We were lucky to catch up with Kyle Ann Robertson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kyle Ann, appreciate you joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
I was tired of the writing community telling me how hard it is to write a book. How few people get their writing published traditionally and that you might as well quit before you begin. (At least that’s the message I got repeatedly from conference to conference.) Publishing traditionally IS difficult but writing doesn’t have to be a victim of the industry, in fact writing should always be encouraged and there’s many ways to publish depending on your personal goals. After publishing two novels with small publishers, I set out to help want-to-be-writers fall into “the starving artist” victimhood scheme. I share how to debunk writing myths like Writer’s block, Imposter Syndrome, The Hypothetical Muse, Left Brain vs. Right Brain, etc. by understanding the science of imagination, individual learning style, and individual goals… I developed “Embrace Your Muse” -A seriously fun and efficient technique to tap into your creativity and enhance your writing potential through scientific insights and practical exercises- as a way to “trigger” your imagination at any time to keep from staring at a wall for ideas and help keep your “butt in the seat” and write… even if it’s just for yourself though journaling.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’ve always been a writer (journaling, poetry, short stories) but never gave it much thought. When I retired from the world of physical therapy in 2014 I began writing my first novel. I eventually went to Emory University for my Creative writing Certificate and really sunk my teeth into becoming a published author. I have since self- published 12 children’s books and published 2 contemporary/bookclub fiction novels with small publishers (both award winning) and am working on my third. In my writing, I explore the impact of miscommunications and misperceptions within families, delving into the chaos that ensues, even when driven by love.
WHITE PICKET FENCES:
Tina Edwards loved her childhood and creating fairy houses, a passion shared with her father, a world-renowned architect. But at nine years old, she found him dead at his desk and is haunted by this memory. Tina’s mother abruptly moved away leaving Tina with feelings of abandonment and suspicion. Raised by her loving, wheelchair-bound Aunt Liddy, her father’s sister, 33 year old Tina has become a miniature room artist and cherishes the control she has over her life in Northeast Georgia as she works hard to please her beloved dead father’s wishes of following in his footsteps in art and history.
At the same time Mr. Jake Martin, all six-foot three of him, with a heavy southern drawl and winsome dimple, hires Tina to build replicas of the original rooms of his own family’s Victorian mansion purchased to turn into a B&B, Tina’s estranged, dying mother re-enters her life with family secrets that must be told. Amid their research for Jake, Tina and her assistant find out that stories from his past were unfounded and prove that miscommunications and misperceptions passed down through families create unwarranted, painful separations, echoing Tina’s life story.
NOT SO LITTLE THINGS:
White Picket Fences is a heartfelt family drama fueled by an honest story of motherhood, written for those of us caught up in our own self-searching journeys. The one thing Julie Cahill knows because of her transitory upbringing as a military brat is that she never had a hometown. So, she has made sure her kids would grow up in one forever home, in one forever neighborhood, with lots of forever friends. Yet having to accept invisibility, under-appreciation, and being taken for granted in trade for her unconditional love has her feeling fenced in.
Set in the Delaware Bay area almost two years after the death of her young son, Julie struggles with her guilt over not being available for her family on that one fateful day and has her challenging karma by tightening her grip on her daughters and husband, ultimately pushing them away. The only way to gain them back is to find herself first.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
After joining a local writing group which convinced me to write a children’s series (which I self-published under the name BB Walsh with my dear friend Mike G), my original goal with writing a novel was to just see if I could really get 90,000 words on paper with the help of on-line courses and a few conferences. I felt like a failure as I tried to “fit” into the writers at conferences and retreats, where I felt all I heard was them was that writing a book is hard, you need a MFA, and maybe you should re-think about trying. Most conferences I left wanting to quit writing… at least not wanting to take my goals any farther. But instead, I decided to go back to school and get my Creative Writing Certificate at Emory University to feel like I had some sense that I might be accepted in such an academic industry. Then I really caught the writing bug and decided to play the game to its fullest. I was going to traditionally publish a book. I joined organizations and groups to learn about “all the things” and I was going to enjoy the journey by going to conferences and retreats, find a life long writing group, and ultimately attract a desirable agent for traditional publishing. One by one, each goal changed as I traveled down my path. I pinky swore with my critique partner to follow the trail and not quit until achieved our goals of traditional publishing. After three years, she ended up self publishing, and I went with a small press (which I have since found out it’s no different than self publishing except worse for so many reasons.) So are there any resources I wish I knew about earlier in my creative journey? Yes I wish I took a course (like my Embrace Your Muse Course) to learn about the myths of your craft and debunk them right away especially imposter syndrome which is solely self induced. Had I debunked the myths, I would have avoided my lack of confidence and would have stayed strong on my journey. Now that I’ve learned some lessons, I’m ready to start a new journey with book number 3.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
I was in a small writing group and we had decided to publish a children series together. They used an idea from the current novel I was working on. I would write the stories, someone else would do the illustrations, someone else would do all edits, someone else format and upload to amazon. Great idea, but it didn’t work out quite the way we originally planned. So I took the stories and went onto a Facebook illustrators group to find someone who could draw a child-friendly fairy and woodland animals. Mike Q responded immediately, he said he had never drawn a fairy, and if I didn’t like what he drew he had a couple of people I could contact. He sent me his version of Nissa the Woodland Fairy and I fell in love instantly. That weekend I drove to Nashville, met with Mike and created Nissa’s world, including locations, friends , and woodland animals. Nissa became and instant hit! Mike and I then collaborated with 2 of my book covers and a set of prompt card used in my Embrace Your Muse.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kyleannrobertson.com
- Instagram: @kyleannrobertson
- Facebook: @kyleann.robertson