On the sofa with me today is the lovely Lynn Crain...
Thank you for joining me on the sofa, Lynn and for agreeing to answer some questions for us.
1. So who is Lynn? Wow...you cut to the chase quick...don’t you? LOL! I’m a mumble-mumble-mumble...what didn’t hear that? It’s hard for me to believe I’ve been on this earth for over 50 years. I have two sons, two grandsons, one fantastic daughter-in-law and the most amazing friends on earth. And I’m thousands of miles away from all that living in Vienna, Austria for the next few years. My dear husband is on temporary assignment with the UN and we decided to run away from home for a while. Right now, I’d say I’m learning my way in a totally new life and that includes getting to know the city I live in as well as a new language.
2. Tell us a bit about your current WIP / latest release. Well...I haven’t had a release out for a while because this move has taken so much of my time here recently. I will have a short out called A Lover For Rachel out by the end of the month. I’ve been working on the novel I’ve loving called Where’s My Underwear? for a while and it’s almost ready for submission by my agent to various markets. It’s a wonderful Scottish theme contemporary. I’m also working on another Scottish piece called Her Bonny Shores I hope to have released here shortly as well.
3. How do you work, do you pick a title first, or characters names, or how they look? It really depends upon what the story tells me. Sometimes it’s a picture like in the book I previously mentioned, Where’s My Underwear? that I found a picture and I wondered what the story would be. I found out when they started to talk to me...they being the characters...LOL! Sometimes a title is all that comes to me...like another WIP I have going called Sex Toys and Giveaways...which came to me during a critique sessions. We were all rolling by the end of the evening. Others will totally start with the characters. I’ve had one guy hanging around for years but he won’t tell me his story yet. I’m hoping he will soon because he’s one hot dude! LOL!
4. When did you know that writing was your passion? When I was twelve. I wrote what I thought was the next Gone With The Wind and lovingly cared for it for at least the next few years. I still have some of the original artwork a friend drew for me.
5. What was your first book and how long did it take to get it published? Not counting the one I did when I was twelve? Well, it didn’t...matter of fact...there were about four that didn’t get published before I finally did get something out there. I’m thinking about dragging all those old things out and seeing if they can be saved. I have a great crit group that will be honest with me about them. If there’s a possibility, maybe I’ll revive them. Now about my sixth story was a science fiction short that I revamped a little called Fluke. It did get published and spawned a series, The Orchid Series, which I hope to have book three out next year.
6. What some don’t realize is that writing is a discipline and you have to proportion a part of your day to it – how long does it usually take you to complete a manuscript? Again, it totally depends upon my manuscript. Some won’t shut-up and I’ve been known to complete them in a month or less. It also depends upon the word count. I can easily pound out a 20K novella in a week. Longer manuscripts can take a long time, especially if I’m world-building because I tend to be very anal in that case and want it all perfect.
7. Do you outline your plots first? Or are you like me and just go hell for leather? I am just like you and go all out. I’m a true pantser in most cases. The stories I have to plan are longer works that are series, like the fantasy romance I’ve been working of for a long time. I’ve planned that one totally out and am in the process of learning a whole new language just so I can put it in the book. I didn’t want to make up my own, so I’ll be using Gaelic as the base. I’ve already taken a three month course and now I’ve enrolled in the Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, a Gaelic only college on the Isle of Skye. This series is truly a labor of love.
8. Out of your body of work – do you have a favourite character?This is really a hard one. I would say that all my characters are my favorite. There are ones that I concentrate more on than others but to me, they are like children and I can’t chose just one. LOL! Right now, it would have to be my Scottish based heroes...I couldn’t live without them!
9. If you were to offer advice to someone starting out, what would you say? It’s a line from one of my favorite movies: Never give up, never surrender. That’s from Galaxy Quest and it’s so true about writing. You have to believe in yourself that you’ll always strive to get better but never give up submitting until you get the call. It will come but one must have patience and persistence as it won’t come until you’re ready and not one second before.
10. Who are your favourite authors, in any genre? I have a lot of favorites. One thing I do is find all the cheap authors on Kindle and Kobo as I know I’ll find one or two worth following and buying all their stuff. I love reading Linnea Sinclair, Melissa Schroeder, Cindy Spencer Pape, Diane Deeds, Ann Duran and almost any Carina Press or eXtasy Books author. I love people who have been around for years like Jennifer Robberson, C.J. Cherryh, and Kathleen O’Neal. My tastes are wide and varied. Right now I’m reading two sci-fi works, three romances and studying three research books.
11. If you hadn’t chosen writing, or rather, writing hadn’t chosen you, what do you think you would be doing for a living? This one’s hard as I can’t imagine doing anything else other than writing. If I had to choose another profession I’d probably be a doctor or something like that as I love helping people. Maybe work for the UN like my husband does. Its mission is truly incredible if you take the time to look at the big picture.
12. What do you do in your free time? And don’t say writing! One of the big reasons I came to Austria is to travel Europe. I’d been to the UK and Scotland twice but not to Europe proper until this past February. There were promises I made my husband give me when we came here and one of them was travel without him worrying about the cost as his Scottish nature comes out when talking money. LOL! We’ll be doing our first trip either this weekend or next and we plan to go to Salzburg. It should be great fun!
13. What makes you laugh? It’s hard to say. I can find humor in almost every situation but there are days I can’t stand my husband’s very dry comedy. Recently, when I’d gone back to the States to finish getting all out things accumulated after 20 years in the same house packed and away, I saw Friends With Benefits with my best friend. We laughed our asses off. That’s one of the first romantic comedies I’ve seen in a long time that was truly joyous. Everyone who writes romance should see it.
14. What irritates you most about other people? When they’re rude. I’ve had a couple of instances of that here and it’s been mainly because of the language barrier. That’s why I’m taking a class. LOL!
And finally….
15. Would you like to share with us your favourite joke? I’m really not a joke person and the only one that comes to mind starts like this...two Irishmen came out of a bar...no wait, it can really happen. LOL! And Irishmen can be substituted with any ethnic group...Scotsmen, English, American...you name it.
Thank you for coming to chat, Lynn and I wish you many sales.
Thanks...I’ve enjoyed being here!
It's been a pleasure talking with Lynn and you can find her at:-
And here’s a little taster of
The Haunting of Maggie Grey
Available NOW at eXtasy Books!
Part of the Tarot Series
Winner of the prestigious EPIC eBook Award in the Historical Erotic Romance category!
BLURB:
Maggie Grey had wanted to be a doctor all her life. She achieved her dream along with her husband, Justin. Together they planned to build a clinic on his ancestral home on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. But women doctors in the year 1882 didn’t have many options and even fewer if they were widowed like she had been recently. Arriving in England to visit Elizabeth Blackwell, founder of the London Medical School for Woman, she is discouraged to find that the only real health care on the remote Isle of Skye will be herself, a few aging doctors as well as veterinary doctors.
But she must build a clinic there to escape her memories and fulfill her late husband’s dream. Maggie goes by train and boat to the rather bleak Isle of Skye. The island is almost as barren as she feels and she isn’t sure if she can even fit in. Add the fact that her dead husband is haunting her with the request for her to fall in love again and she knows she’s losing her mind.
But the people of Skye need her…and she is determined not to let them down...but they are slow to accept a widowed woman doctor. Now if she were married again…that would be a different matter…and her dead husband, Justin, knows just the right man for the job, Conall MacGryman, his childhood friend and cousin, a veterinary for the island. Now all Justin has to do is to convince Maggie to give the man a chance so she can fall in love again…for both their sakes.
TEASER EXCERPT:
Maggie sighed again for what seemed like the millionth time and looked around the small ferry house. Very few people remained as all were picked up by others or had walked out themselves. The room was little more than a floor, walls and a ceiling in her estimation. She supposed they were lucky it had a bathroom facility.
She wondered where the carriage could be. It had taken them about four hours to get across on the ferry and another hour just to make sure all their luggage was with them. She could not afford to lose one precious piece of medical equipment. She had taken a large portion of the inheritance Justin had left her to obtain those supplies. A feeling of abandonment overcame her as she stood in the midst of all the boxes and parcels.
“Are you sure they knew you were coming, young lady?”
“Of course, Mrs. Andrews. Elizabeth was actually the one who informed them we were on our way. I saw her write the letter myself. I expected someone to meet us here long ago.” She looked around the ferry depot, praying she had not missed whoever came to pick them up. “Maybe I should go outside and check. A lot of these men are crofters and might not feel comfortable inside.”
Going outside the ferry house, she looked around at all the hustle and bustle as well as the mud kicked up by both carriage and horse as the last of the passengers finally left. It had rained quite hard during their ride on the ferry and the crossing had taken longer because of it. But it was going on three hours since their landing and surely the sun would be soon setting. Straining to see the land, she tried to discern if there were any accommodations where they could stay for the night.
“Miss?”
The deep voice resonated through her being and she whirled to see who had spoken. The man standing before her, a full head and a half taller than she, appeared gigantic. His barrel chest and muscular forearms spoke of a life of hard labor as did his huge callused hands. His blatant sexuality with his bedroom eyes and roguish smile made her heart do things it had not in months. “Yes?” Her voice came out in a breathless whisper.
“Are yeu Margaret Grey?”
Even if she straightened to her full height, she would feel small in this man’s presence.
“I am Conall MacGryman and I am here to take yeu to Roskill.”
Bypassing his handsome face and glancing again at his size, it was all she could do to nod her head and pray she was not making a mistake.
It's been lovely having Lynn here today :)
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