Robin English-Bircher

Bio

I am proud to be a Roadrunner. I graduated from UTSA with a BA in English with a Writing Specialization in 1999. While at UTSA, I became involved in a number of groups that have helped me in life after college, including being hired to teach at UTSA. Luck struck while I was at UTSA; I met my husband Sean, and we married in 2000. 

After my undergraduate, I pursued writing by studying Creative Writing, with an emphasis on Poetry, at Texas State University. I knew poets don’t earn a lot, so I expanded my horizons. I taught while at Texas State, gaining two years of experience before I started teaching full-time. I also took advantage of our required cognate – like a minor – and studied Technical Communications. Due to that additional study along with my study of poetry, I experienced my first opportunity to work in publishing. I helped edit two journals – Texas Books in Review and Southwest American Literature. Along with editing, I published a book review and oversaw poetry submissions. 

After graduate school, I returned home to San Antonio and UTSA, where I started working in 2004. While here, I have taught both Freshmen Composition courses and Technical Writing. 

When I am not teaching, I am either at home fending off my lap from one of my two cats or writing. I started writing about the Texas wine industry in 2012. I first wrote only for my blog; since then, I have written for two other publications, Texas Wine and Trail Magazine and Lifestyles at Comanche Trace. These days, most of my wine writing is for Texas Wine Lover, an internationally-ranked wine blog and news site. The writing has allowed me to meet a variety of wonderful people, visit some of the most scenic places in Texas, attend fun festivals, and yes, drink some very good wine lovingly made by fellow Texans. 

I also spend my free playing and writing tabletop role-playing games. I have been an avid player, starting with D&D when I was 10, and regularly play with friends, some I have been gaming with for over 20 years. In 2015, I signed on with my husband to create a role-playing setting for the Savage Worlds system, The King is Dead. We always find ourselves behind with the main book, but at least we have a publisher already. So far, we have published an adventure module, VARGR, and are working on a second one for release in 2016. I also help my husband with his other publications, as well as the many talented writers we have met and now call our friends.