Robison Wells

Last updated
Robison Wells
BornRobison Earl Wells
(1978-04-04) April 4, 1978 (age 46)
Utah
OccupationAuthor
NationalityAmerican
Education University of Utah
Brigham Young University (MBA)
Period2004–present
Genre Science fiction, young adult
Notable works Variant
Website
www.robisonwells.com

Robison Wells (born April 4, 1978) is an American novelist and blogger.

Contents

Personal life

Robison Wells, the brother of author Dan Wells, was a reluctant reader as a child. He did not become interested in writing until he was in college. He graduated from the University of Utah in 2003 with a degree in political science, emphasizing in international relations, with a minor in history, and earned an MBA in marketing at Brigham Young University in 2009. [1] Wells lives in North Salt Lake, Utah, with his wife and three children. He previously lived in New Mexico, which has been the setting for four of his novels. Wells is a practicing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [2]

Career

Robison Wells first began writing as part of a writing group with Dan Wells and Brandon Sanderson. [3]

Wells's first three books were written for the LDS fiction market. The first, On Second Thought is a romantic comedy set in New Mexico, and the second two, Wake Me When It's Over and The Counterfeit are political thrillers.

In April 2010 it was announced that Wells had signed a 3-book young adult deal with HarperTeen. The first novel Variant is a young adult science fiction novel set in a boarding school in New Mexico. It has one sequel, Feedback; it is not a trilogy. [1] Wells's third book with HarperTeen, Blackout was announced in Publisher's Marketplace as being the first of a series, including two novels and a novella, and was released in Fall 2013. The sequel, "Dead Zone" was released a year later. Wells's latest book with HarperTeen is titled Dark Energy.

Wells also indie-published a novel, Airships of Camelot. It was the product of a successful Kickstarter campaign. It is described as "alternate-history, steampunk, old West, King Arthur."

In 2019, Wells released a novel cowritten with James Patterson, titled The Warning. The book was a New York Times bestseller. [4]

As of 2020, Wells has shifted his focus from writing novels to maintaining a popular wargame hobby website, The Wargame Explorer. He has stated he is working on a memoir about his experiences with mental illness, but it is not under contract. [5]

Critical reception

Variant was released to much critical acclaim, receiving starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and VOYA. It also received favorable reviews from Booklist and Kirkus. Publishers Weekly also named Variant as one of their Best Books of 2011, and featured Wells as one of their "Flying Starts". [1] [6]

Feedback has received mixed reviews. Kirkus referred to it as "An absorbing read that won't let fans of the first down", [7] while Booklist said "the claustrophobic tightness of the first book is replaced here by a loose series of threats that never solidify into something worth rooting against."

The Warning was a New York Times bestseller for five weeks.[ citation needed ]

The Whitney Awards

In the spring of 2007, Robison Wells began work on the Whitney Awards, an awards program for LDS fiction. He has stated that this idea came from a conversation with friend and fellow author Brandon Sanderson. The Whitney Awards are sponsored by Storymakers, an authors guild that holds an annual conference in May. Robison Wells served as president of the Whitney Awards Committee for three years, ending in 2010. [8]

In 2018, Robison received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Whitney Academy.

Mental Health

Wells has several mental illnesses, including OCD and schizophrenia, and is an outspoken advocate for those with mental illness. In 2014 Wells, joined by Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells, edited Altered Perceptions, an anthology of essays from popular YA writers about their struggles with mental illness. He also contributed to the mental illness anthology Life Inside My Mind, with an essay called "Twenty Pills." He writes and speaks extensively about these topics. [9] [10]

After experiencing a rollover accident in May 2021, in which he had a major concussion, Wells has spoken openly about his experiences with grief counseling and therapy to work through feelings of guilt. [11]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brandon Sanderson</span> American fantasy and science fiction writer

Brandon Winn Sanderson is an American, New York Times best-selling author of high fantasy, science fiction, and young adult books. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the Mistborn series and The Stormlight Archive, are set. Outside of the Cosmere, he has written several young adult and juvenile series including The Reckoners, the Skyward series, and the Alcatraz series. He is also known for finishing Robert Jordan's high fantasy series The Wheel of Time. Sanderson has created several graphic novel fantasy series, including White Sand and Dark One.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libba Bray</span> American writer (born 1964)

Martha Elizabeth "Libba" Bray is an American writer of young adult novels including the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, Going Bovine, and The Diviners.

<i>Far Horizons</i> Science fiction anthology edited by Robert Silverberg

Far Horizons: All New Tales from the Greatest Worlds of Science Fiction is an anthology of original science fiction stories edited by Robert Silverberg, first published in hardcover by Avon Eos in May 1999, with a book club edition following from Avon and the Science Fiction Book Club in July of the same year. Paperback and trade paperback editions were issued by Eos/HarperCollins in May 2000 and December 2005, respectively, and an ebook edition by HarperCollins e-books in March 2009. The first British edition was issued in hardcover and trade paperback by Orbit/Little Brown in June 1999, with a paperback edition following from Orbit in July 2000.

<i>Invisible</i> (Hautman novel) 2005 novel by Pete Hautman

Invisible is a 2005 young adult novel by American author Pete Hautman, detailing a 17-year-old boy's battle with his inner demons/mental illness and his descent into insanity. It won the 2006 Wisconsin Library Association Children's Book Award. The American Library Association's Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) named it one of the best books for young adults of 2006.

Tod Goldberg is an American author and journalist best known for his novels Gangsters Don't Die (Counterpoint), Gangster Nation (Counterpoint), Gangsterland (Counterpoint) and Living Dead Girl, the popular Burn Notice series (Penguin/NAL) and the short story collection The Low Desert: Gangster Stories (Counterpoint).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Wells (author)</span> American horror writer

Daniel Andrew Wells is an American horror and science fiction author. Wells's first published novel, I Am Not a Serial Killer, was adapted into a movie in 2016.

Stephanie Kuehn is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for her William C. Morris Award-winning debut novel Charm & Strange, Delicate Monsters, and Complicit. Her novels often explore themes of mental illness and psychology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. S. King</span> American writer (born 1970)

Amy Sarig King is an American writer of short fiction and young adult fiction. She is the recipient of the 2022 Margaret Edwards Award for her "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature". She is also the only two-time recipient of the Michael L. Printz Award for Young Adult Literature for Dig (2019) and as editor and contributor to The Collectors: Stories (2023).

<i>Variant</i> (novel) 2011 novel by Robison Wells

Variant is a young adult suspense novel by Robison Wells. It was published on October 4, 2011 by HarperTeen. Wells has stated that the initial draft of Variant took him only eleven days to write. The book was named one of Publishers Weekly's "Best Books of 2011".

Ashley Little is a Canadian author of both adult and young adult literature.

Charlie Nicholes Holmberg is an American fantasy writer best known for The Paper Magician series. She is from Salt Lake City, Utah, and graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in English in 2010. Her first novel, The Paper Magician, was released in 2014. Holmberg expanded the book into a series, the film rights for which were purchased by Disney in 2016. In addition to her other book series, Holmberg has published seven standalone novels. She is a multi-Whitney Award recipient for The Fifth Doll (2017), The Will and the Wilds (2020), Star Mother (2021), and Keeper of Enchanted Rooms (2022). The Hanging City was a 2023 Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist. Many of her other works have been nominated for literary awards as well. In addition to writing, Holmberg cohosts the podcast Your Mom Writes Books.

Adi Alsaid is a Mexican-born author of young adult fiction. His debut novel, Let's Get Lost, was a YALSA Teens' Top Ten Nominee in 2015. His second stand-alone novel, Never Always Sometimes, was nominated as a Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2015.

<i>Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection</i> Short story collection by Brandon Sanderson

Arcanum Unbounded: The Cosmere Collection is a collection of epic fantasy short stories and novellas written by American author Brandon Sanderson set in his Cosmere universe. It was published on November 22, 2016 by Tor Books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meredith Russo</span> 21st-century American author

Meredith Russo is an American young adult author from Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Dhonielle Clayton is an American author and chief operating officer of We Need Diverse Books. She has written multiple book series, including The Belles (2018-2023). She also collaborated with Tiffany D. Jackson, Angie Thomas, Nic Stone, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon to write Blackout (2021).

<i>Blackout</i> (young adult novel) Young adult novel

Blackout is a young adult novel written by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon. The book contains six interlinked stories about Black teen love during a power outage in New York City. The book was released on June 22, 2021.

<i>Lovely War</i> 2019 novel by Julie Berry

Lovely War is a young adult romance novel by Julie Berry, published March 5, 2019 by Viking Books for Young Readers. The book is a New York Times Bestseller and was well-received by critics.

<i>The Sun Is Also a Star</i> (novel) 2016 young adult novel by Nicola Yoon

The Sun Is Also a Star is a young adult novel by American author Nicola Yoon, published November 1, 2016, by Delacorte Press. The book follows two characters, one of whom is about to be deported, and explores “the ways in which we are all connected and the ways in which people across all walks of life have much more in common than they think they do.”

Lev A. C. Rosen, also known as L. C. Rosen, is an American author.

<i>Little & Lion</i> 2017 young adult novel by Brandy Colbert

Little & Lion is a 2017 young adult novel by Brandy Colbert. The novel is about a sixteen-year-old bisexual teen dealing with her brother's recent bipolar disorder diagnosis and her own sexuality.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Fall 2011 Flying Starts: Robison Wells Publishers Weekly
  2. ↑ "Brothers By The Book", Salt Lake Tribune Archived 2013-10-21 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Lodge, Sally (June 5, 2014). "YA Anthology to Benefit Author Robison Wells". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved April 5, 2017.
  4. ↑ New York Times
  5. ↑ Robison Wells Annual Update
  6. ↑ Publisher Weekly's Best Books of 2011 Publishers Weekly
  7. ↑ "Kirkus Review of Feedback" Kirkus Reviews
  8. ↑ "First Annual Whitney Awards Highlights Books, Authors", Meridian Magazine Archived 2010-02-02 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ "How Mental Illness Tried and Failed to Ruin My Life" Teen Librarian's Toolbox[ dead link ]
  10. ↑ "Mormon Author Talks About His Mental Illness and Faith" Deseret News[ dead link ]
  11. ↑ "A Tale of Two Tales" Havoc & The Society
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.