Interview With Author B. Lynn Goodwin
Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve written four books, Disrupted, Talent, Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62, and You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers. I also own Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com. When I started Writer Advice in 1997, I was also a caregiver/ personal assistant helping my mother. Long story. I was also an Adult Literacy Specialist, and there are stories there. I’ve taught drama and English in high school and college, and a gazillion years ago, I graduated from Vassar College, got a masters from SFSU, and picked up a couple of credentials. I’m married and became a step-mom and Grandma Lynn without ever giving birth.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book, Disrupted, was inspired by my time teaching at San Ramon High School and California High School along with my memories of the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. There are so many ways a life can be disrupted, and Sandee Mason deals with both physical disruption and the emotional upheaval caused by the loss of her brother.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I don’t know of any, but what’s normal to one person might be unusual to another. One thing might be that whenever I finish a book I make a list of the subjects it’s about, which helps me when I go to review it. Another is that when I finish a rough draft, I make a list of what the piece is about and what I want it to be about, which guides the next draft.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
Since I read like a writer, I’m often influenced by the book I’m currently reading. I read a lot for reviews for Writer Advice and sorting out what does and doesn’t work helps me with my own writing and journaling. The authors of psychological thrillers influence me as well as the ones who use effective description. Sorry I cannot come up with names.
What are you working on now?
I’m always working on Writer Advice. I’m journaling and processing a great deal right now. I’m working on short memoir pieces about aging gracefully, surviving an RV wreck, the effects of two concussions in one summer, and the world we’re leaving to the next generations.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I’m not sure I’ve found that website, though I share my reviews on Writer Advice with Amazon and others.
A lot of my promotion comes from asking people I know either in person or online to read and review my book. Promotion is hard, but I can refer you to a couple of women I know who do it particularly well if you contact me through www.writeradvice.com.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Journal a lot, take time to digest what you read and hear, read in your favorite genres, write reviews for authors you admire, and let your story come to you–even if it comes at about 500 words a day, 5 days a week. Write the story that only you can write.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
You don’t lose until you quit trying.
If trying hard doesn’t work, try differently.
There are no mistakes — only new material.
What are you reading now?
I’m reading a book for a contest I’m helping to judge. I can’t say more about that.
I just finished Eleanor Vincent’s Disconnected, which I strongly recommend if you live with anyone who’s neurodivergent.
I’m reading submissions for Writer Advice’s Current Contest.
Next, I’ll be reading books sent for review. The three that are tied for next are We Are Watching, The Younger Girl, and The Trip. Also The Family Inside which is on my desktop in PDF format.
What’s next for you as a writer?
That’s an excellent question. Right now, I’m trying to figure many things out. I have a book on the back burner — recently I called it a book behind the back burner — and I do a lot of short pieces and write up a lot of events in my journal before reflecting on them. One of my goals is to help writers using my editing skills and advice.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I’d bring a book about survival, and three others from my TBR stack. I’m sitting next to it right now and it’s hard to pick but I’m quite curious about Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake, because she’s a wonderful writer and Elin Hilderbrand’s The Five Star Weekend, because she’s such a popular writer. Maybe my fourth would be an older collection I never got to called Modern American Memoirs, so I could read how other people survived their own version of being stranded one way or another.
Author Websites and Profiles
B. Lynn Goodwin Amazon Profile
B. Lynn Goodwin’s Social Media Links
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