My Writing Journey, by Robyn Dabney
by Robyn Dabney
When people learn I’m a writer, they often ask, “Why do you write?” or “What started all of this?” The answers to those questions trace the story of my writing life along a path that stretches from struggling to read in second grade, to finding my footing in a high school journalism room, to questioning the world from within a conservative university during the Iraq War, to the firelines of wildland firefighting, to self-publishing a trilogy, signing with an agent, and eventually earning a traditional book deal.
Writing began as a way to understand the world, particularly its shadows. I grew up in southern Utah, in a small, homogeneous town, but was taught at home to see people simply as people with different stories, different journeys, and the same DNA. It was an admittedly sheltered existence, and when I left home and found myself surrounded by peers who used slurs, joked about violence, or expressed contempt for those different from themselves, I was horrified. I couldn’t make sense of the hate. So, naturally, I wrote about it.
My first series, The Soul Mender Trilogy, emerged while I was in college, at a time when the post-9/11 fallout heavily shaped the world’s zeitgeist. In the story, I created an origin for intolerance, violence, and hatred, and a possible path toward empathy, exploring the gray areas of humanity rather than the black-and-white thinking I saw around me. I put my characters through tremendous hardship because empathy, both for others and for ourselves, is often hard-won. The first book received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews and was selected as one of their Best Indie Debut Novels of 2016.
My latest series, The Daughter of the Summit & Sea (The Ascenditure, 2024; Finding Ramanata, 2025; Band of Sisters, 2027), grew from yet another part of my life: my love of the outdoors and my experiences as a woman working in traditionally male-dominated fields. I often found myself working harder to be taken seriously, sometimes while brushing off inappropriate comments or misogynistic or sexist actions. As a climber and outdoor enthusiast, I wanted to build a fantasy series that combined the exhilaration of the mountains with a conversation grounded in my experiences and those of other women I knew about equality, resilience, resistance, and identity.
As my career has progressed, inspiration has evolved from processing the world to also engaging with it more playfully. Ideas now come from everywhere. Once you let the creative universe know you’re open for business, it pounds on the door daily. One of my latest short stories, Cracked, began on the Paris metro on the way to Disneyland, where I passed a vending machine and imagined a robotic dancer trapped inside, longing for freedom and a life beyond the confines of her existence. I plotted it with my husband on the train and wrote it the moment we got home.
That’s the straightforward line of my journey. Now for the fun part. The messy, fascinating reality of what happens behind the scenes when you’re a creator. I wrote my first novel in 2013 and was convinced it would be the next big thing. Agents would fight for it. Editors would throw millions at auction. Film studios would blast down my door. None of that happened, of course, but I’m grateful for that early, misplaced confidence. It gave me the momentum I needed to start and finish a book.
Up to that point, my writing training consisted of being a voracious reader, editing my high school newspaper, and producing the kind of dramatic poetry only an angsty teenager can. I studied wildlife biology in college, which meant four years of scientific papers instead of prose. I understood story and character instinctively, but I needed something more. Real craft. So when I finished writing that first not-so-brilliant book and realized the industry wasn’t clamoring for it, I had no choice but to enter what I call the learning phase.
This is the phase where many writers either grow or stop. To become an author, you need three things: that initial overblown confidence, the humility to accept how much you have to learn, and the ability to persevere longer than you think possible.
I learned to persevere.
For three years, I queried that first novel and collected rejections that taught me more than any acceptance could have. In 2016, longing to hold my book in my hands, I self-published The Soul Mender (and later the entire trilogy). I hired editors, learned to format paperbacks and ebooks, and put a story I deeply believed in into the world. The following year, I landed an agent through a conference pitch session. And in 2022, we sold The Ascenditure, the first book in my latest trilogy, to a traditional press.
Experiencing both sides of the publishing world has shown me that neither self-publishing nor traditional publishing is inherently better or worse. They offer different paths, each with its own challenges and rewards. What matters most is understanding that publishing, no matter the route, is a slow, competitive industry filled with talented people. You will be passed over. You will fall into slumps. You must manage your expectations and celebrate every small victory.
If there’s one lesson this journey has taught me, it’s that creativity is fundamentally human. We all have the capacity to create, and with enough dedication, humility, and persistence, that impulse can grow into something meaningful. Something that resonates with readers and with ourselves. Writing has allowed me to question the world, understand it, escape it, play with it, laugh at it, and occasionally change the way I see it.
Bio:
Robyn Dabney is an author, copyeditor, and outdoor enthusiast who grew up between Utah and Texas and now lives in southern Germany. Her work has appeared in Uncharted Magazine and in Quill & Crow Publishing’s Bleak Midwinter anthology, and her short fiction earned recognition in the 2023 Writer’s Digest Short Story Competition. Her debut novel, The Soul Mender, received a starred review from Kirkus Reviews and was selected as one of their Best Indie Debut Novels of 2016. Her latest novel, The Ascenditure (Regal House Publishing, May 2024), has been praised by Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews and won a bronze medal in the Readers’ Favorite Awards. When she’s not writing, Robyn can be found climbing, collecting rocks, and exploring the great outdoors.
The Ascenditure
“A powerful female protagonist fights for equality in a vivid, multifaceted fantasy world.” — Kirkus Reviews
Klarke Ascher has a singular goal: to become an Ascenditure, a member of the kingdom’s elite climbing team who scale the treacherous peaks of Miter’s Backbone in search of an elusive medicine to treat the lung sickness that ails the populace.
However, in a kingdom governed by centuries of tradition, where women are legally bound to home and hearth, owned by the men they are forced to marry, the Ascenditures have always been male. As the strongest climber of her generation, Klarke’s skill and strength are undeniable, and her courage and persistence prompt a civil uprising to which the king is finally forced to concede.
Klarke’s fight for justice, however, quickly becomes a struggle for survival as fellow Ascenditures, one by one, are inexplicably murdered. For danger lies not only on the icy peaks of treacherous mountains, where ropes are cut and routes are compromised, but in the very halls of power, where the king is determined to see Klarke fail.
With the hope of an oppressed generation on her shoulders, Klarke must dig deep within herself to discover the greatest strengths—of muscle and mind—not only to survive, but to unravel the sinister conspiracy upon which the foundation of their kingdom rests.
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After a devastating loss and the discovery of a dark conspiracy, Klarke Ascher is determined to uncover the truth, no matter the cost. Her mission: to find the prince’ s missing twin and the elusive Ramanata, who hold the key to exposing the king’ s deceit and forcing his abdication. To advance her cause, Klarke cleverly convinces the king to allow the Ascenditures to join Ainar’ s team for a peace climb aimed at healing the rift between their lands. As she embarks on this journey, Klarke discovers a kingdom that values diversity and equality— ideals she yearns to bring back to Ectair. But first, she must brave the perilous slopes of Mount Opasno while searching for one of the many women her mother helped smuggle to safety from their oppressive king. In a world where lies are as fierce as the mountain winds and danger lurks around every craggy outcrop, Klarke must navigate a tangled web of enemies and political intrigue. As alliances shift and hidden agendas emerge, she realizes that not all allies can be trusted and not all adversaries are as they seem.
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Category: On Writing
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