An Interview with Robin Modlin

Robin Modlin lives with her husband, Doug, and little dog, Jack, in two places: the beautiful northern California foothills town of Murphys and alongside the vineyards of Livermore, CA.

As an emerging author, Robin writes with an introspective point of view influenced by her interest in psychology, spirituality, and creativity. She has a Master’s in East-West Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies and is a first-place winner of participatory arts by the Society for the Arts in Healthcare. As an artist, Robin currently creates individual and community mosaics and facilitates SoulCollage® workshops.

The mother of two daughters, one with cystic fibrosis (CF) and a lung transplant, Robin founded Embrace, a retreat for mothers of children with CF (sponsored by Cystic Fibrosis Research Institute), and was inspired to write about her life journey as a CF mother in her first book, Love, Courage, and Miracles.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

I did not know what my final title would be until I was finishing the editorial process with Atmosphere Press. One day it was clear it was time to get this figured out. I sat with a dear friend who was my most significant reader while I wrote this memoir. We bounced ideas together. I had a possible title throughout the writing but was unsure it was the best. That proposed title seemed to only carry part of the story.

To begin this final title process, I first wanted to identify the qualities about the lives of me and my daughter that I thought were most present in the story. I knew that it was not just one aspect of our story that could hold the whole book. It was a story of my life as a woman, mother and spiritual seeker and the life of a daughter who had a significant health challenge due to her genetic condition and how she overcame it. As we called out these qualities it became clear that this story with the history of two lifetimes could be fairly summed up with the love of our family, the love of life, the courage of my daughter with her significant accomplishments and the many miracles we witnessed that brought hope and healing to all of us. That was it. Love, Courage, and Miracles seemed to say it all.

As time is passing and I am told of the story’s impact and significance to so many who have read it, I know this was the right title. It really could not be anything else. This is a story of love, courage, and miracles.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

I had a vision for the cover of the book from the start. I wanted it to carry some sense of magic, wonder, and curiosity and to be simple and crisp. There was a significant event that I wrote about that brought together an aspect of the past into the present many years later that held important significance. It included an intriguing image. As I played with this idea, I eventually suggested we use a real-time photo that sparked this part of the story. As we considered this image, it was just right but needed a bit of tweaking and the actual blue budgie that sat on my daughter’s head was switched out to a more vibrant blue budgie image, giving it the professional quality needed for the book cover. The photo of my daughter Anna’s head is the same as the original. It was perfect.

This part of the story that was real and true came about reflecting the magic of the life of Anna, so her image on the cover was powerful to both her and me. Seeing it created in a quick time frame was wonderful and made the whole process seem to come together. I love my cover image. It says so much to me and I know it will for others who read the book and come to understand the significance of the blue budgie and how it represents the love, courage, and miracles of the story.

When people see their copy of the book sitting nearby, it is my hope that the cover image will spark a recognition of hope and remembrance of the amazing story about Anna.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

I have had a very fortunate life. My most important work position has been mother to both of my daughters. This was my main work title for a long time as the hours and effort to battle cystic fibrosis and how it affected our family required a full-time commitment. This position included hours of volunteering for our local cystic fibrosis fundraising organization, Cystic Fibrosis Research Institute. It also informed who I was as an artist. I was always a creative person.

The heartbreak and deep significance of being a mother of a child who was living with a life-limiting disease informed my choices and approach to my creativity and art-making. It was why I chose to explore the career of chaplaincy with an artistic focus and developed Embrace, a retreat for mothers with children with cystic fibrosis with its strong art component that I wrote about. I have enjoyed finding ways to process my emotions and to share hope and healing with others through art making. I have had many opportunities to do so as I have written.

As time has taken me into a life independent of daily caregiving, my work as an artist has grown. I believe in the power of creativity and art for healing for the development of personal hope and community. I enjoy the personal creation of small mosaics with glass on glass that reflect the beauty of flowers and nature, but I also have a love of creating community mosaics for public spaces. Sharing this medium with others to participate in a project that will be public and part of the environment is joyful. Participants love the creative process and being part of a positive statement in their community. It takes a lot of organization, time and patience but is very worth it.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

I think there are two parts to this publishing process that have been the most rewarding. First it is that I was able to participate in creating the beautiful look of the book and how my story was presented with the professionals at Atmosphere. I really wanted my book to have a feel that it was a “jewel.” I feel that with my cover and interior design. I am very grateful to Atmosphere for helping to make that happen.

The second thing about this publishing experience since it was released on May 21 is the reaction from my readers. I am stunned by how positive the response is. It amazes me that I was able to produce a book that seems to be moving people in emotional and thoughtful ways. It is creating an impact. I am a first-time author and never received formal training in writing. I learned as I went along. I am so grateful for the incredible reception Love, Courage, and Miracles is having.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

At the outset of writing this book my daughter and I discussed what we wanted the purpose of the book to be. Of primary importance was that people who read this story would be encouraged and helped in their lives. We envisioned families with cystic fibrosis or other life-limiting diseases and disabilities and those with all types of organ transplants to be our primary readers. We wished that our story would give hope and some cues on how to cope well in the face of this challenge. I also thought that other people who were curious about what it is like to live with this disease or to wait for and receive a transplant would want to read the story. I tried my best to be honest and vulnerable to give a realistic sense of the experience.

I hope that this book will offer people more understanding of patients and their families whose challenges are usually hidden from the general public. We would often say that real CF is hidden from people because so much of the caregiving is behind the closed door. They are not out in wheelchairs or other apparatus at least until they are gravely ill. They look normal but the amount of work and dedication it takes to stay well is huge and people just don’t know what that means. I hope that Love, Courage, and Miracles puts a face of hope and commitment upon those who suffer from it so that the general public has more understanding and respects the tremendous challenge that it is to live with it. And finally we wanted to express gratitude for our lives just as it has been. Gratitude is a key to living life fully and well.

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.