Hi there. You’re here, so I guess you want to know more about me. Okay then! You can choose to just learn a little, or learn a lot. (I like to give people choices.) I won’t be offended either way.

My name is E. Marie Robertson. I live in South Carolina with my awesome boyfriend and our 9 cats. (Yes, that’s a lot of cats. No, it’s not a problem. No, we didn’t intend to have 9 cats, it just sort of happened. Yes, I’m always covered in cat hair.)

Short Version: I have degrees in Journalism (BS) and Studio Arts (MFA). I teach media arts at a local technical college. I’ve published lots of journalistic articles in various places, and some short stories in small literary magazines. I’ve completed one novel and am working on the sequel. Thank you for asking!L

Long Version: I’m a writer of both fiction and nonfiction. I wrote my first short story when I was about 6 years old, I think. I vaguely remember it had something to do with spelunking, and ghosts, and two kids exploring a cave and a ham sandwich that appeared out of nowhere. (I mean come on, I was 6. My main influence was Scooby-Doo.) A teacher dubbed me “the writer” and after that, it was on. I decided I was going to be a writer.

I somehow forgot about “being a writer” and instead got a degree in journalism. So that’s what I did after college. It was great from a writing standpoint, because I got to do a lot of writing that was actually published, and from a people standpoint, because I got to meet a lot of really interesting people. But not so great from the standpoint of the fact that I kind of hated being a journalist. The introvert part of my “extroverted introvert” didn’t like pestering people for comments, or bringing up unpleasant things. I’ve also recently realized that I like being the expert, and when you’re a journalist, you always have to quote someone else as the expert, even when it’s an area in which you really do have expertise.

I went on to become a corporate communications specialist, a magazine editor, a newsletter editor, a video production manager, a communications planning strategist, a web developer/designer, a print project manager, a digital project manager, a digital marketing consultant, a fine art photographer/videographer/installation artist, a painter, a hands-on art teacher, a web development/object oriented programming professor, a virtual reality build hobbyist, an art appreciation/art history professor, and a media arts/web design professor (again). All great experiences. None of them the kind of thing I’d had in mind when I was 6.

At some point, I remembered wanting to be a writer and I decided it wasn’t too late to do something I’d meant to do for basically forever, and here we are. I started my first novel as part of NaNoWriMo in 2018. I didn’t “win” NaNoWriMo, but I finished the novel in May 2019. That’s just the beginning; that novel is part of a two- or three-book series, and I have three or four partially-written manuscripts floating around on my hard drive, all of which deserve my attention. And I have a lot of ideas. So stay tuned.

You made it all the way to the end! Wow, you’re a real fan. If you want more, please check out my Instagram feed, Facebook author page, and my Patreon page, where I offer delightful goodies as a thank you for your support. Subscribe to my podcast for writing tips, personal rants, and the occasional Story Hour. Or join my decidedly non-spammy mailing list for podcast updates and more.