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Posts tagged ‘books’

Oct 14

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“Talk saves lives”: Rob Adams on the raw emotional heart of Tabitha Unleashed

What happens when a girl blessed—and burdened—with extraordinary abilities discovers that her hardest battles aren’t fought against supervillains, but against depression, shame, and the quiet ache of wanting to disappear?

In Tabitha Unleashed, author Rob Adams weaves high-stakes speculative drama with raw, tender humanity. Driven by the fierce bond between twin sisters, the story follows Tabitha into the blinding glare of a national stage as she risks everything to save her dying sister—while struggling to believe that her own life is worth saving at all.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Rob to talk about the inspiration behind Tabitha’s powers, writing authentic mental health journeys, the emotional weight of sisterhood, and why the bravest power of all is simply reaching out for help.

Here is our conversation.

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Dec 18

A different kind of reading list: Melancholy books

I think a really great book touches all of a reader’s emotions. Have you ever read something where you were laughing one minute and crying the next? On his blog, author Matt de la Pena advocates embracing rather than avoiding sadness in writing. He discussed this topic in Novels Have Become an Escape on “Room for Debate,” a feature of the New York Times opinion pages.

If you’re writing a melancholy book, you may want to read books from a list de la Pena compiled, which includes his comments about the books. You can also learn more about writing from de la Pena in this post, Get out of your reader’s way with these tips.

“Melancholy Reading List”by Matt de la Pena:
– Suttree by Cormac McCarthy (Best novel I’ve ever read.)
– Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr (Beautiful and quiet working class YA from a female perspective.) Read more

Jan 10

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How to create a project-specific reading list

My reading list changes depending on what project I’m working on. I have a fantasy book, a memoir, and a poetry manuscript in the works.

Since the memoir is done and I’m in the “sending it out” phase, I don’t have any memoirs on my current reading list—though I have read over 50 memoirs in the past four years. I wanted to read a wide variety of stories and styles to see where my story might fit. Along the way, I discovered many treasures that I’ll share in my Memoir Reading List soon.

As I begin to focus on my fantasy book, I recently revamped my reading list. Of course, as a writer, it’s good to read a variety of books but having a specific project-related reading list helps keep me focused on my next big goal. Read more