Wicked Thorn and Roses

Thank you for taking the time to interview with us! Lynn Reynolds’ newest release is THIRTY-NINE AGAIN. Her first full length romantic suspense novel became available in e-book on June 12, 2009!

You can purchase THIRTY-NINE AGAIN at Amazon.com, BN.com or through the publisher, The Wild Rose Press (www.thewildrosepress.com). Links to all these are up at Lynn's website, www.lynnreynolds.com.


When/how did you know you wanted to write?

I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I loved living in my little imaginary worlds and making up stories about myself as a princess or space explorer. Or space exploring princes. In high school, I wrote a very silly serial called The Guam Syndrome, which featured some pretty wild satires of all the teachers. It was a huge underground hit with my classmates and fortunately no teacher ever caught me. Well, one did, but he was this ex-hippie, radical type who thought the whole thing was hilarious and actually encouraged me to keep it up. I’ve been writing ever since, although mostly as a journalist and publicist in my adult life.

Ÿ Do you see yourself writing in the same genre in 10 years? If not then what?

I don’t see me doing anything ten years from now that I’m doing now! Except staying married to my wonderful hubby and still being a mom, of course. I tend to be pretty restless and would fully expect I’d be writing in a totally different genre. Although I’m sure there’d always be some romance in there!

Ÿ Do you write your stories out with pencil and paper first or do you work straight on the computer?

I almost always write the first draft out by hand, using a nice sharp pencil and an old-fashioned copybook. No worries about hard drive crashes or batteries running down!

Ÿ Getting back to your new book. Tell us a little about what to expect.

Thirty-Nine Again is a "chick noir" novel about Sabrina O’Hara. She's a fortyish breast cancer survivor who discovers her boyfriend is leading a double life. Now she's on the run from him, his friends in the Mexican Mafia, and the very sexy Homeland Security agent who's investigating the case.

Chick noir is a little like chick lit - only with guns and dead bodies instead of shoes!

Ÿ When and where can we purchase your books?

Thirty-Nine Again is sold directly by The Wild Rose Press as an e-book or print book. You can also order the print editions from Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com.

Ÿ If you had a book club, what would it be reading — and why?

Well, after we finished reading the complete works of Jane Austen yet again, I’d suggest we read Elizabeth Hoyt’s Legend of the Four Soldiers series. I love how she’s used a little-known event in American history to create these stories about emotionally damaged war veterans and the women who love them and help them resume their lives.

For contemporary reading, I’d strongly suggest the club read Tori Carrington’s Sofie Metropolis series, which feature the funny, sexy adventures of a Greek-American aspiring detective – Sofie.

Ÿ Give us three "Good to Know" facts about you. Be creative. Tell us about your first job, the inspiration for your writing, any fun details that would enliven your page.

Three fun facts about me:
I was briefly a child model and did a TV advertisement for a nursery school and even did a few runway shows.

I know most of Hamlet’s part in Shakespeare’s play of the same name by heart. I’m just a frustrated actress and playwright and have read it over and over again and watched about a dozen productions.

I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue.

Ÿ Do you have any advice to fledgling authors?

Don’t be in such a hurry to get published. I have found it really hard to balance learning how to do self-promotion and publicity with writing a new book. I wish I had a stockpile of finished manuscripts I could draw on to take the pressure off whle trying to promote THIRTY-NINE AGAIN, but I only have one other completed book right now. Well, only one that I’m willing to let other people read!

Ÿ Do you belong to a critique group or have a critique partner? Which do you prefer?

I tried some face-to-face critique groups but they tended to get kind of mean-spirited. Or they just didn’t do much actual critiquing. I’ve been involved with a great online critique group sponsored by the Elements Chapter of the RWA and that has worked out really well for me.

Ÿ Would you recommend critique groups to other writers? If so, what elements, in your opinion, make a successful writer’s group?

I think a critique group can be very helpful as long as all the members treat each other with respect. If you’re feeling beaten down and belittled, then it’s not a good group for you!

Ÿ Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

I’d like to mention that a portion of all my royalties from THIRTY-NINE AGAIN will be donated to breast cancer awareness charities. I have some friends who are breast cancer survivors, and since the heroine of the story is a breast cancer survivor, I felt like this would be a good way to honor my friends and other women dealing with cancer.

Thanks for inviting me to Wicked, Thorn and Roses!