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December 13, 2019

Grow with What You Know



By Robin W. Pearson


If I’d graduated from law school, I would have written about a hotshot attorney who squeezes a “not guilty” verdict from a hostile jury.

If I ever take a picture that’s not out of focus or off-center and that captures something other than what I eat and who I birthed, I’ll publish a coffee table book filled with landscapes and close-ups.

If I was daring enough to kill more than time and the occasional eight-legged creature, I’d weave a complicated whodunit.

If I used my broom for something other than sweeping up Frosted Flakes, dust balls, and minuscule Playmobil pieces, I’d pen a tale of magic and fantasy and midnight flight.

But I didn’t, I probably won’t, I’m definitely not, and I never do.

Years ago, I was inspired to wrap some fiction around generations-old family stories and traditions. Being rooted and grounded in the South, I flavor my work with a y’all or two, a helping of grits, and some down-home wisdom that I acquired at my grandma’s and on the second pew in Sunday school. 

Later, when I was tasked with “building a platform” to further my publishing dreams, I laid the framework on those same cornerstones—faith and family. I sought to get that nod of understanding from those already on board while attracting others to climb on and join my adventure. To make my experience their experience.

And I don’t just speak from that experience; it also speaks for me. My writing reflects my spirit-filled life as a wife, mother, homeschooler, and artist and invites readers to step through the looking glass and drink up. While I love page-turning courtroom scenes filled with fast-paced cross-examinations in the pursuit of justice, I’m led to write drama that unfolds around a dinner table and leads to self-examination, mercy, and grace. And sure, nothing tugs the heartstrings when you read how a guy gets the girl, but nothing stirs my soul like writing how both the guy and the girl get God. My calling is an extension of who I am and what I believe, unlike watching television, doing puzzles, and of course, reading. These pastimes transport me from my day-to-day, destinations far from my laundry room and laptop while my work acts in the reverse, entreating my audience to pull up a chair and cozy up, so they can suffer, celebrate, and soak up life right along with me.

If you’re embarking on your own publishing journey, and you’re trying to build a platform to grow your audience, but you’re not sure where to start, consider sharing the story that no one else can tell, the one you live, love, and believe. Your audience will connect with you, the author, and relate to you, the person.

No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
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Robin W. Pearson’s writing sprouts from her Southern roots and her love of her husband and seven children. Both lend authenticity to her debut novel, A Long Time Comin’. After graduating from Wake Forest University, she has corrected grammar up and down the East coast in her career as an editor and writer that started with Houghton Mifflin Company twenty-five years ago. Since then she has freelanced with magazines, parenting journals, textbooks, and homeschooling resources. Follow her on her blog, “Mommy, Concentrated,” where she shares her adventures in faith, family, and freelancing. Helpful Links: Author Website Author Page  Media Center Page  Author Photo




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