The Start of Something Beautiful
June!
Shawn P. B. Robinson's June Newsletter!
Everything's green!
This is my favourite time of year! I just love May and June. Now... this year for SW Ontario has been unseasonably cold, which is annoying, but everything's now green and coming alive. It's my favourite time of year! Did I say that?
In stories, there is something beautiful and exciting about growth and new life. It's actually one of the best parts of a book. There's always the action and the story line and plot twists, but can you imagine your favourite book, but with who seem dead and unexciting? I'm not talking zombies, I mean... what if your characters had no... life? What if they didn't seem real, didn't grow, didn't change, didn't strive for something more?
What if Frodo had merely remained the hobbit who dreamed of an adventure (Lord of the Rings)?
What if Edmund Dantes had merely escaped his prison, but not learned, grown, and become much more (Count of Monte Cristo)?
W/hat if Eustace had continued to be the brat (Voyage of the Dawn Treader)?
We wouldn't love those stories, would we? In fact, the stories often aren't possible without that change.
Growth and new life and change and more is crucial to our stories!
Have you ever thought about how much your characters grow in the stories you love?
What story stands out in your mind as a story where the characters grow a lot? Did that make a big difference on the story?
So, I just started a really cool one-on-one mentoring with a young author. We're going to meet once a week and talk about writing and more, and I couldn't be more excited. She's got a great future ahead of her in writing.
There is something new, there, like spring. Something that can grow and be something beautiful and wonderful and full of life!
Isn't spring wonderful?
Free Books!
Hey! If you want to check out some free fantasy books, here's a link to a whack of them. There's also a chance to win a $25 gift card, so... um... how can you lose?
Click here for some free reads!
Some Cool Reviews!
So, one of my problems as an author is that I'm terrible at promoting my books because I don't like bragging and gloating. In fact, I can't stand it. However, I'm learning that I should be telling people about the good things about my books... so... I'm struggling to find a middle ground that is both effective and somewhat humble.
So, because of that, I'm trying to post reviews of my books, and here we go!
Here are a couple reviews of books two and three of The Sevordine Chronicles!
Thanks, Lita for the great reviews and I hope you love the rest of the series!
Personal Update
Spring is my favourite time of year (did I say that?). I love the new life growing, everything green and more.
It's interesting because my kids just keep growing, too. Which is great and all, but it means life changes. My youngest has a job up in northern Ontario for the summer, and a few weeks ago I had to drive him up there for a training weekend. While he "trained", I hung out at a friend's cottage and started a fire in their woodstove (it didn't turn out badly, don't worry).
I miss the young stages when I could just pick up my sons in my arms and hold them close, but they just... keep... getting bigger! And smellier, too! But mainly bigger!
But it's good. It's all good.
I hope you are all having a wonderful spring. Summer is just around the corner!
My gramma used to say, "Blessed is the man who has nothing to say, and can't be persuaded to say it."
Shawn P. B. Robinson
A long, hard winter definitely makes you appreciate the warm weather all the more when it finally comes! I know I’ve said this one time too many, but as a Michigander, I know the feeling, haha!
One story that handles character development with such nuance yet profundity is a manga series called A Silent Voice. It’s about a boy who bullied a meek deaf girl in grade school which ultimately ostracized him, made him very socially awkward and uptight about everything (among other things) and gave her self-loathing issues. By high school, he reconnects with her and tries to make up for all the misery that he caused her in grade school. Along the way, they both reconnect with old classmates and face many inner struggles. By the end of the series, he’s much more relaxed and at ease than he initially was and she’s much more confident than she initially was and learns to love herself.
What really makes their character developments compelling is how subtly visual and unspoken they are. You wouldn’t notice it on a surface level, not initially anyway.
I feel bad! I finished Book 4 and 5 of the Sevordine Chronicles a while back and I’ve been meaning to leave Amazon reviews for them, but I haven’t been able to do so yet. My brain has been all over the place with work and life, haha. But I will take the time to do so (as well as for Greks and Pilgrim’s Progress: Rewalked)!
I hope your son has fun up at Northern Ontario! He’ll be in my prayers!
Thanks for the update!