CCW Member Profile – Mindy Robinson
“Let the Magic Happen”
Mindy Robinson grew up in a family of writers. Every week, she and her grandmother sat for hours at the kitchen table, creating and writing stories together. “That kitchen table is where I started cultivating my imagination,” she recalls.
From the time she could write, Mindy kept notebooks full of her work. “Writing kept me out of trouble, and I had a whole lot of fun creating the stories.” To this day, she loves crafting new tales. While she’s tried nonfiction, “sci-fi, fantasy, and post-apocalyptic combined are where [she’s] happiest.”
Ever the student, Mindy recently returned to school, enrolling at Monterey Peninsula College. She proudly declares she was one of the first students to achieve the Associate in Arts in Creative Writing degree. To pay the bills, however, she works in agriculture as food safety manager for a produce procurement company. And she volunteers with a Trap-Neuter-Release group for feral cats.
“I trapped a cat to get her fixed,” Mindy says. “Two hours later, she had given birth in my bathroom. The feral ‘Mom Cat’ and I spent the next three weeks with an uneasy understanding that she would take care of the kittens, and I would feed and take care of her. And she would only try to rip my face off once a day.”
Most of Mindy’s writing takes place in the outdoors wherever she and her muse happen to land. “I find peace in nature, and it helps me center and quiet my mind so I can focus on writing.” Using a reMarkable writing tablet, she “merges the best of handwriting with digital convenience.” Currently, she’s writing and revising two novels and hopes to publish one of her books.
Mindy has seen her poetry and a short story published in MPC’s annual publication. The biggest tip she offers other writers is, simply, to sit down and write. “Just get words on the page,” she says. “More magic happens in revision than in a first draft.”
She also advises fellow writers to avoid judging themselves too harshly. “Try to get critiques of your writing, and learn from constructive criticism. But take it with a grain of salt. Writing is a practice. And just like anything, you can’t improve unless you practice and work on it—a lot.”
A CCW member since 2019 at the recommendation of a mentor and friend, Mindy loves being part of our community. Her website is melindarobinson.com.
Central Coast Writers
PO Box 997 - Pacific Grove, CA 93950
Copyright © 2024 Central Coast Writers - All Rights Reserved.
Powered by GoDaddy
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.