Robin Bailey Gives An Update On Her Book: "You Can't Hide Behind The Truth"

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to the Robin and Kid podcast. You know.
When we came back from holidays, a very unexpected thing
happened for me. I went to Adelaide to visit one
of my girlfriends and we finally addressed my book, which
has been I've written it over about a four year
period and it's been just this kind of complete purge.

(00:21):
And then I edited it down and it still sits
at about one hundred and fifty two thousand words. And
the whole idea about this book was that I didn't
want it to just be a memoir of some two
bit person on the radio. I wanted to include my kids,
and I wanted it to become something that could potentially
help other people going through single parenting, going through the
death of a loved one, going through raising adolescents, all

(00:42):
that sort of stuff. Have you got a working title
for it? Nah? Okay, but I promise you when it
gets to that point, you can have your say, and
maybe even the people of Brisbane. I don't really care
about the title. Other people really do, but it just
doesn't bother me. Anyway. I found this amazing editor by
the name of Kelly, and I sent her the nescript
we had a chat on the phone and I told

(01:02):
her what my vision was and then she said, we'll
send it to me and let me see what I think.
And I have waited, yeah, and waited. Is that that
must be nerveous, Sarah, for sending your baby over there
and then just hoping that they like it. Well, I
thought she'd just come back, and because it's gone on
for a little bit of time, I was like, she
must hate it and just doesn't know how to tell
me and just thinks it's awful. Anyway, I've received an

(01:23):
email thanks for your patience. As I've read about half
of your beautiful writing and thoughts about the way forward,
I now have a much clearer idea of the way
we should proceed, and that is for me to undertake
first a structural edit with the reworking and bring it
down to seventy or eighty thousand words wow, form a

(01:44):
copy of it to home. You're writing into sentence and
word level. There's so much here to work with, and
I really do believe that together we can make a
book that offers the kind of hope and reassurance that
you've been talking about on the phone. Your writing voice
is so authentic and fun and kind and strong. I
honestly believe deeply in this book and your mission for it.

(02:06):
How exciting. I know, I cried read. I just was like,
she doesn't think she likes it, but she wants to
cut half of your words out. Well, because I need
the boys to have a say. In most books, there's
eighty thousand words. I don't want it to be about me,
but at least I give structure, and then you get
rid of all of it. It's easier to cut stock

(02:27):
and then ask them what they think, and they're all
still super keen. So if this does ever see the
light of day, I hand on heart tell you it
will be the bravest thing I will ever do in
my life. Yeah, because you can't hide behind the truth,
and what I write is the absolute truth. And there
will be people, There'll be court cases, I'm sure real potentially, Yeah, Okay,

(02:52):
there are people who would want to come after me
with this book. Hey, we'll say you wrote it all
before you met me. Hey, now it's Robin and chir
On Brisbane's Kiss ninety seven, three h