Tour Kit - The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman

The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman

by Robin Gregory

Genre: Fantasy, Magical Realism

Early 1900s, Western America. A lonely, disabled boy with a nasty temper and uncontrolled mystical powers, Moojie is taken by his father to his grandfather's wilderness farm. There, Moojie meets an otherworldly clan of outcasts that he wants to join. Following a series of misadventures--magical and mystical--he is summoned by the call to a great destiny ... if only he can survive one last terrifying trial.

Having won a number of awards, Robin Gregory's The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman is being lauded as a classic. A haunting, visionary tale spun in the magical realist tradition of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude and Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, the profoundly unique voice and heart-stirring narrative recall great works of fiction that explore the universal desire to belong.

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What Saves Me From Discouragement

A few years back, I was feeling pretty discouraged about my writing career. There had been

weeks, months, and years when my best writing efforts went unrewarded. I could wallpaper my

living room with rejections from publishers and agents. The little critic inside kicked against my

visions, daring me to think I was worthy to be a writer. With every rejection, it hissed and snarled

and said, “I told you so.” And if that didn’t stop me, there was always J.K. Rowling, Diana

Galbadon, and Zadie White to remind me of my literary irrelevance. The great monument of

faith in my talent had crumbled and taken heaven with it.

Around that time, I visited the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, Spain. The primary

architect, Antoni Gaudí, worked on it for 43 years, before passing on. Still under construction

today, it represents a century-long collaboration which is scheduled for completion in 2020.

What astounded me about the cathedral, beyond its mind-boggling beauty and crafting, was that

literally hundreds and hundreds of architects, artisans, masons, builders, and artists formed

links to its creation. “The creation continues incessantly through the media of man,” said Gaudí.

In that sense, Sagrada Familia represents how inspired visions get erected: they start in the

imagination. And the imagination needs the freedom to broadcast itself.

This realization was like a slap on the face. It woke me from a stupor. It made me remember

why I loved writing. I gathered myself up again, remembering that I once trusted the process like

a child. I used to enter so fully into writing that I would laugh and cry and growl as I went along.

With this recollection, the “cathedral” of inspiration reappeared, and I immediately resumed

writing.

Sadly, Gaudí didn’t live long enough to see the finished Sagrada. But I imagine it was complete

in his mind, a testimony to heaven on earth, a living thing. In the same way, we who build

cathedrals out of words may not see the results hoped for. But our efforts are not wasted. It’s the

process that unites us, a shared evolution. The best results are what happens to me while I am

writing for the pure joy of it, when I approach it as a kid playing in the sand. That kid never gets

bogged down with results or concerns for the future. She is fully present in the act of creation—

free and open. If we do not honor this part of ourselves, who will?

ROBIN GREGORY is a devoted wife and mother, and student of mystical teachings. Born in Pensacola, Florida, she grew up in California, accompanied by seven siblings, and surrounded by horses, real cowboys, and the occasional rattlesnake. She has always been drawn to helping others, a trait that began, to her mother’s horror, with bringing home swallow chicks stricken from their nests. She has worked as a journalist, lay minister, and infant massage instructor for mothers and babies at risk. Her studies include Literature and Creative Writing at University of California, Santa Cruz and Stanford University’s Writer’s Workshop. She lives with her husband and son in a Carmel cottage old enough to make you sneeze. “The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman” is her first published novel.

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