new « Robin Writes

Coming this Tuesday, we’re releasing the BRAND NEW novel by Verna Simms!

You can order your own copy by clicking the cover, or you can stop by Books Galore in Festus, Missouri and meet Verna on Saturday, February 15th! She’ll be there from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and she’ll be happy to sign your copy then . . .

“Late in the fall of 1918, two neatly dressed young men knocked on a farmhouse kitchen door. Chester Hall invited them in. These missionaries stayed two weeks with the family in rural Missouri, during which time they explained the mysteries of Joseph Smith—telling of the tablets of gold on which the Book of Mormon had been written, and of a new Church that thrived in the western states.

“Within three years, the Hall family had packed up and moved to Mesa, Arizona, adding a fourth child along the way: Amelia. This is her story.

“At age six, as Amelia starts school for the very first time, she realizes something about her papa, something she can’t quite comprehend. But by the age of nine, as her family withstands both the Great Depression and their patriarch’s increasing religious fervor, Amelia begins to understand the danger faced by she and her sister.”

All About Verna:

Verna Simms was born and lived the first year of her life in an old, abandoned garage in Arizona. At age eighty, Verna joined the Jefferson County Writers’ Society and began writing seriously—thus fulfilling a lifelong dream. She has been published in magazines, anthologies, and has a column in the local newspaper —The Leader. She owes her success to the Jefferson County Writers’ Society and says when she autographs her first few books and hands them to those who have helped her most, she will have accomplished her goal. Her old age would have been dull without this new venture to keep her mind active.

And – she’ll celebrate her 93rd birthday in April!

Today, I’d like to take just a few minutes of your time and introduce RHP’s newest release: Danny’s Grace.

I’ve “known” author Dawn Hawkins for oh, about five or six years, since our days of online content writing—although we’ve never met. I’d always noticed her writing; it was good, yes, but included a fresh perspective, a unique style.

Her debut novel only reinforces that flair, that gift.

Danny’s Grace is the story of a little boy, one whom life has dealt a hard hand, and it’s his own father who is the perpetrator. Danny is tough and smart, cheeky and irreverent; and one wonders if he’s actually going to survive, given the violence with which he lives.

His best friend, his only friend, Carson, is Danny’s reason for pushing onward. Their relationship suggests that Danny is the strong one, but the emotions and deep layers imply otherwise.

As Danny and his mother and sister escape their dreary, frightening lives, moving onward and upward to better things, Danny’s personality has undergone few changes. He is still the leader, still the instigator, but the stakes are higher: professional success, or professional suicide.

Danny comes full circle when a budding novelist arrives on his doorstep. Her pointed questions drive home both helpless and hopeless feelings as Danny revisits his life, digging deep to explore pivotal events from the past and glossing over others, even while his subconscious pushes him closer to the brink.

The novel, told from Danny’s perspective with continuous asides to and inclusion of his inner voice, it pulls together to create an unusual and compelling story.

You simply MUST read this book.