Robyn: Hello, Lynne, and welcome to www.OnceUponARomance.net. I’m so excited to have you with us today. It’s an honor for me to get to talk to you as one of the writers of Medical Romance. I thoroughly enjoy the medical romance genre and find it to be a fresh look at romance. It’s reality fiction (like ‘reality TV’) to me because the situations are totally plausible.
I know you only started writing in 2001. You’ve had an amazing writing career in a short time! Can you tell us a little of the story of how you decided to write books and how long you had dreamed of writing before starting?
Lynne: I am a notorious late bloomer, and I mean late! I honestly didn’t know I wanted to be a writer until my kids grew up. I’d always been an avid reader, though, and would often rewrite the ending to books. I knew I had an overactive imagination since I was a child. In fact, I use to worry that something was wrong with me. I couldn’t figure out why I had these saga type day dreams, and how I’d slip back into them whenever I got the chance – say while I was doing house work, or driving to pick up the kids. I call the day I realized I needed to write down one story in particular, my official mid-life crisis. After All, the title of my very first book, will always be my favorite, though it is definitely not publish-worthy. :-(
Robyn: How did you celebrate your first sale?
Lynne: The day I got the call at 7:30 a.m. November 8th 2005, I was heading out the door to go to work. I could hardly concentrate all day, and being an RN, I really needed to pay attention to what I was doing. I told every person I knew at the hospital who I thought would appreciate my accomplishment. A lot of people looked at me like I was lying or something, and others thought I’d immediately be going on Oprah.
One of the doctors I worked for at the time, a published infectious disease author herself, said we should call our corner of the department the author’s wing, and I wanted to cry I was so touched by her comment. When I got home, my DH had cooked me dinner, put fresh flowers on the table, and even bought me a small bottle of champagne (he doesn’t drink). The day was perfect, but I’ve got to say what meant the most to me was sharing my news with my writing buddies, and reading their congratulatory e-mails made me cry again and again.
Robyn: What wonderful memories of your first sale.
Since you come from the medical profession, I perceive you as organized and structured. Do you write in a structured and scheduled way? If so, what do you do if you wake up in the middle of the night with a scene playing in your head? Do you get up and type, take a note or roll over and hope for the best?
Lynne: Regarding the middle of the night - I’ve done all three, actually, and the one that lets me get the best sleep is writing the scene on a scratch pad. My brain then relaxes and I can roll over and go back to sleep. As for my writing schedule, I have now made the leap into writing full time, so I keep a schedule when I am writing a book of either five pages a day or 3,000 words. The rest of the time I use to keep up my website, guest blog, check all the various loops I’m on, or revise and edit other projects. And you’re right, in order to survive as a nurse you must be organized. I find that survival mentality has helped me tremendously as a writer.
Robyn: Have you ever had any suggestions from a reader that you thought had merit and you incorporated them into one of your books?
Lynne: I’ve had plenty of suggestions from readers, but none that I’ve used. I prefer to stumble onto my ideas on my own. My critique partners have made some awesome suggestions, though, and I’m not too proud to say I’ve used them! Ha ha
Robyn: I’ve read in a few places about how you write Lady Lit. I hadn’t heard that term before and found the explanation was captivating. Would you please tell our readers what you mean when you say you write Lady Lit? I will admit that as I grow older, I appreciate these more mature heroines.
Lynne: Lady Lit is what I call stories written with a more mature woman in mind. I don’t know about you, but I get tired of reading stories about twenty-somethings falling in love. I am a firm believer that love has no age limit, and it’s never too late to fall in love. I am pleased to say that I now have an agent shopping one of my forty-something heroines around, and I promise to let you know the minute I sell one of those stories. I firmly believe there is an untapped market out there of like-minded women who want to read a story with a heroine who is more like them with a few wrinkles and rolls, if you catch my drift, :-) and realistic heroes ready to love them.
Robyn: As a woman who’s got more than a few wrinkles and rolls, I have to agree there’s a whole new world out there. Please keep us posted because I know I would want to support stories with older women who are just like me.
In your opinion, can you get too bogged down with description and detail, as in clothes, rooms, transportation or medical procedures? How do you find a happy medium that will give enough detail to stir the reader’s imagination but not give too much so as it takes away from the story? How do you know if it’s too much? Is it harder to maintain this balance with medical situations than it is with clothes, rooms and transportation?
Lynne: This is really a tough question, because there are so many different tastes when it comes to reading. I try to give just enough information to the reader to set the stage for the scene, and not interfere with it. However, I tend to get a bit long-winded on the medical procedures because of the specific line I write for. Some of my books I consider to be "med-lite" while others go deeper into the OR or ER, depending on the characters. I also try to increase the magnitude of the medical scenes as the emotional content of the story deepens. Also, the fact that I write for an International market doesn’t allow me to use product or brand names, though occasionally I sneak one in. It bothers me when an author drops too many designer names into their work.
Robyn, if I knew the magic combination for keeping description and detail in check, I’d certainly use it. That’s where good critique partners come in handy.
Have you learned anything about yourself while writing novels? If so, what have you learned about yourself that really surprised you?
Lynne: I’ve always thought of myself as a practical girl – a no-nonsense can-do person. What I’ve come to learn about myself since I started writing books, romance in particular, is that I am a drama queen! Who knew? However, I definitely like to mix in a bit of humor to offset the heavy situations I often have to write about. I used to think of myself as a bit of a card, but it is really hard to write "funny" without going over the top or falling flat. My hat is off to those who can write romantic comedy. Wish I could. In the meantime, I’ll stick to the drama queen bit.
Robyn: For some fun, I’m asking everyone to tell us how adept or how challenged they are in the kitchen. We’re also wondering if you have any culinary disasters lurking in your past that we might enjoy hearing about?
Lynne: Though I’m not a gourmet cook, I am definitely adept in the kitchen. And resourceful. When my kids come home for a visit, they’ll look in the refrigerator and comment: There’s nothing to eat. I take a look and say, "Are you kidding, I can come up with four meals form what you don’t see!" Fortunately, I married an easy to please man, though he’s been a vegetarian for the last ten years, and I’m not. I love challenges!
My kitchen disasters come from being clumsy. I can’t seem to bake without burning myself. One time I wound up with a quarter-sized burn on my upper, inner arm, and I had to keep explaining to people that it was from cooking. How in the heck I did that, I still can’t remember!
Robyn: LOL! Thankfully, I remain burn free…most of the time. :-) OK, here are some more fun questions. Salty (chips, pretzels, etc.) or Sweet (candy, cookies, etc.)?
Lynne: First the sweet stuff, (I’m a cookie monster) then I need the salty. I can’t live without both of them!
Robyn: Tub or shower?
Lynne: Shower, but out of necessity. If I had one of those gorgeous sprawling tubs, I’d use it baby!
Robyn: Let’s fast forward in time, way in the future, to the point when you have retired from writing and decide to write an autobiography. What would surprise the reader the most and what would the title be?
Lynne: I’ve explored many creative outlets in my life. My first passion was dancing, and I even got a scholarship. Found out I was too much of an introvert to pull that one off. I’ve written music, love to sing, and if I could be a piano bar singer for one night I’d leap at the chance. The title for my autobiography would be reflective of my late bloomer status: It’s Never Too Late.
Robyn: One more question just for fun. I know you like taking day trips with your husband. If you had unlimited time off your nursing job and it’s all expenses paid…where would you go on your dream vacation?
Lynne: Ooh, I like that question. As a matter of fact, my husband has offered me a "special" trip anywhere I want in 2010 and I have been yearning for years to explore Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick – the Canadian Maritimes. I want to visit the little fishing villages and towns, see where Anne of Green Gables grew up, and feel transported back in time. Once we’ve done the up close and personal bit, I want to finish it off with a cruise through the St. Lawrence Seaway and along the northeast Atlantic. Best time of year? Fall of course.
Robyn: WOW! That sounds like a wonderful trip. Hope you’ll post a lot of photos on your website. I never thought of going to see Anne of Green Gables home, but I loved and read each of those stories many times.
Lynne, is there anything else you’d like to make sure your readers know?
Lynne: Though Medical Romance is a very small sub genre of the romance market, I love to write it because of my deep respect for the nursing profession. Through my characters I try to show that respect, and I hope I do them justice. Being a nurse is one of the toughest jobs on earth. Thank goodness for the women and men who work at the bedside and offer to care for the sick and dying.
Robyn: I want to thank you, Lynne, for taking time from your writing to talk to me. I enjoy the Medical Romance books and hope that your Lady Lit idea really takes off. It’s been a genuine pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for sharing with us.