ABOUT
Robin MacAllister
Hi there, it is a pleasure to meet you! My name is Robin MacAllister and I am an aspiring author of the intriguing elemental world of Cinra. My books aren’t published yet, but I am well on my way to getting them into your hands. Read on to learn more about me and my process.
I am a wife to my loving husband, Collin, and a mother to my one and only son, Gareth. They are decidedly not in my books, hah!
My Writing Story
I’ve always been a creative, but it has been decades since I have written anything substantial. As a teenager, I adored writing and my greatest experience was visiting a creative writing camp in Ghost Ranch, NM where I really fell into my own. However, life took its many turns through college, career, and relationships and writing disappeared from my world for many years.
In 2014, I learned about NaNoWriMo and won (after an intensive Prep-tober), but I successfully wrote about half of a first draft (epic fantasies are long). After learning a few things about plotting, character development, and the craft in general, I got frustrated and put it aside. Nine years later, I have picked up the draft, re-written it in my second successful NaNoWriMo, and am creating a much better second draft now. I am narrowing in on the end credits to my second draft and will enter the exciting world of editing and revising before summer 2024 is out.
It has been a wild journey learning the writing craft and the ins-and-outs of the business of writing. I still have much more to learn as I make my way through this journey, but I look forward to seeing my first book — and hopefully the full series — in print!
In recent years, my hobbies have solidified into three categories: Painting, Knitting, and Writing, with the latter two taking up most of my time. I knit all the time and have even designed and published a pattern or two, just to show myself I can. But I’ve determined it is not where I wish to spend all my energy. This is one of my favorite shawls that I’ve made, not my own design though.
Instead, I’ve let writing take that direction and am working on my first series for publication. It is an epic fantasy based in the elemental world of Cinra which I created. I’ve been working on this world for some ten years and it is a pleasant, and demanding, escape for me. I can’t wait to share it with the world once I am able to publish this book!
My writing life is alongside my full time job, so my dedication to it, though determined, is limited. I do intend to have the current draft of the novel done by mid-summer 2024, and then work on editing for the next six months to a year. My plan is to attempt traditional publishing, so querying will begin in 2025 and well, we’ll see how things go from there. I am not opposed to self-publishing, so this book WILL BE RELEASED eventually. If you want to read more about it, visit my projects page, or subscribe to my newsletter for updates about its release.
My life has had quite a few twists and turns since college. But what has always been present in my life has been my love of fantasy. I was introduced to Dungeons & Dragons and fantasy novels while I was in high school and fell in love. My absolute favorite fantasy series is Kushiel’s Legacy series by Jacqueline Carey. I even got the requisite tattoo on my back to remind myself of that love. Someday maybe I’ll share a picture of it.
I’ve been in various tabletop groups and many live action role play groups, all of which have bolstered my love of fantasy. My favorite group was Dragoncrest, a roleplay group that let us dress up as elves, orcs, and other creatures and hit each other with foam sticks. Very therapeutic. When I had my first child, I supported one of my other hobbies – painting – and made this dragon masterpiece on the corner of his bedroom. I will forever be jealous of that bedroom.
