Alexandra Robbins's Blog: The Secret Lives of Authors

Big news - The Teachers is $1.99 (about 90% off) this week only to celebrate and honor educators! This is a one-time-only thing, so if you ever want to read/gift it... Happy Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week! Here's how to gift the ebook (I didn't know how until I was today years old):
📘Kindle: Buy on Kindle Here

To give as a gift (Teacher Appreciation Week, Mother's Day, birthday, grads, just because), click Buy for Others

📗Nook: Buy on Nook Here To give as a gift, click Buy as Gift

📕Google Play: Buy on Google Play Here
To give as a gift, click Buy as Gift.

📙Apple Books: Buy on Apple Here To give as a gift, tap Share icon, then Gift icon
Links in comments.

Come say hi! I'll discuss my new book, Fraternity: An Inside Look at a Year of College Boys Becoming Men, my NYT essay, and "Boys Will Be Good Humans: What Teens (of Both Genders) and Their Parents Should Know About Young Men, Drinking, Sex, and The College Social Scene." With special updates on The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids.
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This presentation is based on Robbins’ surprising new book about earnest, goodhearted college boys, “FRATERNITY: An Inside Look at a Year of College Boys Becoming Men.” Attendees will have an exclusive opportunity to purchase FRATERNITY before the publication date and hear special updates on and ask questions about THE OVERACHIEVERS, Robbins’ book based at Whitman. Robbins will sign and personalize books immediately after the presentation, which is free and open to the public.

Hi folks, I'll be discussing The Nurses and signing all of my books today at 2:15 pm at the Gaithersburg Book Festival in Maryland.

Hi, friends! I'll write more about the book-launching process when my schedule calms down, but for now, I just wanted to let you know that my new book, THE NURSES, is now out and as book lovers, I would love your feedback on it. Please feel free to ask me questions or make comments! I'm on Goodreads pretty often.

Here are some of the reviews that have surfaced so far.

"A rich, fast-paced book about heroic, neglected professionals.*Editor's recommendation." - Barnes and Noble

"Compelling in every way." - BookPage

“Dishes eye-opening material” – Publisher’s Weekly

“A fascinating and somewhat alarming examination of the contemporary nursing profession. Robbins not only shows, she tells in this revealing expose of the modern day state of nursing. It is an eye-opener not to be missed. *Nonfiction choice of the month” – EarlyWord

“A detailed, sympathetic, and eye-opening portrait of how nurses work, deal with stresses, and fulfill their mission of serving patients. Drawing from hundreds of interviews and undercover hospital observations, Robbins focuses on four nurses who represent a cross section of the profession …. An insightful perspective on the realities of crucial health care providers.” – Kirkus Reviews

I hope you enjoy the read!

I get a lot of questions from readers and aspiring writers about what my "process" is. Today I started writing my next book, so I figured I should write a post about how I begin. (Note, though, that I started the actual reporting a long time ago.)

So this is what I've done so far today:

ALEXANDRA'S WRITING PROCESS:

1) Write three sentences.
2) Snack time!
3) Write a paragraph. Woo!
4) Still hungry. What's in the fridge?
5) Check Facebook. Come to think of it, there should be a line in between every number that says, "Check Facebook." And email. And occasional random web surfing.
6) Hm I wonder if the cinnamon rolls in that recipe my friend recommended can be frozen?
7) Write one sentence.
8) Facebook friend to ask whether the cinnamon rolls can be frozen.
9) Check Facebook.
10) Write two sentences.
11) Post on my Goodreads friend page a general update that I'm starting to write my next book.
12) Pat self on back.
13) Let's celebrate with a snack!
14) Write two sentences.
15) Shower time!
16) Check Facebook. The cinnamon rolls *can* be frozen, hooray!
17) Look over ingredient list to see what I don't have. Contemplate going to store immediately. But, no...
18) Write one sentence.
19) Man, I really want to bake those cinnamon rolls.
20) Okay, if I really write now, then maybe I can bake them later.
21) Write two paragraphs!
22) Whew, that was a lot. Check Facebook.
23) Write one sentence.
24) Take mammoth break: Go outside, drive on an errand, come home, check emails and Facebook, realize I forgot to go to store to get remaining cinnamon roll ingredients.
25) Write half a page.
26) Write post on Goodreads about ridiculous writing process.
27) Word count: 1,095!

And that's how the magic happens, haha. If I were to do this for 100 days in a row, I would have a book! But I still have a ton of research and reporting to do, so it'll be a while.

First 1,000 words done, though -- not bad! I think I'll celebrate with some cinnamon rolls...

First, a huge thanks to everyone who voted!

So we're the big underdogs here in the finals, but if we can round up the geeks, bookworms, nerds, loners, floaters, bandies, goths, emos, indies, weirdos, scenes, and other outsiders to vote for the cause, I think we might actually have a shot at this.

Might you consider voting for The Geeks in the finals? (I know, /facepalm, but it's just one more click...)

http://www.goodreads.com/award/choice...

A million bajillion Thank Yous.
<3
Alexandra

My new blog post is up on the Facebook page for The Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth! It's about how book deals and bestseller lists work, as well as the truth about author finances.

Head on over to facebook.com/thegeeksshallinherit to stay up to date on my Secret Lives of Authors blog : )

Everyone asks me what it's like to go on The Colbert Report, so that's what I talk about in my first blog. You can check it out on my Geeks Shall Inherit The Earth page at facebook.com/thegeeksshallinherit .
More posts and free signed book giveaways to come soon!

Hi Goodreads! I'm starting my (first-ever!) blog, The Secret Lives of Authors, next week. Hopefully you can see the description somewhere on this page.

If you have any questions about authoring and book-launching that you'd like answered, feel free to ask, and I'll try to reply to them in a future blog post.

The blog will follow me as I gear up for and then launch The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Popularity, Quirk Theory and Why Outsiders Thrive After High School

thanks!
alexandra