Congrats! Email my wife HERE with your mailing address! Also, Lila’s and Delilah’s Birthday Bash giveaway is still open. Six sets of books to six winners! You can check it out HERE.
Okay, I’m going to right jump into it—Mr. Robinson, welcome! It’s great to have you here. Can you tell us who you’re married to and what she writes?
Mr. Robinson: I have been married for 40 years to Maggie Robinson and Margaret Rowe. Have yet to be charged with bigamy. They both write historical, erotic, romantic fiction. Margaret, though, is really a dirty little girl and not someone you would want your children to spend time with.
Mr. Robinson: Let’s see……..I’m retired after 38 years as a high school principal. I live, literally, in the Maine woods at the end of a dirt road. I’ve been a scholar and an athlete but much prefer retirement. I have no desire to be an active and contributing member of society. I like my life the way it is, i.e., not knowing what day it is when I first wake up and enjoying my four children, now that they have all moved out, and my almost four grandchildren. I have appropriated my wife’s color NOOK, and read voraciously. We travel a lot.
Mr. Robinson: We met in some friends’ living room on April 4, 1970. The husband was my best friend and the wife was hers. I knew she was the one when we went out on our first date alone that July. We got married January 24, 1971.
I was at my “retirement job” when she got THE CALL from her agent, and she stayed up until 2 A.M. to tell me. I wondered what her advance was so I could retire a second time.
Mr. Robinson: I haven’t read her last book, but I suspect he was a much improved version of me, certainly younger.
Mr. Robinson: I was definitely Prince Charming. I sold a pint of blood to finance that first date (Dinner at Erik’s on 2nd Avenue and the Movie “Joe”, staring Peter Boyle) and walked 40 blocks to her NYC apartment carrying a bottle of Andre champagne and a bouquet of flowers. (Maggie: How could I not marry him? He sold blood and walked through half of Manhattan to go out with me!!! The cheap champagne didn’t hurt either.)
Mr. Robinson: Any sport that uses a ball (Maggie: Mr. Robinson is a huge jock. He played football in college and coached football, basketball and baseball in his teaching career.)
Mr. DiPasqua: That is impressive, Mrs. Robinson/Rowe. Mr. Robinson, how long have you been a RH? (Romance Husband). What advice would you give new RH’s about what you’ve learned being married to a romance author? What should a new RH do or not do when his wife is under deadline?
Mr. Robinson: I’ve been a “serious” RH about 5 years. I would advise a new RH to be very nice to his wife. Remember she might be really rich someday, or kill you off in one of her books.
When your writer is under deadline, get a hobby that will take you out of the house. Learn to cook. Bring her breakfast at her desk. Do your own laundry if you want matching socks.
Mr. Robinson: “Where do you think?”
Mr. DiPasqua: Which character in your wife’s books would she say most resembles you and/or your personality?
Mr. Robinson: Any of her male protagonists. (Maggie, jumping in: Lord Edward Christie from Mistress by Marriage is Mr. Robinson at his best and worst all the way, a Regency Boy Scout who always does the right, honorable thing and doesn’t want to talk about his feelings.)
Mr. Robinson: Sitting watching our children with their children and coming to the same conclusion, “What do you know, they all turned out all right!”
My wife would say flowers, champagne and dinner. I got it right the first time.
Mr. Robinson: I haven’t read it yet but probably intelligently erotic. (Maggie, jumping in again: Mistress by Marriage came out in September 2011 from Kensington Brava and was chosen for the Smart Bitches Trashy Books Sizzling Book Club. Margaret has a hot short story in Berkley Heat’s Agony/Ecstasy edited by Jane Litte from Dear Author in December, and her Any Wicked Thing March 2011) is a 2011 RT Reviewers Choice nominee in the best erotic fiction category. Maggie’s Master of Sin ends the Courtesan Court series in April 2012. Thanks so much for having us here! Mr. Robinson may not be a perfect hero, but he’s mine! )
Master of Sin link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=075825105X/
Mistress by Marriage link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0758251033/
Agony/Ecstasy link: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0425243451/
Any Wicked Thing link: http://www.amazon.com/Any-Wicked-Thing-Margaret-Rowe/dp/0425238644/
GIVEAWAY: Maggie Robinson: We’ll give away Mistress by Marriage AND Any Wicked Thing so you can sample both of Mr. Robinson’s wives. *g*.
Giveaway open WORLDWIDE!
To win you must:
1. Ask a question or leave a meaningful comment.
2. You MUST be a follower/subscriber of Lila DiPasqua’s blog (through Google Friend Connect).
3. Must be at least 18 years of age.
4. Winner will be selected at random on MONDAY Dec. 5, 2011.
Mr. DiPasqua: Thanks again for chatting with me, Mr. Robinson! It’s been a lot of fun getting to know you!
Thanks for joining us, Mrs. R!
See everyone next month, folks! Now, let’s hear your questions or comments. 🙂
What a nice interview. Seems like he has a dry wit. You would need that as a principal.
debby236 at gmail dot com
Lila and the dapper Mr. DiPasqua, thanks so much for having us here! Now if Mr. R can figure out how to comment, it will be a miracle, LOL.
Another great interview. Any man who walks through half of Manhattan and sells blood is sure a keeper 🙂 Happy Retirement Mr Robinson. Maggie/Margaret I do love both of you and your stories Just keep them coming and I’ll keep reading.
Have a great day everyone.
Carol L
Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com
Thank you very much for the fun and very interesting interview :-))
I have beebn a fan and loyal reader of Maggie, I loved learning more about her dear RH and their own romance 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
stella.exlibris (at) gmail (dot) com
Don’t enter me–I already have the books. 🙂 Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the interview! Maggie, your Mr. R is a gem. Love his dry wit–and I am still reeling at the idea that he SOLD BLOOD to go out with you. That’s love.
Hi Mr. D,
the interview you’ve done with an amazing author always make me so interesting, thank you 😉
Hi Maggie,
Nice to see you here and i will say that i have read many excerpt
of your great book but in this interview i got a few thing about you and your husband. that’s so fun 😉
i hope you and your husband can live happily ever after 😉
OMG, this was a great interview! KUDOS! I’ve been a fan of Maggie/Margaret for a long time …AND of Lila too! It’s very interesting reading the hubbies’ take on ya’lls books and characters – thanks for so openly sharing your thoughts. AND thanks for the giveaway!
lindalou(at)cfl(dot)rr(dot)com
Great interview. What a milestone to have been married 40 years. I hope that you are enjoying your retirement. Thanks for the giveaway.
Hey, Mr. & Mrs. D. : ) Hi, Mr. R. & Maggie/Margaret : ) I am a long-time, devoted fan of Maggie/Margaret. She’s a wonderful author and a great lady. It’s nice to finally get to meet you, Mr. R.–I’ve heard a lot about you through Maggie/Margaret’s posts : ) When you were first married, did you envision your future life to be anything like it is now? What is the biggest surprise that success as an author has brought to your lives? What are your plans for the upcoming year–travel or taking it easy? US Resident, GFC Follower, Subscriber… Read more »
Mr R, you are a prince! I love your dry humor. I giggled throughout the entire interview. I can’t believe the lengths you went through to go out with Maggie.
Though, I can understand it. She’s wonderful. 🙂
Hugs to you both! Thank you for being here today.
Lila
Great interview. It’s always nice to learn some real life info about some of your favorite authors. How’s retirement treating you? my dad retired a few years ago and says every day is saturday..
Jeana
Hello Mr. and Mrs. R!! What a riot of an interview. I’m certain you two are a lot of fun to be around! Mrs. R, I’m impressed that Mr. R is like Edward in M by M! I absolutely love that book and love Edward!! What would say is the biggest challenge you both have faced in your marriage? All the best on your new book-I can’t wait to read it!!
Hey, everybody! I just got back from the dentist–yes, I still have my own teeth,LOL, and now Mr. R is out doing some errands but I will help him log on later. We were VERY young when we got married–Mr. R was a poor college student. (Hence the blood-selling. I was actually horrified when he told me, but it makes for a good story now.)The years have kind of zipped by. Pollie, I think our biggest challenge was when our oldest daughter needed heart surgery when she was four months old. We hadn’t even finished paying the hospital bill for… Read more »
Mrs. R, doesn’t a challenge like the one you and Mr. R faced with your beautiful daughter put the important things in life in perspective!!! Now look at you two with beautiful children and grandchildren! LOL!! My husband was a struggling grad student who also sold his blood (plasma) for our dates. It still gives me the heebie-jeebies that he did that for me after 31 years.
So…you’re the man who is married to Mrs. Robinson…
I wish I had the perfect first date. Mine was to a College Football game, that I invited my hubby too!
I love your books, Maragaret/Maggie. Cannot wait to read the new releases!
As the wife of a former middle school principal.. I have to ask the question… did you move to the back of the beyond in Maine to get away from having your house tp’d?? Lovely and charming interview… if the photo at the top of the post is of you & your wife, I’m pretty sure my dh wore the same or similar plaid pants…lol!
Lovely interview and you sound like a very happy couple! Congrats on your retirement and 40 more years 🙂
Thanks for another great interview, Mr. D!
Mr. R – when I read that you walked 40 blocks in NYC for your first date, my first thought was if NYC was safe enough to still do that! Second thought was “Awww”.
I enjoyed your sense of humor, Mr. Robinson – a trait required for successful relationships.
What is the most romantic vacation that you’ve taken (apart from your honeymoon)?
US resident, GFC follower, subscriber
kacbooks(at)hotmail(dot)com
Thank you for another funny and ver informative interview!
Not every man would sell blood for his date.
Maggie, I love your curls in your photo. 😉
Thank you for the giveaway!
claudigc at msn dot com
This is Mr. R. Finally home. My wife has run me ragged. Had some technical difficulties with my laptop so I am masquerading as Maggie. She is better looking anyhow. Thanks for having us here. To answer questions. Virginia, next year we will do something we have never done before. We are spending Jan. & Feb. in Florida to greet our new grandson. (and to get out of the Maine snow. Last year we had 100+ inches.) I don’t think we ever expected to have four kids. Maggie and I are both only children so it’s been a learning experience… Read more »
It’s Maggie now. Karen, we love to travel–Mr. R is an exceptional planner and we’ve gone to a lot of interesting places. I just asked him his favorite vacation and he said the time we went to Cornwall and stayed in Sennen Cove. There was this wild storm outside and the old inn we stayed at shook and rattled. We went with our best friends and played bridge in the hotel bar until they threw us out, then snuggled and listened to the wind (not with our friends, LOL) My favorite was probably when we drove on the Cabot Trail… Read more »
I have to agree. Any one who sold blood and walked almost a marathon is an amazing guy. 🙂
I hope that when I retired, I’ll be able to sit at home and think so fondly of my kids with my husband too. 🙂 My daughter is only 2 yrs old so that seems VERY far away for me now.
Congrats to your wife on such a successful career. 🙂
Great interview! Loved your answers. Do you sample your wife’s work? Do your read her books?
lead[at]hotsheet[dot]com
This is Mr. R again. Virginia, I have to admit I have not read all her books, but she discusses the plots with me. At length. All I can say is that she has a very scary mind.
Most amusing interview, both due to the interviewer & interviewer! I was grinning quite a lot thru out.
Congrats to the Robinsons for almost 41 years of marriage bliss! It’s so heartening in this day & age of quickee divorces.
I’ve always imagined it must be embarrassing to be RH & getting a “look” or snide comments from fans on love scenes. Has anyone made you blush before?!
So the whole time I am reading your interview I have the song Mrs Robinson going through my head…=)
Congrats to you both on your long marriage. Guess you started it out right by showing her how hard you were willing to work for her, women love that sort of stuff. And now you get to have two women in one!
I have never read any of your wifes books before, but I will have to go check out her backlist.
A fun interview to read! Thanks Mr D as always!
GFC follower Lexi
I always enjoy these interviews!
Mr R – why did it take from April til July for your first date?
GFC follower
sallans d at yahoo dot com
LOL, I love the plaid pants! Such a great interview, thanks for sharing with us 🙂
please don’t enter me in the giveaway as I’ve already been lucky enough to have read Mistress by Marriage. My favorite Courtesan book…so far 😉
Great interview! I love these RH ones, because I never really thought that much about it, and it’s great to get a guys perspective seeing as romance as a genre is so heavily female. Your first date sounds so sweet! And great advice about what to do when your romance author wife has a deadline. Thanks for the giveaway! I’ve really been wanting to read something of Maggie’s.
jessicamariesutton(at)msn(dot)com
My Father was a school principle, now retired.
You went all out with the giving of blood. I’m impressed.
A most informative & interesting interview thank you.
GFC: Mary Preston
I already have Mistress by Marriage but I wanted to pop in and say thank you to Mr. and Mrs. DiPasqua and Mr. and Mrs. Robinson/Rowe. I love these interviews! Thx so much! 🙂
Good morning, ladies. Mr. Robinson here.
Di: our friends kept throwing us together and we were both too stubborn to break down and date. I was taking classes through the summer too. But I finally wised up and called her up. The rest is history.
Linda: it takes a lot to make me blush.
Which male protagonist character that did not resemble MR. Robinson at all in ms. Robinson bOok? And why she created this male character? Aretha zhen follower international thank you for the comPetition. Cheers Aretha
This one is going to sound kind of odd, but does your wife’s personality “change” when she is writing as Maggie or Margaret and can you tell by her personality which persona she is writing in? I’ve read several authors who use multiple pen names and pretty much all of them (even when they are written in different genres) you can tell they were written by the same person because of the writing style. Also, can you offer any advice to aspiring authors to help the dh in their life accept and assist their aspiring author (did I totally just… Read more »
Fun interview!
That’s some good advice that Mr. Robinson gave: to be very nice to wife because she might get really rich or kill you off in her books.
LOL! I had a good laugh at that one because it’s can be so true.
Would love to give Mrs. Robinson’s books a try!
GFC follower: Amy
angeldream3[AT]gmail[DOT]com
It was a treat reading the interview. It is nice to get the perspective of the husbands of romance authors and what their thoughts are on the novels their wives write. 🙂
Very funny.
Thank you!
How beautiful 40 years celebrating a marriage, that is wonderful – Congrats to you both.
I’m not familiar with your wife’s stories but they have my interest now ;o)
Rita from South Africa
bitemeash[at]gmail[dot]com
Follower
Aretha: my wife assures me that any Margaret Rowe character and the hero of her next book Master of Sin (!)do not resemble me at all.
Lady Red: Maggie is pretty much the same whoever she’s writing as.She says the styles are pretty much the same too, but the plots are different. I’ll take her word for it.
Mr. Robinson
I guess I didn’t finish with Lady Red’s question. Maggie wrote for some time before she got published and you need to be patient and keep at it. It helped that our kids were mostly grown up when she really got going. (The youngest was still in college)I don’t really have advice except to be supportive of whatever your spouse wants to do. She lets me lie on the couch with the remote control and I let her lock herself in her room to write.Works for us.