Books and Readings | Roberta F. King

Book Grouping

robertafking January 13, 2015 0 Comments

Through people I know or people who know people, I’ve been invited to talk with a few book groups over the last half year. I’d envisioned book groups as part of my author’s role and believe that if there’s six or so people who have all bought or borrowed my book, I should make an effort to be present with them. The relational nature of He Plays a Harp also lends itself to intimate...

Days of the Dead

robertafking October 26, 2014 0 Comments

I made my first shrine for Noah on a Sunday afternoon ten months after his death. At Mass that All Saints Day morning, I was shaken from my reverie when our priest read the names of parishioners who’d died that year. “Noah William Miesch,” he said. Noah was included on a list of people I only vaguely knew, older people mostly shut-ins and the very ill whose names I’d seen week after week...

The Right Fit

robertafking September 23, 2014 0 Comments

I like finding signs in life. It pleases me when the cosmos give me a hint that things are aligned, or not. A year ago today, I designated September 23 as “Manuscript Pitch Day.” It would have been Noah’s 25th birthday and I took the day off from work. The day was to be devoted to sending my manuscript to the world, in hopes of publication. I’d long prepared for this day: revising,...

Up North Book Tour

robertafking June 29, 2014 0 Comments

Okay, so it wasn't the greatest idea to schedule a book tour around the Fourth of July holiday. At the time, it made sense. I wanted to be in the town of Big Bay for the Independence Day parade that Bay Cliff Health Camp sponsors. The campers dress up and make elaborate costumes for the parade that celebrates their independence. Noah was in the parade when he was a camper and Big Cliff was an...

Connectioning

robertafking May 29, 2014 0 Comments

I’ve found that one of the joys of reading He Plays a Harp is talking with people who come to my book events. I haven’t had that many events (yet) but at each, I meet people who have connected with my writing or my story. Recently at Schuler Books, a young woman came for the reading and brought me a book to be signed. She was a bit teary and I asked her if she’d lost a child. “No,” she...

A Second Goodbye

robertafking May 3, 2014 0 Comments

After four years of writing, revising and editing; making photo choices and reviewing page proofs I have a book in hand. I love the feel of its soft touch paper cover, the typography is pleasing and the stories delight me as I re-read them. I have a handful of events planned and people seem excited to read it. This is what I worked for, right? And I wonder why I don't feel better, happier about...