About the Author

Though not a true native to Atlanta (are there any, really?), Adlen graduated from Woodward Academy High School in College Park, Georgia in 1983. In 1987, Adlen graduated from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia with a B.A in History.  

When Adlen and Paul decided to have children, they decided together that Adlen would leave her career (as a financial planner and free lance writer) and stay home with their first baby. Just thirteen months after their son Mason was born, along came their second baby. This time a little girl, Sydney. Two years later baby Chandler Alyssa came into their world—then, two years after that, their last child, Walker was born.

Having four children in six years will either drive a mother crazy, OR require her to become extremely resourceful. Although Adlen admits there were many days when she sure felt a little crazy, she does so with a sense of humor and a full night’s sleep. During those years as a young mother with plenty of toddlers and babies underfoot (at one time there were three Robinson babies in car seats), Adlen constantly jotted down time saving tips and helpful things she learned from and with her young children—often the hard way. The challenges of raising children, managing a household, as well as maintaining and strengthening a marriage, are all things that take their toll on young couples. Adlen can relate to those challenges since she understands what life is like in the trenches.

When Walker was three years old, Adlen decided it was time to make her move. She gave some writing samples to the local newspaper, The Forsyth County News, and soon found herself featured as an avid home cook. The very next week, Adlen began writing a weekly food column for the newspaper. Besides recipes, she often includes interesting food trivia as well as food history. The more Adlen wrote, the more popular her food column became.  Readers began writing to her at the paper and sending emails. Soon, Adlen broadened her base and began writing feature stories for the newspaper as well.

Adlen also free lanced for other publications, such as the Gwinnett Daily Post and House and Home magazine. Adlen’s naturally outgoing nature, made her job of interviewing and writing about people all the more enjoyable. During those busy days which were filled with caring for her own children, writing columns and stories, as well as running a household, Adlen got serious about doing something she had been considering for years: writing her first book. Home Matters: A Guide to Organizing Your Life and Home, is a book that had “lived in her head,” for many years. As a mother who had four children in six years, Adlen had always dreamed of one day putting her life strategies and words of encouragement into a book that could help other families cope with the challenges of parenting and managing a household. When the Home Matters was about half finished, she pitched the newspaper for a new weekly column titled Home Matters. The newspaper loved the idea and agreed to run it in every Sunday’s Lifestyles section. Her Home Matters columns were wildly successful and created an instant audience for her Home Matters book.  

Adlen’s love and passion for food made it easy for her to create a cookbook for busy families. She hopes to publish her cookbook soon after her Home Matters book comes out.

Adlen is also available for speaking engagements and seminars—all of which are designed to support, encourage, and empower mothers and fathers to be the very best they can be—after all, when it comes to families, home matters.