Creature Comforts, by Arcade Fire
Music and Lyrics, Mental Health Robison Wells Music and Lyrics, Mental Health Robison Wells

Creature Comforts, by Arcade Fire

There’s a song that’s been going through my head for a while now—I think it’s because I’m writing a book about teenage girls, but also because I’ve been thinking a lot about mental health generally.

The video for Arcade Fire's "Creature Comforts" shows the band--dressed in shimmering gold and silver, illuminated by spotlights and strobes--from the neck down. The style is synth-pop, synthesizers, electronica, and even a keytar. It sounds like dance music with a catchy melody and a strong bass line. It could be a song about anything—a peppy love song, a feel-good pop sensation.

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Do I Not Have the Tools to Write?
Writing, Reading Robison Wells Writing, Reading Robison Wells

Do I Not Have the Tools to Write?

Allow me to let you in on a shameful secret: I really have a hard time reading.

I have mental illnesses (plural) one of which includes OCD. And one of the medications I take to control these obsessions and compulsions has a side effect: it makes it so I can't obsess about ANYTHING, meaning I can't keep my attention up for a long time in any real direction.

Note: this has nothing to do with ADHD, which I also have. No, this is something specifically meant to tamp down my ability to concentrate on a long-term project--like reading a book.

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I Have Completed a Draft!
Writing, Tartarus Deep Robison Wells Writing, Tartarus Deep Robison Wells

I Have Completed a Draft!

I have posted about how my brain is working SO MUCH BETTER because of some new meds that have been treating my depression. And it's been great! I have been absolutely unable to write a book, or to even concentrate on anything long-term for years. But once I started my new meds I was sitting in my bed, scribbling book ideas and outlines in a notebook for two weeks--filling a brand new notebook full from start to finish.

And then I kinda drafted the book in a month.

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Why Are All My Books Set in New Mexico?
Writing, New Mexico Robison Wells Writing, New Mexico Robison Wells

Why Are All My Books Set in New Mexico?

Here's a thing you'll notice about my books: almost all have some connection to New Mexico.

  • My first book, On Second Thought, was set in a fictional town called Los Alamitos that is 100% just based off of Grants and I don't know why I didn't call it Grants.

  • Variant and Feedback, my first national books, were set somewhere in the Carson National Forest, up west of Taos and north of Espanola.

  • Blackout and Dead Zone have characters from New Mexico (the opening scene is also set at Glen Canyon Dam, which I'll come back to in a second).

  • Dark Energy's main character, Alice, had a grandma who lived on the Navajo reservation in scenic New Mexico.

  • And on and on until my current work-in-progress which takes place on a different planet, but the main character is from Albuquerque.

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