Category: Writing

If You Live in Fear, You’re Already Dead

robertafking July 19, 2018 0 Comments
Every single day I question why I’m doing this—why I’m leaving my funny, loving husband, our comfortable bed, my garden full of ripe, juicy tomatoes and abundant fresh water to walk and walk and walk. Come August I’ll be hiking from one end of Oregon to the other. South to north on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) for about 400 miles. Every object I need I’ll carry with me. Fresh socks,...

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...

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...

Finally! A book.

robertafking March 15, 2014 0 Comments
It is with great pleasure I’m finally able to share news about my memoir, He Plays a Harp.  The official publication date of the book is May 11, 2014, Mother’s Day. I didn’t set out to write a book, I just wanted to mark the fifth anniversary of Noah’s death with a piece of memorable writing. Thanks to The Rapidian, I had a place to publish it and the waves were set in motion. Readers...

Odd Day, Even Year

robertafking February 27, 2014 0 Comments
Like a birthday, wedding anniversary or any important date, the anniversary of Noah's death is one we note. It's on my electronic calendar as a recurring date, The Day Noah Died, as if I really need reminding. It is on our wall photo calendar with a picture of him and the words, Noah's Day on February 27. He died in 2006, an even year just after the end of the winter Olympics in Torino. Eight...

The Signs

robertafking September 5, 2013 0 Comments
I've always been open to signs, you know, like an answer to a meaningful question via the appearance of a rainbow, a bird crossing my path or something else that tells me what I need to know.  Though I'm open to signs, I can't think of a time when I actually had a meaningful sign. Until today. I found this rock, or chunk or concrete while I was running. I picked it up and ran home with it in my...

Poking the Wound

robertafking December 30, 2012 0 Comments
One of my classmates in my online writing class mentioned a book she thought I'd like to read, Far from the Tree by Andrew Solomon and I'm pleased that she did. The book is about parents, children and how their identities are wrapped around one another. His focus is on parents with children who are not "vertical"or similar to their parents. He writes about kids who are deaf, dwarfs, have autism,...