Episode 75Sep 5, 2025· 38:48
Outlining, Inspiration, and Murder - Robin Dives into Her First Cozy Mystery Novel
About this episode
Have you ever wondered what it takes to transform a story swimming in your head into a published cozy mystery novel? What if keeping a two-year writing secret from your family could lead to seeing your book on Barnes & Noble's website?
Join Ashley Grant as she chats with Robin Stephanie (aka Masshole Mommy) about her journey from blogger to published author of "The Deadly Garden," the first book in the Driftwood…
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Full transcript
00:03
The Bloggy Friends Show. What's up, my bloggy
00:25
friends? Famous Ashley Grant here, and I just
00:27
want to welcome you to The Bloggy Friends Show.
00:29
We're so excited to have you join us on this
00:31
journey of sharing our knowledge and experiences
00:33
with you. Whether you're a blogger, a content
00:35
creator, or just someone who's interested in
00:37
learning more about the digital world, we've
00:39
got something for you. So grab your notebook
00:41
and a pen to take some notes, or just sit back
00:43
and take in all the amazing information and ideas
00:45
we're about to share with you. Let's get into
00:47
it. All right. Well, Robin, we are having you
00:51
back on the show, and I'm so excited to have
00:53
you here. My bloggy friend Robin is here, also
00:55
known as Masshole Mommy. The reason we brought
00:59
you back is because you wrote a book. I wish
01:02
I had like one of those sound boards that had
01:04
all the little celebration stories or sounds
01:06
and all that good stuff. That'd be fun. But so,
01:09
yeah, let's just jump right in. Tell me all about
01:11
your book and how it came about and all the things.
01:14
OK, well, I don't even know where to start. I
01:16
guess let's take it back to high school where
01:19
I used to love creative writing class. And I
01:22
think I was the only person that. used to love
01:24
that class. I used to love coming up with stories.
01:27
I love, love, love, love outlining. I love making
01:30
outlines. I do that for everything in my life.
01:33
Life is easier when you go by a list or an outline.
01:35
So a few years ago, I had said to Christian,
01:38
my husband, like, oh, I really would like to
01:41
write a book, but I don't know what to write
01:42
a book about. And he said the same thing that
01:45
you hear other people say, write about what you
01:47
know. And I was like, okay, okay. So I thought
01:50
about it for like another year. And then I was
01:52
like, yeah. I like mysteries. I like watching
01:55
mysteries. I love Jessica Fletcher for Murder,
01:57
She Wrote. I love reading mysteries. Cozy mystery
02:00
is my genre that I read. I was like, I can do
02:02
this. So I started just jotting down some notes,
02:05
like who I want the characters to be, how I wanted
02:09
to differentiate my characters from other characters
02:12
that I've read. And then just evolved from the
02:15
character profiles for the main characters. You've
02:19
read it, right? Well, for anybody that hasn't
02:20
read it, Violet. Primrose is the main protagonist.
02:24
She's an amateur sleuth, finds herself in the
02:26
middle of a murder mystery. And then she's got
02:28
a couple of friends, Arthur and Chris, who help
02:31
her along the way. And once they were formed,
02:33
I started to think about what I could do with
02:37
these characters. I knew I wanted them to be
02:39
in Massachusetts, because I'm from Massachusetts.
02:40
Write about what you know. And I'm on the south
02:44
shore of Massachusetts, so I'm on the southern,
02:47
eastern coast below Boston. So I was like, oh,
02:52
you know what? I'm going to write about the North
02:53
Shore of Boston because I like that area. I don't
02:56
get there enough. It's up where Salem is. For
02:58
anybody who doesn't know anything about Massachusetts,
03:01
you probably know about Salem. So my fictional
03:06
town is called Driftwood Cove, and it's near
03:08
Salem. It's a fictional town based on a real
03:10
town, but it is a fictional town. And it just
03:13
kind of went from there. I started coming up
03:15
with ideas, what I wanted the town to look like.
03:18
town was evolved, I said, oh, I need somebody
03:21
who owns the bookstore. I need somebody who owns
03:24
the hardware store. And I came up with a list
03:26
of all the characters I needed. And then once
03:28
I had my characters and I had my town, I was
03:30
like, all right, who's going to die? And then
03:32
I was like, all right. I picked out, I don't
03:35
want to give anything away for anybody that hasn't
03:36
read it. Well, actually, I think this part's
03:38
on the back cover. I forget what I wrote everywhere.
03:40
But I picked who was going to be murdered, who
03:42
the murderer was going to be. And then it just
03:45
kind of evolved through outlines. I made my outline
03:48
and then I'd re -outline and re -outline and
03:51
get more and more details into the outline every
03:53
time. And then once I had like a 25 -page outline,
03:58
I was like, okay, I think I'm ready to start
04:00
typing this out. And then it just kind of flowed
04:03
from there because it was already written in
04:05
my head. That's awesome. Now, so what was the
04:08
timeline? What did that look like from beginning
04:09
to you had the book written? I would say about
04:12
two years. Okay. From beginning to end. Just
04:16
because it just took so long to come up with
04:19
the characters and what I wanted the setting,
04:22
the town to be. Because I had to come up with
04:23
something. It's based on a real town, but I had
04:26
to come up with my own town. Right. Well, that's,
04:28
I think, where a big chunk of the time laid.
04:31
And I didn't tell anybody I was doing this because
04:33
I wasn't sure I was going to do it. So even Christian,
04:35
my husband, my children, nobody knew I was doing
04:37
this until I said, hey, I wrote a book. And then
04:40
Christian was like, what? And I still kept it
04:44
secret, even from my dad, my sister, because
04:46
I just wanted to make sure it was good. And my
04:49
sister -in -law, who's done some editing before,
04:52
she actually, right now, she tutors kids on SAT
04:56
requirements, college entry requirements. So
04:59
she does a lot of essay correcting. She's great
05:02
with grammar. So she helped me edit the book.
05:05
So she knew about it. Kristen knew about it.
05:07
And then when it was done, that's when I told
05:09
people. That's awesome. It's so wild to keep
05:12
a secret like that, though, because like I have
05:15
trouble with this myself. And it's why I get
05:16
in so much trouble with ghostwriting, because
05:18
I get so excited about things that I want to
05:20
tell people. And so when I'm not allowed, I'm
05:22
just like I just sit there with like my my ass
05:25
on my hands and I'm like, I can't stand that.
05:28
I can't tell anybody. I know it was really hard
05:31
not to tell anybody, but I was afraid it wasn't
05:33
going to be good. Although I felt it was a decent
05:36
story. But I had I gave it to Christian first
05:39
to read it. And go over and make sure there were
05:41
no plot holes. And he found a few, like, little
05:43
things. But we fixed those. And then my sister
05:46
-in -law, Virginia, she helped me, like, really
05:48
bring it all together. And then now it's out.
05:51
But now I'm working on book two, which we can
05:54
talk about later. But I'm probably about two
05:57
-thirds of the way through the book. And I haven't
05:59
told anybody anything other than it's going to
06:02
take place about two months after the first book
06:05
took place. Okay. So it's... kind of killing
06:09
me now that Christian my husband knows about
06:11
the books like I want to bounce ideas off him
06:14
so bad but I also don't because I want him to
06:16
be surprised so I've been holding back on this
06:19
one and then I have the third and I have an idea
06:23
for the third book already and that one I think
06:25
I'm going to have him I'll bounce stuff off him
06:29
for that one what's it like having these characters
06:31
swim in your head It's nonstop. I don't even
06:34
know what the word is. I wake up thinking, oh,
06:37
my God, I should add this into, you know, when
06:39
Violet does this. Or, oh, I should have Arthur
06:42
do this. It's constantly in my head. Constantly.
06:46
All the time. Even on vacation, I'll grab my
06:48
phone and I'll email myself so I don't forget.
06:51
I say like a lot. I don't know why I do that.
06:53
And anyway, that's just me to myself. But it's
06:57
constantly in my head. Book two has been written
06:59
in my head. before book one i mean i started
07:03
working on book two before book one was out but
07:05
it's been in my head for about a year now and
07:07
book three is it's it's coming along making shape
07:11
making shape so what what made you decide that
07:15
you were going to go the mystery route um with
07:17
like the sleuth and the and the you know murder
07:19
mystery stuff that's just what i like to read
07:21
okay i've read a fairly wide genre of books and
07:25
that's just what I always come back to and I
07:27
prefer the cozy mysteries which is what my book
07:29
is versus a regular mystery and I had this conversation
07:33
with my sister I can't imagine writing something
07:37
with swear words or s -e -x I don't know if I
07:41
can say that but like I can't imagine writing
07:44
that stuff and then having my dad read it or
07:46
my children read it that's it It's so funny you
07:51
say that because I sent you a private message
07:53
that I'm actually writing a spicy novel and I've
07:55
already decided that I will not be putting it
07:57
under my own name. I will be getting a pen name
07:59
because I, same, like if it's going to have something
08:03
spicy in it, I can't let people I know know it.
08:07
I can't imagine my children reading that. I would
08:09
be mortified. Yeah. So I went the cozy route,
08:13
but that's what I like to read. I'm not a prude,
08:16
but. we don't need sex and everything anymore
08:19
you know but we're way you know like get over
08:23
it and you know I swear a lot in real life because
08:26
that's just who I am as a person but I also wanted
08:29
it to be able to be read by everybody you know
08:32
I've got younger nieces and nephews I just wanted
08:35
to clean books so I went the cozy mystery route
08:38
that makes sense just who I am I just I like
08:41
so you are a mystery is that what you're telling
08:44
me yes Is that what I'm telling you? That's awesome.
08:48
So I noticed that whenever you started promoting
08:50
it, some of the images that you were sharing,
08:53
they looked like they'd been generated. Did you
08:57
work with ChatGPT to figure out how your stuff
08:59
was going to look? Yeah, so here's the thing.
09:04
I'm a boomer. I don't understand this whole AI
09:06
thing, but I've had a little bit of help from
09:09
people who are much more knowledgeable about
09:12
AI in my home. And they've helped me make some
09:15
images. So yes, some of those images are AI.
09:18
My book is not AI. I wrote my book because I
09:20
know that comes up a lot. I know that's like
09:22
a controversy out there right now. And I don't
09:25
even know how AI could actually write a book.
09:27
I have nowhere. I can't even conceive of that
09:30
in my head because I'm still looking at pictures
09:32
online and people were like, oh, that's AI generated.
09:36
And then it's got seven fingers. I just, I don't
09:38
get the whole AI thing. So I can't. I agree with
09:43
you because I can't imagine using it for fiction,
09:46
especially when it's like a story that's in your
09:48
mind. It's not something that was software generated.
09:51
Yeah, I just don't understand the whole thing.
09:53
But I did have a little help with some of the
09:55
images for social media. So, yes. That's at least
09:59
neat that you were able to take the ideas that
10:02
were in your head and generate what you think
10:04
it looks like just so you have more realism to
10:06
it. I bet that helped a little bit. Yeah, I think
10:09
if you give it really clear instructions, that
10:12
helps. Yeah. I don't know. If I put something
10:14
in there, I end up with the complete opposite
10:17
of what I put in there. I guess I just don't
10:19
have the right wording. I think you need specific
10:20
wording. Yeah. I don't know. That's future Robin's
10:23
problem. Maybe I'll figure that out someday.
10:25
Today is not that day. Today, I'm just worried
10:27
about getting the stuff out of my head and onto
10:30
my laptop. Yeah, it's all about the prompts,
10:32
man. One thing that I've been noticing that a
10:35
lot of authors that do fiction have been talking
10:38
about lately is recording their ideas and then
10:42
like putting it into like a cast magic or, you
10:45
know, some sort of an AI transcript thing so
10:47
that it can at least take their words and spit
10:49
it onto the page. And that's something I was
10:51
thinking about dabbling with, because as I'm
10:53
writing all this stuff, like coming up with these
10:56
ideas, sometimes I think it faster than I can
11:00
type it. And so I catch myself like, you know,
11:03
doing a voice memo note of, okay, she's going
11:05
to have purple pants in this scene. And, you
11:08
know, like, or, you know, she's going to have
11:10
really pretty glasses in this scene, you know,
11:13
that kind of thing. And it's funny how people
11:16
are starting to use technology to help them get
11:19
their stuff out there faster, but yet not, you
11:22
know, take away some of the creativity. Because
11:24
I kind of agree with a lot of the people that
11:26
have been saying, you know. Cat GPT and Claude
11:29
and all these other AI programs, they're making
11:31
us dumber. Completely agree with you. I completely
11:35
agree with you. I, yeah, I don't know anything
11:38
about it. I like the voice memo idea, but that's,
11:43
it goes back to what I do. I just email it to
11:45
myself or I keep a note on my phone whenever
11:47
I have an idea or a list of ideas. I've already
11:49
got like a book three ideas list on my phone
11:52
and I just email it to myself. And that way I
11:54
can just pull it right from my email. And when
11:56
I'm writing, I just get in there. groove and
11:58
go from there. That's really smart. I mean, I
12:00
know some people they'll they'll do like the
12:02
whole storyboard thing where they, you know,
12:04
put the whole thing together, showing how the
12:06
beginning, the middle and the end is going to
12:08
happen. But then you have to figure out, OK,
12:10
now that I've decided these are the points, how
12:12
the hell do I get there? Yeah, no, that makes
12:15
sense. I definitely have a series Bible. So I
12:19
have a page for each character. I have locations.
12:21
I have all that stuff so I can keep it consistent.
12:23
And I have my very, very, very detailed outline.
12:27
But even things change as I'm going and I'm writing
12:30
and it doesn't work. I definitely change some
12:33
things, but I have it all worked out in my head.
12:35
But then it's a lot of back and forth. Once I
12:38
read the whole thing, once it's finished, I'm
12:40
going to go back and I'm going to say to myself,
12:42
I missed that. So there's going to be a lot of
12:44
personal edits before it even goes to Chris or
12:47
my sister -in -law to edit it. Because I know
12:49
I leave stuff out and you have to work in all
12:51
the clues and the details. spoiler alert, Violet's
12:55
getting a dog in book two. And I have to make
12:57
sure I work that in. And she can't just run off
13:00
with Arthur and Chris to go interview a suspect.
13:03
She has to think about her dog now. So I have
13:04
to make sure those details are worked in. So
13:06
it's a lot of little stuff. There's also whole
13:09
character files. Like you need files for every
13:11
single character. Yeah. Yes, exactly. Yeah. I
13:14
know we're doing this over Zoom or whatever this
13:19
program is. Google Meet. This is my Google Meet.
13:22
So you viewers, or you're not even viewers, you're
13:24
listeners, but I'm showing it. This is my series
13:27
Bible. So I stood next to me and it's, yeah,
13:30
it's got a page for everything. That way everything
13:32
can stay consistent. And it just helps me personally
13:35
keep everything organized. Although I'm a very
13:37
organized person anyway, but it helps me. How
13:40
did you come up with the idea to have a series
13:43
Bible to keep all the characters and all that
13:46
stuff? It's just me and my own. organizational
13:50
skills. I started with a notebook. I had a little
13:52
notebook and I'd have a page for each character.
13:54
But then some of the pages would stick together
13:56
and I would get annoyed. So I said to Christian,
13:59
we're going to go to the Dollar Tree and I'm
14:01
going to get a binder and I'm going to get some
14:02
page protectors. And this way now I can just
14:04
flip through easily. It's just my own organizational
14:08
system. But that's, you know, I've always been
14:11
like that. I've always kept my stuff super organized.
14:15
That's really smart, though. So what was it like
14:17
going from, I mean, you know, you come from the
14:19
blogging world where everything is nonfiction.
14:21
How was it going from nonfiction to complete
14:24
fiction? It was actually easier because it's
14:28
all made up. It's whatever I want it to be. So
14:30
these characters could do anything I want them
14:33
to do. This town could be anything I want it
14:35
to be. And it's just mostly my imagination. Sometimes
14:39
I pull some stuff from my real life in there.
14:42
I'm trying to think of an example that I put
14:44
in the first book that came from my real life.
14:47
Oh, so one of, there's a scene where Silas takes
14:53
Violet to Dorian's art studio and they were talking
14:57
and he said to her that he had heard about Bella
15:00
Donna through a podcast. And that's what Charles
15:05
Manson and his family, they used to trip on Bella
15:08
Donna. That. is what sparked the entire idea
15:12
for the plot line for this book. That podcast
15:14
that I listened to in real life sparked the whole
15:17
story. So that's kind of where that came from.
15:21
Wow. So you took a real thing and turned it into
15:27
your own. What is it they say? The truth is stranger
15:31
than fiction? I think that a lot of stories seem
15:35
to be, you know, rooted in that i mean even jk
15:37
rowling whenever she was wearing writing harry
15:40
potter she said that what gave her the idea was
15:42
actually riding the train and you start to think
15:45
about like okay if i'm on this train imagine
15:47
if it was going to this you know wonderful castle
15:49
yeah you learn wizardry so i i think that kind
15:52
of stuff is fascinating it gets i get a kick
15:54
out of it and i definitely agree with you about
15:56
the writing what you know because whenever you
15:59
pull things from your actual life to come up
16:01
with like the fantasy version or the fiction
16:03
version. It does make it so much easier. And
16:06
what's funny, though, is like one of the things
16:09
I'm dealing with, some of the people I know in
16:12
real life are blending into some of the stuff
16:15
that I'm writing. And I'm like, hey, what's their
16:17
name in real life again? It's like, who are they?
16:22
I totally get that. I totally get that. And yeah,
16:26
so. Changing the subject a little bit, not really,
16:29
but Chris is named after Christian, my husband.
16:32
Arthur is Christian's middle name. At the end
16:36
of the book, I mentioned someone from the select
16:38
board named Laura. I was supposed to be Laura.
16:41
That was supposed to be my name. In the next
16:44
book, there's going to be a character introduced
16:46
with the name of my, that would have been my
16:50
name if I was a boy, had I been born a boy instead.
16:52
So that's coming in. There's a few stories in
16:54
the next book from my childhood that are just
16:57
making their way into the story. So I just try
16:58
to integrate some of my own life into my books.
17:04
I love it so much. So how have the sales been?
17:07
Like, how's it been going? It's been going. I
17:09
found out the other day that Barnes & Noble is
17:11
carrying my book on their website, which I almost
17:14
cried because that's kind of the dream. I mean,
17:16
other than getting on the New York Times bestseller
17:18
list, which I will someday. Might take me 10
17:21
books, but I'll get there. But it's been going.
17:25
I'm not disappointed at all. I've got it into
17:28
a few local bookstores here in Massachusetts.
17:33
Speak it into the universe. What would be your
17:37
ultimate goal with this book series? Do you want
17:39
it to be a TV series? Do you want it to be a
17:40
movie? What do you want from it? I just want
17:43
to make it onto the New York Times bestseller
17:45
list. That's my goal in life. If I get onto the
17:48
New York Times bestseller list, I will die happy.
17:51
But sure, I would love to see it in movie form.
17:54
Here's a little behind the scenes secret. Violet
17:59
Primrose is Zooey Deschanel. That's her. That's
18:03
when I picture Violet Primrose in my head. Did
18:06
you ever watch her on New Girl? I don't know
18:07
if you ever watched it. That's Violet Primrose.
18:10
So I don't know if anybody's ever picked up on
18:13
that, but that's her. So if there is ever a movie,
18:16
it has to be Zooey Deschanel that plays Violet
18:19
Primrose. It's interesting you say that because
18:21
like when people, whenever they start reading
18:24
a book, how you see it is sometimes different
18:27
from how they see it. Like one of my favorite
18:29
books was In Her Shoes. And when I saw the movie
18:33
version of it, I was like, blonde? You know,
18:36
like you're reading it and you're like, it's
18:39
so funny how that happened. I hate when it doesn't
18:41
match up. Yeah. Yeah, it's the worst. But yet
18:43
at the same time, it's like, well, it's a creative
18:46
interpretation of what the author meant. I try
18:50
to be relatively descriptive and give at least
18:55
general descriptions of what the characters look
18:56
like. But Zooey Deschanel is Violet Primrose.
19:00
How often do you find yourself rereading what
19:02
you've already written just to keep it going?
19:06
Every day. My problem is once it's out of my
19:11
brain, it's gone. And I forget. I'm like, did
19:13
I write that yet? And yeah, so I do have to go
19:17
back and look and search. Did I write that? Oh,
19:20
I wrote that. I totally get that. I actually
19:23
have that happen with a lot of the ghostwriting
19:25
work that I do. They call it writer's amnesia,
19:28
where you write it and it just doesn't exist
19:29
in your brain anymore. As soon as it leaves the
19:32
station, it does not exist. I didn't know there
19:35
was a name for it, but that absolutely happens
19:37
to me. Yeah. It's funny when it happens, though,
19:41
because like sometimes I've had people bring
19:43
stuff back to me and they'll they'll start reading
19:45
it to me. And I'm like, oh, that sounds really
19:47
good. And they're like, well, it should. You
19:48
wrote it. I'm like, I did. No, I that's relatable.
19:53
The first book, it's gone. People are asking
19:56
me questions about the first book. And I'm like,
19:58
oh, did I write that? I did. But. You know, like
20:01
I remember, but there were little details that
20:04
it's gone. It's gone now. It's kind of like method
20:06
acting. Once you start getting into the zone,
20:08
you completely forget who you really are. It's
20:11
wild how that happens. But yeah, so I do have
20:13
to look back a lot and just make sure. My workspace
20:17
is filled with notes, too, about where I left
20:21
off. Yes, I put this detail in there just so
20:25
I don't forget. So what are you doing to promote
20:28
it? social media I've got a couple of book signings
20:32
coming up locally um I've got one in Middleborough
20:36
Massachusetts on Saturday next Saturday September
20:39
6th and then I've got actually I've got one in
20:42
New Hampshire coming up at the end of September
20:43
and I've got one another one in Plymouth Massachusetts
20:47
in October and then a few more in the works so
20:50
we're doing that and yeah just the social media
20:54
thing are you going to submit it to any like
20:57
um you know, awards or anything like that to
21:00
see if you can get any more publicity? No. Somebody
21:03
else can submit me. Maybe I'll tell Kristen to
21:05
do it. But no, I can't do that to myself. What
21:08
about ads in your own podcast? Are you going
21:10
to do anything with that where you're talking
21:11
about it on your podcast? I did. I mentioned
21:13
it real quick. So we're recorded out by a few
21:16
weeks on the podcast. We batch record and then
21:19
I just schedule them week after week. So right
21:21
now we're scheduled out until about the end of
21:23
September. So I did mention it at one point,
21:26
but I don't even know. I haven't even looked
21:27
at the stats. I don't even know if anybody's
21:29
even listening to the podcast. Yeah. I mean,
21:31
somebody must be. I don't know. But yeah, I did
21:34
mention it on the podcast, but it's mostly social
21:36
media, I would say. I did start a TikTok or a
21:40
book talk. I'm not so familiar with TikTok anymore.
21:44
I had a TikTok for Mass Home Mommy, and I don't
21:46
really use that anymore. It's kind of just sitting
21:47
there. But I did start a book talk, and I posted
21:50
on LinkedIn under my real name. I don't know.
21:54
It gets confusing because I'm writing under a
21:56
pen name. So it's confusing to keep everything
21:59
separate, you know? I get it. Yeah. It's like
22:03
putting things in boxes. It's like, how do you,
22:05
because all of it is you, but how do you. But
22:09
now I've got a whole brand new set of accounts
22:11
for Rob and Stephanie. And yeah, it's a lot to
22:14
keep up with, but I'm working on it. So you got
22:17
to batch schedule that stuff too. Yeah. I've
22:19
been working on it. You know, it's so much work.
22:22
Yeah. Yeah. And it all ends to do like an audio
22:25
book for it. A few people have asked me and I
22:28
would never record it in this voice because it's
22:31
a horrible voice. But OK, I'm still in the red
22:34
right now because of publishing costs. And I
22:38
had to order a bunch of books, which I have to
22:40
pay for up front and a cover and all that stuff.
22:43
At some point, if I start to make money, sure,
22:46
I'll pay somebody to do audiobooks. Talk to me
22:49
more about that. You said that there were upfront
22:50
costs you had to do. As far as I've ever known,
22:53
when you self -publish, you can just throw it
22:55
on Amazon and it's, you know, done. You can,
22:58
but if you want a nice cover, you have to pay
23:00
for it. And it's not cheap. You could design
23:03
it yourself. You might even be able to do it
23:04
through ChatGPT. I don't know. You won't be able
23:08
to get what you actually want that way. But I
23:11
found somebody who made covers through Fiverr.
23:13
It was not $5. I don't even think you can get
23:16
anything for $5 on Fiverr anymore. So yeah, it
23:20
was the book cover, and then I had to pay to
23:22
get my ISBN number. I think that was $25. I'm
23:26
trying to think of what other costs went into
23:28
it, because I know there were a few. But I definitely
23:31
had to order my books up front. That way I can
23:35
bring them to local bookshops or book signings.
23:37
And they retail for $12 .99, but I think I'm
23:40
paying around $6 per book. that's an upfront
23:42
cost. I feel like there's other stuff and I can't
23:45
think of what it was at the moment, but there's
23:47
like a few costs and I just haven't made, I haven't
23:51
broken even quite yet, but I'm close. That's
23:54
awesome. Well, Hey, breaking even is winning,
23:57
especially since you get these stories out of
23:59
your head and it sounds like it was entertaining
24:00
to you to like get there. Yes, it was. It was.
24:03
And I'm so happy. It's out of my head. Yeah.
24:06
Well, and I love the earrings you had made. Oh
24:08
my goodness. Yeah, I found them on Etsy. I don't
24:12
know what prompted me to even do this search,
24:16
but I was in the car driving with Christian one
24:18
day, and I was like, wait a minute. I feel like
24:21
there has to be a way to get my book cover on
24:23
a pendant or maybe a little bracelet. So I started
24:27
looking at book cover jewelry, and I found the
24:29
earrings, and that was it. I ordered them right
24:32
then and there. They came out so cute, and I
24:34
can't wait to wear them. They're probably about
24:36
an inch each. And it's my book cover. And it's
24:40
amazing. It's wild to see that in real life.
24:44
Now you need a book cover ornament for Christmas.
24:49
Not a great idea. And if you have any sayings
24:52
that you said in the book that came up regularly,
24:54
that could be merch that you create. That is
24:57
a great idea. Write that down. I know. Let me
25:00
email it to myself. That's how you say that,
25:05
because because I mean, seriously, I my phone
25:07
like right now, there's like I would say a good
25:09
72 voice voice notes that I have sent to myself
25:13
for the for the novel that I'm working on. And
25:15
I'm 13 chapters in. I've got a long way to go.
25:18
But it's it's a wild experience. I mean, like
25:21
you said, it is a little bit easier than doing
25:23
all the the nonfiction writing that we've done.
25:26
But it's a wild ride, man. Like that's why I
25:30
was so excited whenever you said that you. published
25:33
a book because i was like what are the odds that
25:35
i'm in the middle of my like the beginning of
25:38
my journey and it's just wild to me man i think
25:41
it's so cool it is it's been a wild experience
25:44
and my google search history that's the next
25:47
thing we should talk about because it if the
25:51
fbi ever looked at my google search history i
25:53
would be under arrest immediately Because I don't
25:57
want to give too much away if anybody hasn't
26:00
read it, but it involves like some deadly plants.
26:03
We already mentioned belladonna. So I've Googled
26:05
how quickly can you die from belladonna poisoning?
26:08
You know, what happens if you eat a belladonna
26:11
leaf? What happens if you eat a belladonna flower?
26:13
Will you die? How quick will you die if you eat
26:16
belladonna? Like these are all my search history.
26:18
I should actually clear that now. Well, it's
26:20
out there now that it's going to be on your podcast.
26:22
But yeah, it's wild what's in my search history.
26:26
Well, I would think that if you were in a court
26:28
of law that you could explain that by saying
26:30
like, hey, I'm a murder mystery writer. It's
26:32
funny, before we got on the call, I was talking
26:36
to my instructor at the gym. She's really big
26:39
into gardening right now. She's fantastic at
26:42
it. She's got a green thumb. I do not. And I
26:44
sent her this photo that said, when burying a
26:47
dead body, make sure to plant some endangered
26:49
natives on top so it's illegal to dig it up.
26:51
Follow me for more gardening tips. Oh, that's
26:54
a good idea. that's a great idea so it's funny
26:57
that like the things that you don't even think
26:59
about that you're saying or sending i know because
27:02
the facebook if the nsa is listening we are so
27:05
screwed seriously though oh my gosh yeah but
27:10
yeah it's been yeah interesting a lot of i've
27:14
spent thousands of hours researching plants i
27:18
know more about plants than i ever wanted to
27:20
know and plus like there was a lot of indigenous
27:25
information in the first book. So I had to research
27:28
that because I wanted to make sure it was accurate.
27:30
And then the next book... I don't know how much
27:35
I want to give away, but I had to do a lot of
27:37
research into the historical topic for the next
27:40
book. But then book three isn't going to be historically
27:42
tied to anything. That's just going to be a straight
27:46
-up murder. At least for now. For now. Well,
27:50
now, but I have a pretty good idea of where book
27:52
three is going to go. And I don't think there
27:54
are going to be any historical ties. But that
27:56
part was interesting. It's interesting to me
27:58
to learn about the history of my state. You know,
28:02
I mean, obviously, where there are many, many
28:05
indigenous tribes here. And I know the Wampanoag
28:09
tribe because that's where I live. But I learned
28:11
more about some of the North Shore Massachusetts
28:13
tribes. And it was interesting. So it was fun.
28:17
It was fun to research and learn about that stuff.
28:19
They were getting nonfiction and a fiction fix.
28:21
Yeah. Exactly. So there is some nonfiction. Everything
28:25
that I said is what I believe to be true. I researched
28:29
it and I hope it's all true, but I think it's
28:31
all true. Well, and even if it's not, you have
28:33
the guise of saying it was a fiction book so
28:34
people can just get off it. Exactly. Well, okay.
28:40
So let's go back to the promotion side of things.
28:43
You said that you're using social media. We're
28:45
obviously talking about it on this podcast. Anything
28:48
else you plan to do other than book signings?
28:50
And I mean, do you want to do like in -person
28:52
events or what do you want to do with it? Well,
28:55
like I said, I have some book signings. I know
28:58
that in my town, sometimes they have local authors
29:00
come in to speak. I don't know what I would speak
29:02
about, but I would happily do that if they asked.
29:04
But I'm not actively reaching out to them right
29:07
now. Right now, I'm just trying to get my book
29:09
in as many hands as possible so that hopefully
29:12
I can build up a fan base. If people like it.
29:14
If you don't, that's OK, too. But I hope you
29:16
do. But yeah, I'm just trying to get it out there
29:19
right now. And then once the second book is out,
29:22
I feel like I'll be a little bit more established
29:24
and it might be easier for me to get a speaking
29:27
engagement. I'm not a great speaker. I'm a great
29:29
writer, but it doesn't translate as well when
29:32
it comes out of my mouth. Okay. So maybe they
29:36
don't want me as a speaker and that's okay. But
29:39
yeah, so right now it's really just promotion
29:42
on social media and some local book signings.
29:47
If any bookstore wants me to come out in the
29:49
New England area, I would drive down and do that.
29:53
We need to get you on some more podcasts, too.
29:56
I'd love to see you just end up on all kinds
29:59
of podcasts talking about it because I know there
30:01
are fiction crime podcasts. There's all kinds
30:03
of good stuff, so it would be very fun to see
30:06
that happen for you. Right now, it's spam in
30:08
my email mostly. There's a lot of quote -unquote
30:12
book promoters that are trying to get me to pay
30:15
them to promote my book. I think I'm doing an
30:17
okay job. And frankly, I work in marketing. My
30:20
day job is in marketing. I know how to promote.
30:22
I don't understand the book side as well as I
30:25
understand other things, but I'm getting there.
30:29
Okay, well, tell everybody what the name of the
30:31
book is and how they can get it. The book is
30:34
The Deadly Garden, and it's the first book in
30:37
the Driftwood Cove mystery series. And right
30:39
now it's in Kindle and paperback on Amazon. Or
30:42
you could order it through the Barnes & Noble
30:44
website, which I'm really pumped about. That's
30:48
awesome. Well, what we'll do is we'll create
30:50
a famousashleygrant .com backslash deadly garden.
30:53
And we will link to all of the places that people
30:55
can get it. And so that'll be in the show notes.
30:57
If you guys want one simple link that you can
30:59
go to, it'll be famousashleygrant .com slash
31:01
deadly garden. And Robin, I am just, I'm so excited
31:04
for you. And I can't wait to see what comes next
31:07
with these books. And I mean, it's just. It's
31:10
very cool that you are doing something so creative
31:13
right now. I just, I think it's awesome. I feel
31:17
like for so much of my life, I was just a mom.
31:21
And, you know, I've worked, I've had jobs, whatever.
31:23
I work in marketing, whatever. It is what it
31:25
is. But now I feel like I've actually accomplished
31:28
something. You know, it's a really good feeling
31:30
to know that I did this and I can hold it in
31:33
my hands and I did this. Robin Stephanie, that's
31:35
me. Stephanie is my middle name, by the way,
31:38
if anybody. Doesn't know. My last name is Rewine
31:41
and spelled R -U -E -H -R -W -E -I -N. And that's
31:45
not really a book cover friendly name. So I decided
31:48
to go with Stephanie, which I've always been
31:50
Robin Stephanie since day one. Except I was going
31:53
to be Laura Stephanie, but I'm Robin Stephanie.
31:55
Thanks to some lady that my mother ran into in
31:57
the nursery at the hospital who's had a granddaughter
32:00
named Robin and I was Robin. That's awesome.
32:03
Well, I mean, it's certainly easier to find online.
32:09
Because I can't even imagine like trying to spell
32:11
it out and all that stuff. Well, here's the kicker.
32:14
My maiden name is Chichiri, which is a long Italian
32:18
name. And that's even worse. So, yeah, it was
32:21
always going to be Robin Stephanie. There's my
32:24
line. Rewind a Chichiri on a book cover. I just
32:27
wouldn't do that to anybody. Yeah, well, because
32:29
it's much easier to search and find you. And,
32:33
you know, I'm actually going to walk you back.
32:34
I kind of want to talk a little bit more about
32:36
the fact that you're also a podcaster. Tell me
32:39
about your podcast. Let's rock and roll. What's
32:41
going on with your podcast? So we've been doing
32:44
it. It'll be a year on 1010. We decided to go
32:46
live on 101024 because that's our anniversary.
32:49
1010 is kind of Chris and I's number. And so,
32:53
yeah, I did the podcast with my husband, Chris.
32:55
We're the Gen X couple. And we kind of talk about
32:58
anything and everything. I would say it took
33:00
us a little while to find our footing. But our
33:03
most popular episodes, and I haven't looked in
33:05
like five or six months at the stats, but at
33:07
that time, our most popular episodes were Paranormally.
33:11
So we talk about a lot of paranormal stuff. We
33:13
live in the center of the Bridgewater Triangle.
33:16
If you don't know what that is, Google it. It's
33:18
just like a hotspot for paranormal activity in
33:20
Massachusetts. And I had done an episode for
33:23
that last year in October because spooky season,
33:26
spooky stuff. And that took off. That was we
33:30
got a lot of hits for that. And we've done several
33:33
other paranormal related topics. We've interviewed
33:36
a couple of people. One guy who runs like a ghost
33:42
hunting tech group. He was on the podcast in
33:43
February. We had an author of a book about his
33:47
experiences in Bridgewater Triangle. So we've
33:49
just those that's kind of where we're at right
33:53
now. It's random, but we do a lot of. paranormal
33:56
monster, Loch Ness monster, like sort of stuff.
34:00
And it wasn't intentional how that went down
34:02
and just hooked up. It's just, we're just, we
34:05
went by the stats and we just kind of like refocused
34:08
to, to talk about that kind of stuff. We have
34:12
an episode about Betty and Barney Hill that we're
34:15
planning for October. And I've been busy researching
34:16
that. And they were the couple that got abducted
34:19
up in New Hampshire, right near where we stay
34:21
actually, when we usually go up there. So there's
34:23
an episode coming on that. I think people will
34:25
like that. But we do also fun stuff. We did an
34:30
episode recently. And I don't even know if it's
34:31
come out yet or if it's coming out. But either
34:33
way, how to avoid influencers in the pumpkin
34:35
patch. So we just kind of keep it silly. Our
34:38
episodes are short. Usually they're between 5
34:42
and 15 minutes. The Sweet Spot's about 10 minutes
34:45
for us. Because I don't want to listen to an
34:47
hour -long podcast. Although this one's probably
34:49
going to be like an hour long. But I'll listen
34:51
to this one. But, you know, like I like short
34:54
and sweet where I can just get it done quick.
34:56
So that's, that's it. Yeah. It's just Christian.
34:59
Thank you, ma 'am. I like it that way. Back to
35:05
the spicy novels. I'm just kidding. So, so where
35:09
can people find that podcast? What's it called
35:11
again? It's called the Gen X couple and it's
35:14
anywhere you get your podcasts. I have it listed.
35:17
Thanks to you because I wouldn't have gotten
35:19
that podcast off the ground without your help.
35:22
You are 100 % responsible for that podcast. I'm
35:25
sorry. And you're welcome. No, I really, I couldn't
35:29
have done it without you. Truly. So thank you.
35:31
That's fantastic. So we'll, we'll, we'll leave
35:33
some episode links in the show notes as well
35:36
for, for the Gen X couple. And if you guys want
35:38
to actually start a podcast, we'll leave some
35:40
information in there about how you can get started
35:43
and get six months free. So be sure to check
35:46
out the show notes as well. I'm a man when it
35:48
comes to podcasting and I did call you a man,
35:50
but. Oh, if I was the man, I'd be the man. Not
35:55
to, you know, quote Taylor Swift. Everybody is
35:57
the man when it comes to something awesome. Yeah,
35:59
yeah. It shouldn't be. It should be the woman.
36:01
But I always just say, yep. I'll just go with
36:03
the goat, you know. It's funny, for the longest
36:10
time, I didn't know what goat meant. Why are
36:14
people calling him a goat? There are so many
36:17
weird words out now that... I couldn't even begin
36:20
to understand. Yeah, there's a teacher that does
36:23
an Instagram page and he will tell parents the
36:27
slang words of the season to try to make sure
36:30
that parents understand what the hell their kids
36:31
are saying. That's amazing. That's amazing. You
36:35
gotta have translators, man. I mean, thank God
36:37
for the Urban Dictionary. Am I right? Seriously.
36:39
Although sometimes it's a little disturbing what
36:43
you find in Urban Dictionary. You have to be
36:46
very, very careful clicking over to Urban Dictionary
36:49
because you could end up finding out something
36:51
that you never wanted to know. That's a lot I
36:53
don't want to know. Yeah. What is it they say?
36:56
Ignorance is bliss. And it really. Yeah, absolutely.
37:00
Yeah. Well, Robin, I want to thank you again
37:02
for being here. And everybody can check out FamousAsiaGrant
37:05
.com backslash Deadly Garden to get all the information
37:08
about this episode, where to find the book and
37:11
where to check out the podcast. Thank you again.
37:13
I just appreciate you so much. Thank you. I really
37:16
appreciate that you had me on. This was so fun.
37:18
We talked to each other all the time. Yes. Now
37:21
we're doing it like on purpose. Yeah, now we're
37:23
doing it on purpose. And I actually look at you
37:25
instead of your picture because we usually chat
37:27
through Instagram or what have you. But it's
37:29
nice to see you live. It's nice to see you too.
37:31
I know that nobody's going to see this because
37:32
we do not do video on this podcast just yet.
37:35
I know that people keep pushing to make video
37:38
podcasts a thing, but I'm not ready yet. My podcast
37:42
will never be a video because half the time I'm
37:45
in my pajamas. So never the best. I did not brush
37:49
my hair today. So don't. And I'm still wearing
37:51
my gym clothes because everybody who's following
37:53
me on Instagram knows I am going hard at the
37:55
gym lately. Yes, you are. You're killing it over
37:57
there. I'm trying. I'm trying. But yeah, I guess
38:03
we'll wrap it there. And thanks again. Thank
38:05
you. And I will talk to you, I'm sure, on Instagram
38:07
very soon. Indeed. Well, my bloggy friends, I
38:12
hope you enjoyed all the insights our guests
38:14
had to share with you. To get the show notes
38:16
for this and all episodes, go over to famousashleygrant
38:19
.com backslash podcast. And until next time,
38:22
may your page views be high and your bounce rate
38:24
be low.
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