resources you had. Actually, if I had time to think, I might grab one of my engagement calendars/journals, probably the one for the year I got published, though later ones are more colorful with collages. I keep track of my word count, etc. in them. And the format is wonderful: The Sacred Journey, A Daily Journal for Your Soul.

I love that idea - keeping a journal of your writing and The Sacred Journey sounds wonderful! Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Well, I'm down to the wire on this deadline, but I'm enjoying the book. I think Iron Man was an excellent movie to show set-ups/pay offs. I like my blog where I talk about writing, and I LOVE my website, especially the WORLDS page where I have character interviews (including Ailim, the heroine of Heart Thief), and maps, and cut scenes and stuff. All excerpts on my website under READS.

Robin's website is amazing. If you can, take a few minutes to visit!

Thank you for being here today, Robin. Can't wait for your next book. Best of luck!

Good luck to all of you commenters as well. Heart Thief is a wonderful read! If you want to pad your chance of winning the contest, click through to my writer's blog, No Rest for the Querying and comment there as well.