Walking in Tall Weeds

Robin W. Pearson

I wrote my “debut novel”, technically, in the third grade with my best friend, Beth. My protagonist loved butter pecan ice cream (coincidentally). Early in my career, I wrote and edited for a school publisher, and then I produced articles related to parenting and homeschooling. After I had my first child, I was inspired to preserve our family history and memories, leading to my first novel, A Long Time Comin’.

I’ve loved reading books by Liane Moriarty and Bebe Moore Campbell, contemporary authors in the general market. Moriarty does an excellent job of portraying interpersonal relationships and conveying those subtle nuances that make a good story. While her settings are unfamiliar to me, she picks me up, plops me into the middle of her story, and makes me feel right at home. Yet she keeps me guessing until the end. I also invite my readers to come along on a four-hundred-page journey in my novels. They may not know where they’re going, but I try to make them comfortable, so they’ll enjoy themselves and hang on until the end.

And Campbell, is one of the first Black authors I read years ago. She was a phenomenal writer whose novels weave together the lives and backgrounds of all kinds of people. She used dialogue and lyrical writing to bring her characters to life, showing how their decisions and histories impact others. Her writing is lyrical and beautiful and blends elements of both literary and women’s fiction. I also consider my novels upmarket fiction, and my stories illustrate how our pasts can shape us and our relationships. As a faith-based writer, however, I show how God’s love transforms us and connects us to the world.

I've been asked what I look for when choosing a setting for my book. So far, I’ve set my books in fictional North Carolina towns because I enjoy writing what I know and where I know. While I try to put my characters in a type of “Anywhereville,” hoping that my readers also can see themselves there, I situate these towns near actual locations so there’s a real sense of place.

My research for my characters in Walking in Tall Weeds worked with furniture and interior design, which gave me the opportunity to explore two of my own interests. I enjoyed interviewing industry experts in Thomasville and High Point, North Carolina, and researching furniture making. A character in the book I’m currently working on is a jewelry maker, so I’m learning a lot about gemstones. I’m also talking to professionals who design and sell their own pieces to find out about their training.

Many books correlate love and romance with the young, but my latest, Walking in Tall Weeds, centers around a mature married couple who is still passionate about each other. They haven’t made their relationship a priority, nor have they addressed all the “baggage” they’re still traveling with after more than thirty years together.

I hope that when readers finish Walking in Tall Weeds, they will feel challenged to examine their heart and motivations and ask themselves hard questions such as “Have I chosen love and forgiveness over bitterness? Can others tell who and what I believe by what I say and do?” I want them to walk away feeling inspired to share this book because these characters and their story are a mirror, they can use to see themselves.

Robin W. Pearson’s writing sprouts from her Southern roots, her faith in Jesus Christ, and her love of her husband and seven children. All lend authenticity to her novels. 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 more than twenty-five years ago. Both her Christy Award–winning debut, A Long Time Comin’, and her second novel, ’Til I Want No More, have earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Follow her on her blog, Mommy, Concentrated, where she shares her adventures in faith, family, and Wfreelancing

Live and in Color

Robin W. Pearson

A few birthdays ago, Songbird created a “Who Knows Me Best?” game. Most of us failed miserably. Who knew “punch pink” was a color, let alone her favorite? We’d witnessed her love of musicals but couldn’t distinguish Ben Platt from Ben Franklin. (Oh, that’s right—not the man wearing split bifocals holding the kite string.) After that fateful low-scoring date, we upped our game. We now can pick out who belted his way through “Dear Evan Hansen” with one ear plugged and inform you that Songbird’s go-to color has changed to fire engine red.

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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