Thrilled to have Densie Webb on the Spotlight this week to discuss When Robins Appear
Author Name: Densie Webb
Book Title: When Robins Appear
Book Genre: Women’s Fiction
Release Date: October 20, 2020
Publisher: Red Adept Publishing
Welcome, Densie! How would you describe WHEN ROBINS APPEAR?
WHEN ROBINS APPEAR focuses on the lives of the Earle family, Deb, Richard, and their teenage daughter, Amanda. The story delves into young love, past love, keeping secrets, and the agonizing decisions women make about forming families. In the end, it’s about how dual health crises challenge a loving, stable family and how, in the end, they are forced to recreate themselves in unexpected ways.
What sparked the idea?
When my daughter was in high school, a classmate of hers had a devastating skateboarding accident. My original thought was to create a story about a skateboarder and his family. But, as often happens, the story wandered far away from that. There are still skateboarders, but they are not the focus of the story. A high-school senior, Amanda Earle and her mother are the main POV characters, told in alternating chapters.
What’s your favorite part about writing? What do you find challenging?
I just love language. I read novels as much for the language as I do for the story. I’m a huge fan of figurative language (metaphors, similes, analogies) and if you read ROBINS, I think you would pick up on that. The most challenging part of writing for me is simply getting it done. I’m the procrastinator queen. Once I sit my butt in the chair and get into it, I’m good. But there’s always this feeling of “Well, if I can’t devote several hours to it, I should wait until I can.” Well, those “several hours” seldom appear and, as a result, I always take much longer to write and edit than I would like.
What about the publishing process has been the most surprising to you so far?
It’s always an unpleasant surprise for writers who are first dipping their toes in the publishing waters, just how long it takes to write, edit (even for writers who are much faster than me), get accepted for publication, and then actually make it out into the world. Another eye-opener is how difficult it is to get the attention of readers when there are literally tens of millions of books to choose from on Amazon. After all that effort leading up to publication, garnering reader interest is yet another mountain to climb.
Are you working on a new project?
Yes! I’m actually reworking a story I wrote a while ago about a celebrity stalker and the havoc she wreaks on several people’s lives—not just the celebrity. That one was fun to research. I learned more about stalkers than is probably healthy. Some of the things that the stalker does might seen over the top, but everything she is based on something a real stalker has done. After that, I’m returning to a story I started about a young Irish musician and Texas girl and how their connection evolves over the years.
Where can readers find you?
If you want to connect, ask a question, or just say hi! I’m on several social media outlets:
Website: densiewebb.com
Email: densie.webb@gmail.com
Twitter: @dlwebb
Instagram: densiewebbbooks
BookBub: @densiewebb
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2I1DoPF
Amazon: https://amzn.to/355CCsu
You can find WHEN ROBINS APPEAR at any of the links below:
BookPeople (my local independent bookstore inAustin, TX): https://bit.ly/3wlXOqc
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3wpKqkK
Amazon Canada: https://amzn.to/3hQFbGG
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3u7gGYxean=2940162906636
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3oEqkk1
Google Play: https://bit.ly/344jf2R
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3f56lbh
Thank you, Densie! WHEN ROBINS APPEAR is out NOW.
When Robins Appear
With a lucrative freelance career and a loving family, Deborah Earle has a life many women would envy. But her daughter, Amanda, is heading to college soon, and Deborah worries about having an empty nest. She thinks another child might be the answer. Her husband, Richard, however, may not be willing to start over so late in life.
Amanda is excited about attending NYU next year, but she meets Graham, a handsome older boy, falls hard, and considers postponing her education to stay close to him. Her mother takes an instant dislike to Graham, but Amanda refuses to let her keep them apart.
As Deborah watches her daughter rush headlong toward heartache on an all-too-familiar path, the secrets lurking in Deborah’s past continue to echo in her present. When tragedy strikes, Deborah faces a future she could never have imagined.
Author bio:
Densie Webb (not Denise) has spent a long career as a freelance nonfiction writer and editor, specializing in health and nutrition, and has published several books on the topic. She grew up in Louisiana, spent 13 years in New York City, and settled in Austin, TX, where it’s summer nine months out of the year. She is an avid walker (not of the dead variety, though she adores zombies, vampires and apocalyptic stories), drinks too much coffee, and has a small “devil dog” that keeps her on her toes.
The fiction bug bit her several years ago and she now has two novels, her debut women’s fiction novel, When Robins Appear, published by Red Adept Publishing and a paranormal romance, Le Reméde, published by Wild Rose Press. She also had her essay: Boob Job Regrets: In Appreciation of Your Previously Small Chest, included in an anthology compiled by Randy Susan Meyers, titled Women Under Scrutiny: An Anthology of Truths, Essays, Poems, Stories & Art. All proceeds from the anthology go to Rosie’s Place in Boston, a sanctuary for poor and homeless women. And her flash fiction piece, The Prank, was in the top ten finalists for Women on Writing’s Summer 2019 Flash Fiction contest.