#BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--AN INTERVIEW WITH ROMANTIC MYSTERY AUTHOR LYNN SLAUGHTER

Today we sit down for a chat with Lynn Slaughter, author of adult contemporary romantic mystery. Learn more about Lynn and her books at her website. 

When did you realize you wanted to write novels? 

Throughout my adult life, I continued to love and read young adult fiction. But I didn’t think I had the fiction gene! While I was still dancing, I moonlighted as a freelancer and wrote magazine articles. Initially, I wrote mainly about dance, but then I switched to specializing in writing about the joys and challenges of parenting adolescents for regional parenting magazines. When age and injury led to my retirement from dance, I got an idea for a young adult novel about an aspiring dancer with romantic and family troubles. Honestly, I think it started out as a therapy project for me. I was grieving the loss of dance in my life and writing about a dancer felt like a way to connect to the world I’d loved for so long. Once I started writing what became While I Danced, I was hooked and ended up returning to school in my sixties to earn my MFA in Popular Writing from Seton Hill University. 

 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication? 

I worked on my first novel, While I Danced, on and off for a decade before it was published.

 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author? 

Traditionally published

 

Where do you write? 

Mainly in my home office. I also love writing on trains.

 

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind? 

I love the American Songbook as well as classical music. As I’m writing this, I’m listening to Sarah Vaughan, one of my all-time favorite vocalists.

 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular? 

I think there are pieces of me and others I’ve known or worked with in my characters, but I’ve never written a character who’s a twin of anyone from real life. The closest novel to reflecting my own experience is undoubtedly my first in which Cass, the protagonist, is an aspiring dancer. Like me, her strengths are her musicality and expressiveness. But she also struggles with learning movement sequences quickly. Also like me, she has a father who doesn’t approve of her pursuing a career in dance and doesn’t want to talk about her absent mother. Cass’s father, however, has very different reasons for his behavior.

 

A theme that runs through my work is the need to create an “intentional family” when your family of origin does not support who you are and who you dream of becoming. That’s undoubtedly a reflection of having counseled so many teens who’ve struggled with family issues.

   

Describe your process for naming your character: 

I have a book of baby names which not only gives their origins, but what they mean. I love pouring through it and choosing names that seem to fit my characters. I also sometimes use parts of names of people from my childhood. I’ve used favorite teachers’ names, neighbors’ last names, etc.

 

Real settings or fictional towns? 

I’ve done both. Leisha’s Song is set at a fictional boarding school in a fictional New England town within driving distance of Boston.

 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has? 

In Leisha’s Song, Cody, a cellist (with a tendency to walk around with bed hair), will do just about anything to break down Leisha’s resolve not to date him—including dressing up as a country singer and playing one of Kenny Chesney’s love songs on the cello for her.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk? 

I love the holidays and start playing Christmas music by the end of August!

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written) which one would it be? Why? 

I absolutely loved the children’s book, Wonder, by RJ Pallacio. August, a ten-year-old boy with a facial deformity, longs to be a regular kid accepted by his peers. This book touched me so deeply, and the character’s voice is unforgettable.

 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours? 

I married my first husband right out of college to please my father. My first husband was a wonderful man, but we were not a good match. Needless to say, the marriage didn’t last. On the other hand, had I not married him, I never would have had my firstborn son, who has brought such joy and meaning to my life.

 

 What’s your biggest pet peeve? 

Intolerant, unkind people.

 

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves? 

My husband, enough food and drink to survive, and a boatload of books.

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held? 

I once worked in a bookstore where the manager repeatedly lectured me on proper vacuuming techniques and wouldn’t allow me to read, even if there were no customers.

 

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?  

See above- Wonder!

 

Ocean or mountains? 

Ocean

 

City girl or country girl? 

City girl

 

What’s on the horizon for you? 

I’m thrilled that my fourth YA novel, Deadly Setup, will come out from Fire and Ice in 2022.

 

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books? 

I’m a hopeless romantic! Also, I love paying it forward and supporting other writers.

 

Leisha’s Song

Leisha has always been the ultimate pleaser. She never intended to fall in love with classical singing, become an amateur detective, or get involved with Cody Harrington. But now she finds herself on a direct collision course with her African American grandfather, the only parent she’s ever known. But a more immediate danger looms as she draws closer to uncovering the truth about her mentor’s disappearance, putting her life in grave danger.

 

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