Good Afternoon, Friends and welcome. Thank you for stopping by last week for my Cinco de Mayo post. It was great seeing you. Today I am turning the reins over to author Lyn Gardner, author of ‘Choices.’ I am currently reading this book and am also looking to discuss it with other readers. Let’s go meet Lyn.
When Lynn invited me to do an article for her book blog, initially I was thrilled and then reality rat-tailed me in the ass. How could I write something about my new book, Choices, without giving away what it contains? I mean, just writing the book jacket blurb caused a bottle or two of Cabernet to meet its demise. Sigh. So, I stepped back, poured some coffee (too early for wine) and began thinking about the keywords I could use to describe Choices. I came up with the following:
ROMANCE: If you’ve read any of my books, you already know I’m a card-carrying romantic. In this day and age, we see the harsh realities of the world whenever we turn on the TV or read the newspaper. It’s there in print, on video, in Snapchat, and on Twitter. It is, after all, the world we live in; however, it doesn’t have to be the world we live in all the time. And I’m not talking about happy endings. I’m talking about the unhurried build of anticipation between the two leading ladies, about hearts that beat faster and pulses that race, about tongues that get tied when hormones begin to rage, about the simmer before the boil, and the slow before the fast…all of which describe Choices.
THE LEADING LADIES: The main characters in Choices are slightly older than most found in today’s lesfic. Don’t get me wrong. I like writing about thirty-somethings. Thirty-somethings appear in most of my books; however, forty-somethings and fifty-somethings bring a little more to the table. The passage of time carries with it the life lessons that help to mold us as individuals. It also brings with it the baggage we pick up along the way. Baggage in the form of mistakes or regrets, it can straighten our backbones…or bend them.
Both of my leading ladies have slightly slumped shoulders. Robin Novak is weighed down by a disastrous relationship that took away her confidence, shattering her belief in herself and her abilities as a writer. Judy Dunnigan, for the most part, feels as if she’s on the downhill side of her life. She doesn’t expect change, and she doesn’t expect surprises. The last ended her marriage of over twenty years, so Judy plods through one mundane day after another, her expectations now limited to the sun coming up, the sun going down…repeat.
As I write this, it sounds as if I’ve created two very boring leading ladies, but then again, to tell you anything else would ruin the story. I can say they are far from boring. I can say they are stronger than they both believe, and I can say that when Robin’s high-school crush walks back into her life…all bets are off.
THE SETTING: My goals when I write a book are simple. I want to entertain. I want to enthrall, and if possible, I’d also like to leave the reader with some tidbit of information they didn’t know before they read my book. It can be as simple as a word they’d never heard or perhaps a custom from a foreign land, or the case of Choices, a place in the United States like no other.
The setting for Choices is an integral part of the story. As much a character in the book as the two leads, Judy and Robin, its history and ambiance set a stage far too scrumptious for this writer to ignore. It added to the mood, to the plot, to the twists, and to the turns, and it wasn’t born from this writer’s overactive imagination. Yes, New York City is real, and yes, so is Chicago, and so are many other cities and towns across this country, but this one…this one, I can honestly say, is unique.
CONFLICT: It’s what drives the story. It provides the fuel, the oxygen, and the spark, and you can’t write fiction without it. There has to be a struggle, whether physical, mental, emotional, internal or external, it’s what grabs the reader and holds them—hopefully. That’s the good part because Choices contains several. The bad part is I can’t talk about them. To mention any of them would ruin it for those who haven’t yet read the book. I will say I don’t believe you’ll be disappointed. I will say, to a certain extent, both internal and external conflicts exist, but other than that I won’t ruin this roller coaster ride called Choices for anyone. And I hope you don’t either.
In closing, I’d like to thank Lynn Lawler for giving me the opportunity to talk about my book, Choices. I do apologize for being unable to reveal more, yet I hope if you choose to read Choices, you’ll understand why.
LynPurchase ‘Choices‘
Thank you, Lyn, for your nice guest blog. ‘Choices‘ is available on Amazon and is a really great book. Stay tuned for my upcoming review. Be sure to stop by next week when I’ll be presenting something new.
Until Next Time,
Nameste
Lynn
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