Guest Blogger, Robin Throne, Shares Her New Project

WE ARE ALL CONNECTED…

Thank you to the incomparable Connie Corcoran Wilson for allowing me to share a glimpse into the lived experience of writing my debut novel, Her Kind, released last month by 918studio. Her Kind is a fictional account of the settlement of the real-life, lost great river village of Parkhurst, Ia., now part of Le Claire (voted one of the “2013 coolest small towns in America” by BudgetTravel).

I lived in a house on Great River Road in Le Claire throughout the writing of Her Kind, and was inspired daily by the shifting river surface that seemed to possess a unique moodiness affected by current, wind, and sky. While the river may be an obvious metaphor for a life, I continued to be intrigued by the historical documents that referred to the vast watershed as the “father of waters” versus those rare documents that referred to the “mother of waters.” Her Kind explores the latter, and traces a family’s migration in a direct line from England, to New England, to Iowa from a woman’s perspective. Stopping in the middle. Staying put once crossing the great river and finding her way throughout.

One afternoon, I came across a line drawing of the great river’s watershed and was struck by the similarities of it with a family tree. In it, I saw the intricacies that perhaps the novel’s narrator, Rose Emma, had seen in spite of the many splits and separations she shares in her tale: “We are all connected” (p. 191). On other days as this story unfurled, the view of this river followed more that drop of water that photographer Gayle Harper tailed on her 90-day blog last year from the Itasca headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico. Ninety days for a drop of water to make the journey of a lifetime, and at one point it traveled right by my door as I followed Gayle’s journey on her blog. Perhaps it is simply that—more important that the story of the journey is told no matter how long or brief, how minimal or verbose, simply because it is that we are all connected and it is the journey that matters most. If it is these sorts of passages you seek in your ebook GoodReads, Rose’s story may be for you.
***************************

Get the Kindle version of Robin Throne’s Her Kind, a novel FREE from April 5-7! Like Connie Corcoran Wilson, who earned the award in 2010, she is the recipient of the 2013 David R. Collins Literary Achievement Award, and see why Her Kind readers are giving 5-stars at GoodReads!
***************************
Dr. Robin Throne of LeClaire was recently named recipient of the Midwest Writing Center’s David R. Collins Literary Achievement Award at a ceremony at Davenport’s Outing Club. Robin has a doctorate in educational research, assessment and evaluation, is a founding member of the LeClaire (IA) Writing Group, and has published a poetry chapbook, 2 novels, an academic monograph and other works.

Nominated by Nancy A Schaefer, Ms. Throne joins 2010 winner me (Connie Corcoran Wilson, March 20, 2010), 2009 winner Mike McCarty and original recipient Sean Leary, former Arts & Entertainment Editor for the Moline Dispatch. The award is given not only for writing achievement, but for supporting and promoting literacy in the Quad Cities. As with other recipients, Dr. Throne is a member of and has been active in support of the Midwest Writing Center.

Robin started the Mississippi Valley Chapbook contest, great River Writers’ Retreat, the Collins’ Poetry Residency and mentored the residency, as well as starting online classes, formatting a poetry book and The Atlas and blogging for MWC (Midwest Writing Center). She advises students on dissertations for North Central University in Arizona and is this semester’s faculty adviser for the Eastern Iowa Community College student newspaper.