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Robin Talley

Goodreads Author

Born

Roanoke, VA, The United States

Website

http://www.robintalley.com

Twitter

robin_talley

Genre

Young Adult, Gay and Lesbian, Historical Fiction

Member Since

July 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/RobinTalley

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I live in Washington, D.C., with my wife, our baby daughter, an antisocial cat and a goofy hound dog. Whenever the baby's sleeping, I'm probably busy writing young adult fiction about queer characters, reading books, and having in-depth conversations with friends and family about things like whether Jasmine's character motivation was sufficiently established in Aladdin.

My website is at http://www.robintalley.com, and I'm on Twitter and Tumblr.

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Popular Answered Questions

was it hard to get a book featuring a nonbinary main character published? were there any hoops you had to jump through going through the process that you normally wouldn't for a book with a cis main character?

Robin Talley From my end, the publication process for WHAT WE LEFT BEHIND was the same as for any other book. My publisher is really excited to be putting out a…moreFrom my end, the publication process for WHAT WE LEFT BEHIND was the same as for any other book. My publisher is really excited to be putting out a story with a genderqueer protagonist, and they're totally behind the book. I'm glad we're starting to see more and more young adult books come out with characters across the LGBTQ spectrum, including nonbinary characters, and I hope we see those numbers continuing to increase over the next few years.(less)

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What thoughts/feelings did what took place in Chicago in 1968 evoke in you to make you want to write a story featuring that protest? Or perhaps I am wondering how you came to choose that protest; maybe you were struck by how the chant "The Whole World is Watching" which was used there could have other multiple meanings, and worked backwards from that realization.

Robin Talley (For anyone who may be wondering, this question refers to my short story in the anthology A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers…more(For anyone who may be wondering, this question refers to my short story in the anthology A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers and Other Badass Girls, edited by Jessica Spotswood. My story is called "The Whole World is Watching" and it's set during the Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago in August 1968. The whole anthology is amazing and you should read it!)

I've always been fascinated by the protest movements in the 1960s, when the civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement collided with all the other dramatic social changes that took place in the U.S. and elsewhere over the course of this period. As for why I chose to write a story set at the DNC protest specifically, it started out as me simply wanting to know more about it -- it's one of those historical events I'd heard a lot about but never really understood -- but once I started doing research, I was really stricken by what a turning point it seemed to be in many ways. There had been plenty of uprisings in U.S. history, and there had been plenty of cases where the police retaliated violently against protestors. But up until then, it had been rare for that sort of retaliation to be broadcast on TV, and this particular attack was broadcast live, before a huge national viewing audience. Many people were horrified by how they saw the protestors being treated, and many other people were rooting for the police to treat them even worse than they were.

I didn't realize until I was well into my research that the chant "The Whole World is Watching" was used during that protest (possibly for the first time?), but it definitely inspired me once I did. I first heard that chant in the year 2000 at a protest in downtown Washington, DC against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. I had no idea then that it had such a long history!(less)

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Robin Talley's Books

Average rating: 3.9 · 9,720 ratings · 2,254 reviews · 7 distinct works · Similar authors

	Lies We Tell Ourselves 4.09 avg rating — 6,129 ratings — published 2014 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	As I Descended 3.62 avg rating — 974 ratings — published 2016 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	What We Left Behind 3.18 avg rating — 1,005 ratings — published 2015 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Our Own Private Universe 3.81 avg rating — 48 ratings — expected publication 2017 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Pulp 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Tyranny of Petticoats: 15 Stories of Belles, Bank Robbers & Other Badass Girls (A Tyranny of Petticoats, #1) by Jessica Spotswood (Goodreads Author) (Editor), J. Anderson Coats, Andrea Cremer (Goodreads Author) 3.76 avg rating — 1,633 ratings — published 2016 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Feral Youth by Shaun David Hutchinson (Goodreads Author), Brandy Colbert (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Tim Floreen (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — expected publication 2018	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Robin joined the group AfterEllen.com Book Club
Jul 02, 2014 12:56PM · like
Robin wants to read Twerp by Mark Goldblatt	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 18, 2014 01:15PM · like
Robin wants to read Transgender Lives: Complex Stories, Complex Voices by Kirstin Cronn-Mills	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 12, 2014 10:35AM · like
Robin wants to read Creed by Trisha Leaver (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jun 10, 2014 12:38PM · like
Robin wants to read More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 28, 2014 12:32PM · like
Robin rated a book it was amazing We Were Liars by E. Lockhart (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 20, 2014 06:47PM · like
Robin wants to read Bleeding Earth by Kaitlin Ward (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 20, 2014 09:15AM · like

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Quotes by Robin Talley

“Other people will try to decide things for you, she says. They'll try to tell you who you are. Remember, no matter what they say, you're the only who really decides.”
― Robin Talley, Lies We Tell Ourselves

tags: lies-we-tell-ourselves

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“Sarah's right. We punish ourselves so much in our own imaginations. We convince ourselves everything we do, everything we think, is wrong.

For eighteen years I've believed what other people told me about what was right and what was wrong. From now. I'm deciding.”
― Robin Talley, Lies We Tell Ourselves

tags: lies-we-tell-ourselves

26 likes

“That lovely face sets off a fire inside me that isn't ever supposed to burn.”
― Robin Talley, Lies We Tell Ourselves

tags: lgbt

11 likes

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