Author: Gigi Lynn (Page 6 of 9)

Questions for Discussion: The Lies We Tell

September 12, 2021 / Gigi Lynn

I thought I would be able to practice courage in a few small things first, just to get in the way of it. Fate and my stepbrother Hugh had different ideas.

We had only lived in Bexhill a few months when Hugh was shot dead by a smuggler, ironically in a peaceful wooded field situated between the shops on Hastings Road and St. Peter’s church, right in the center of town.

Then everything changed, and there was no time to dabble in courage. I must spring right in, or perhaps I should say, be plunged in, whether I would or not.

Questions:

1. Amelia claims she wants to learn how to be courageous, but she doesn’t feel that she chooses her brave actions. What impels her to do such unprecedented and daring things?

2. Mr. Jones was very different from Amelia. His life was completely outside her experience. Why did that make her so nervous?

3. When you meet someone whose life, culture, experience, or outlook are different than yours, does it make you nervous? What do you do?

4. Amelia cannot ignore or walk away from the young women who are being abused. Have you ever witnessed something you couldn’t walk away from?

5. Have you ever seen something and felt powerless to help? What do you do?

6. What did your family do to encourage social justice and awareness in you?

7. Amelia is accustomed to being seen and treated in a certain way. She expects and even encourages that response, yet suddenly she is frustrated with how she is viewed. Have you ever felt limited by others’ assumptions/views of you? What did you or do, or what do you think you would do?

8. What is it about Mr. Jones that appeals to Amelia?

9. In what ways does Amelia change over the novel?

Are You a Plotter or a Pantser?

September 5, 2021 / Gigi Lynn

Some writers begin a new project by creating an in-depth outline, a detailed plan of what will happen in each chapter. They may start and keep a Character Bible right from the outset, where they record all the details about each character, including background, preferences, fears, and quirks. With this information at hand, the conflict and dialogue can be personal and consistent. Some writers are what we call Plotters.

Other writers begin a new book with a blank page and a few ideas floating around in their brains. (Or perhaps a deadline and anxiety). Maybe they’ve seen something or someone who has sparked one idea. They may have dreamed up one scene or imagined one character. These writers dive right in, not necessarily knowing what is going to happen next. They often don’t know all of the characters who will populate their story. Some writers are Pantsers.

Guess which I am.

It wasn’t even difficult, was it?

Every time I begin a new story, I think, “I will plan this one out.” Sometimes I even make a loose outline. And then I actually start putting words on paper. And every single time, the characters literally take over.

I’m still surprised about things that happened in my latest novel, The Lies We Tell. The main character, Amelia already had the seed of a romantic interest planted in the previous book (The Secrets We Keep). I had a vague plan to develop that relationship in Lies. Nope! Perry Gerow just wasn’t doing his job. She needed someone who would challenge her, someone who saw her more clearly. Poor Perry. He got relegated to the friend zone. (Just a little bit of a spoiler).

And where did the Hydra House girls come from? I’m sure I was more shocked than anyone at that twist. It was definitely not in the outline! Honestly, I did not make that stuff up. My mind doesn’t work that way. Part way through the novel writing, I thought to myself, who is Amelia? What is she doing? And Why? Who will she become? I could hardly wait to find out.

I’m wondering if there are Plotters and Pantsers in life as well as in writing. Do you wake up in the morning (or the night before) and make a plan, write a list, have a schedule? Are you able to stay on your set course?

Or do you climb out of bed to see what the day will bring? Maybe you start with one general idea of what you’d like to do or one person you think you should see. Do you often find your life has other ideas. (It has a life of its own?)

Which are you, Plotter or Pantser?

Would you like to experiment with time?

August 30, 2021 / Gigi Lynn

Recently Fiddler on the Roof came up in a conversation with my granddaughter. The chorus of this song has been running through my mind ever since:

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laiden with happiness and tears

SUNRISE, SUNSET Composed By Jerry Bock, Lyrics By Sheldon Harnick

As the evening air begins to cool and the trees change colors in the mountains, I’ve been looking back. It’s been a full summer. Many of you have posted your hikes, vacations, family reunions, milestones. Some have shared struggles or illness, sadness or doubts. I’ve had a little of both happiness and tears this summer too.

As the season changes, take a moment with me and measure how far you’ve come. Did you try something new this summer or take a next step on our planned journey? Or have you experienced one of those surprising twists that changed your direction and forced you to make new plans? What have you learned? How have you changed? I’d love to hear about it. Comment below.

And I invite you to write about it. Amazing insights and even more growth happen when I write my thoughts and experiences.

Now look forward with me. More than January, September always feels like the beginning of a new year. What do you want to happen this Fall/Winter? What do you want to learn? What habits to establish? What relationships to build, heal, or improve? What do you want to accomplish spiritually, socially, physically, intellectually/mentally? I’d love to hear about this too.

Swiftly flow the days
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laiden with happiness and tears

SUNRISE, SUNSET By Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick

Maybe–I hope–if we take a few moments to think about, write about, talk about the past season and the one coming, the passage of time won’t seem such a blur. We can make time slow down. We can twist it and turn it, look at it from all sides and from the inside out.

It might only be for a few moments and then time will speed up again and we’ll be right in the middle of the movement and sound and demands of our lives, but maybe it will all look just a little different after our step out of time.

Take a breath. Maybe another.

Okay. Back to life. I look forward to a new season of growth with you.

Are You Branded?

August 15, 2021 / Gigi Lynn

Writing a book? That’s hard.

Photo by Florencia Viadana on Unsplash

Figuring out the author site, the social media thing, the marketing? Hahahaha. I think this is true of many authors (and other artist types), but it is more true for some of us than others.

Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash

To counteract my tech unsavvy, I have leaned upon my children. This month I asked Megan to help me with a logo. Just a simple one. She is good at it. It would be fun, right?

Apparently, I didn’t understand what is involved in creating a logo. Megan had assignments for me, and tests. Okay, they may not have been tests; they may have been questionnaires about branding. So, I have expanded my view of my work, my image, my brand.

I found that in branding terms, I am foremost a Creator. Then pretty equally, I am also an explorer, and the girl next door. How does that work? I’m a writer. It’s simple, right?

I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, trying to get it straight in my mind. This is how I’ve started thinking. Maybe you have some more insight you can share.

First, an obvious statement: I write clean regency romances. Someday I may write in other eras or other genres, but I know there will always be a romantic element in any story I write. I just love relationships. I believe in love as a power. I write about love. That’s me, the writer. (Creator).

However, a writer is only one part of who I am and the life I live. Is the writer so very different from who I am as the neighbor, the friend, or part of a family? In some ways certainly, but one constant is that relationships are important to me. I believe love is a power. I’m in love with love. (Is this the explorer? The girl next-door?)

I may write alone, but you are always there in my thoughts. Who are you? What does your journey look like? I know you have a lot of interests and responsibilities. I think you must have a sense of humor. You like the power of words to help you to see the world through someone else’s eyes. You care. And you love love too. It’s not a lot to know about you. I’d like to know more. Part of why I write on this site is because I’d like to build a relationship with you. I’d like for you to know me, and I’d like to know you better.

So, then I find myself asking how do we intersect and interact? What relationship do I want/can I build with you? And how? (Probably the girl next door thing)

Add the element of my books, as if they are a separate entity. Often they seem to have a life of their own. The characters and their experiences and the themes have a part to play. I try to write about people who are learning new things, often about themselves. I need my characters to grow and change over the course of their story. They are going to make mistakes and do stupid things, but they are going to love deeply. And love will conquer all. Factor that in.

Finally, there is the experience that I want you to have when you read. Some descriptors are: entertained, charmed, hopeful, relaxed, renewed. I like the words whimsy and delight.

All those pieces will hopefully come together in my “Brand.” And I may get a logo. I will be changing my site–different colors, different look. (Watch for changes). It will still be me writing romance, but hopefully everything I do here will reflect all of it–who I am, who you are, the books, the characters, the reading experience (and the characters’ experience), and mostly the relationships (of you and me and of the books and characters). And hopefully it will reflect our belief in love.

Photo by Susn Matthiessen on Unsplash

How Do You Remember the Good Stuff?

August 8, 2021 / Gigi Lynn

Last Weekend was EXCITING! Really it was wonderful. I published the second novel in my Illusions series.

https://www.amazon.com/Lies-We-Tell-Illusions-ebook/dp/B09BJ2CXZT/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=gigi+l

We also had a family reunion. Health kept my father from attending, but all my siblings were there. Most of their children (and ours) were there. Most of their grandchildren (and ours) were there. We have not been together for–well, I can’t remember the last time. We talked, we reminisced, we played games, we took family pictures in a cow pasture. It was so much fun.

But, and I hate that so often there is a but.

While we were gone, our basement flooded–a lot! Two of our sons pulled back the carpet, vacuumed the water, and started the fans. Then they came down to the reunion.

Then on the way home, another son had car trouble. So, we stopped at the cabin and spent the night. The next day we loaded his car on the trailer and started home together.

The story isn’t finished. On the way home, our pick-up threw a rod. I hate that I know what this is. I hope you never find out. I will tell you this: The pick-up is dead. The only way to fix it is to rebuild the engine or replace it. (And it is an older, high mileage truck. It’s not worth doing).

This meant that another of our sons had to come to the little town about 40 miles from home and hook the trailer up to his vehicle and tow it home.

We got home and the basement had flooded again. And today, with the help of one of our sons, we get to go and pick up the useless pick-up.

And I haven’t even mentioned the cost of this little weekend. Nor the fact that I somehow left my phone at the cabin, nor the complaint of one neighbor that caused the city to send us a notice about parking our trailer, when it’s not at the cabin, by the side of our house.

Two paragraphs about some really great things. Seven about some really awful things. But the good things were amazing, and look at how lucky we are to have four of our five living sons available and so willing to give us a hand. That has to be added to the good things, doesn’t it?

Still, I find myself thinking more about how to work through and recover from all the bad luck, and not nearly enough time remembering the good stuff.

How do you do it? Because, let’s be honest. Somehow this bad stuff will pass. We’ll fix the basement. We’ll live without a pick-up for awhile until we can save some money and find one we can afford. (We gotta have one while we’re renovating the cabin). Life will go on, and mostly our life is pretty wonderful. So how do we remember that? How do we think more on the connections with our family, and our achievements, and the kindness of friends and neighbors (who offer to help and loan us their chains and come-alongs)?

I’m sitting in my very comfortable living room in my really beautiful house, with a computer on my lap, and I’m writing. That needs to go in the good column. I am pretty healthy. In a few minutes I’ll go into the kitchen and eat. There is food in my kitchen–plenty really. We have a car. We have work we enjoy, mostly. We have family and friends. We have a lifetime of rich experiences and joyful memories.

Bad stuff happens, sure. And this isn’t anywhere near the worst we’ve experienced. But we have so much good in our life. I want to remember that, even in the midst of the difficult times. How do you do it?

So Excited to Introduce:

July 30, 2021 / Gigi Lynn

Book Two of the Illusions series went live this week!

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61EAXpq0gHL.AC_UY436_FMwebp_QL65.jpg

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BJ2CXZT/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=gigi+lynn&qid=1627668884&sr=8-3

I’ve become so fond of Amelia over the last few months. I’m hoping you will enjoy getting to know her and her bold, brash Mr. Jones as they break some rules, get into some trouble, and discover each other and the answers to some important questions.

Spend Some Time With Me In the Regency Era

July 25, 2021 / Gigi Lynn

Mad King George III was deemed unfit to rule Britain in 1811, and his son took over as prince regent. Then when George III died in 1820, the regent became King George IV. So technically, the Regency only lasted nine years.

Culturally, however, what we consider the Regency Era spans a longer time period, from about 1795 during the French Revolution (in my mind I see images of that horrifying guillotine) to 1837, when Queen Victoria took the throne. The Regency was more than a change in royalty. It marked the end of the Georgian’s more pious, reserved society. The Prince Regent, being so very different from his father, was kept entirely removed from politics and the military. He channeled his energy into other pursuits, and it showed.

This period saw huge changes in politics, societal structure, and science–this was the beginning of the industrial revolution–but also huge changes in culture, architecture, art, literature, and fashions (the hooped skirts and powdered hair of the Georgian age gave way to the ‘classical’ high waisted dresses of the Regency). In many ways it was a period of cultural refinement, elegance and extravagance—a frivolous and ostentatious age.

And opposite the excesses of the rich was a horrible, crushing poverty and squalor. Gambling, drinking, thievery, and prostitution were rampant in the rookeries of London.

To give you some idea of what was happening, here are some Regency events:

The end of the French revolution (May 5, 1789 – Nov 9, 1799)
The Napoleonic wars (May 18, 1803 – Nov 20, 1815), which provide the background to my Illusions series
The war of 1812 (British impressing American sailors)
First vaccinations against smallpox
Lewis and Clark expedition

Some names you might recognize:

Arthur Wellesley, 1^st Duke of Wellington (defeated Napoleon at Waterloo)
Jane Austen, obviously
Lord Byron, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley (Percy Bysshe), William Blake–those romantic poets
Mary Shelley and her Frankenstein
Mozart and Beethoven
Mary Wollstonecraft writing about A Vindication of the Rights of Women
William Wilberforce and the other social reformers of the Clapham Sect (I love the movie Amazing Grace about these people).

man sitting beside woman painting — Birmingham Museums Trust@birminghammuseumstrust

Though the cultural/social restrictions for women were still very real, during the regency women began to challenge old preconceptions and conventional thinking. It’s part of what makes Jane Austen so current even today. Change was everywhere. Exciting things happen in those in-between times. It sparks my imagination and gives me some latitude when creating my brave, strong female characters.

Join me for a little time in the Regency Era! I believe you will love it.

Discussion Questions: The Secrets We Keep

July 18, 2021 / Gigi Lynn

The Secrets We Keep Photography: Chez Nous Images www.cheznousimages.com

In every romance novel, the overarching theme is ‘Love Conquers All.’ Do you believe this statement? What are some ways you have seen this theme played out in real life? In interpersonal relationships? In parenting? Societal challenges? In questions of the soul?

In The Secrets We Keep, are there other underlying themes, unique to Liza’s story? What are they?

At the Beginning of the novel, Liza claims she has good reason for her secrets and lies. She claims the same thing at the end. Are her reasons different at the end than at the beginning. How?

Is she right either time? Does she have good reason? Are lies ever acceptable? What might constitute good reasons for lies? Are they ever acceptable?

What makes Liza begin to distrust Robert? What effects does her lack of trust have on their relationship?

Even though Liza believes Robert is doing despicable things, she loves him. Have you ever been in this situation? How does she show her love? How do you show love for someone who is doing something you believe is wrong/harmful?

Liza is a very instinctive person. She doesn’t always look ahead and weigh the consequences of her actions. What are the strengths in an instinctive personality? What are the weaknesses?

When is Liza bravest? When she faces her enemy and danger? Or in some of her personal, private decision?

Liza spends some time “walking in other’s shoes,” or in this case wearing others clothes. Does that change her insights into those others’ lives? How? How do you “wear other’s clothes” in our day?

How does ‘Love Conquer All’ for Liza and Robert?

Some Like It Hot and a Happy Ending

July 11, 2021 / Gigi Lynn

On our recent mother/daughter get away to San Diego, we visited the island of Coronado and, of course, the Hotel Del Coronado. The night before, in preparation, we re-watched Some Like It Hot, that classic (1959) Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon movie that was filmed at this hotel. The movie is a long-time family favorite. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend you find it and settle in for some good laughs.

The film is about two musicians who witness a massacre–based on the Valentine’s Day Massacre–and hide in drag in an all girls band to avoid being killed by the mob.

A little friendly warning. Many of the jokes are sexual in nature, though I’ve always thought they were mostly good-natured, some slapstick, and all fun rather than dirty. And I’ll also mention in this warning Marilyn Monroe’s costumes that do highlight her lush figure. That said, this movie is a classic for a reason. It is hilarious!

Along with the laughs, I love this about Some Like It Hot: all through the movie, Sugar thinks that she just wants money and Joe thinks all he wants is sex. And then they both are delightfully surprised to find that they have grown to want only each other. Once again that “Love Conquers All” theme–this time it conquers even these characters’ worst intentions.

Back to the hotel. After watching the movie, we had to walk around the hotel until we found the porch where the “millionaires” sat in rocking chairs. These were as Jerry calls them, “rich millionaires,” which makes us laugh every time. I mean, what other kind of millionaires are there? You’ll have to watch the movie to see.

What “Love Conquers All” movies do you love?

And when next you’re in San Diego, cross the bridge and walk around the Hotel Del Coronado and drink in the romance of the spot.

What Month is Your Family Month?

July 4, 2021 / Gigi Lynn

Always family! But for us, July has become a month of increased family togetherness. This means food and talk and a hundred, okay up to 23, kids running around.

We celebrate our country’s birth with games, fireworks, and more food.

Jordan and Natalie for the Corn; Trevor is the man on the smoker.

And for most of the month, I will only write in small pockets of time when things are quiet, or I can sit in a corner (often in the middle of confusion) and ignore the present world and go to Regency England in my mind. The last novel in my Illusions series will inch along through the month of July, but I’ll enjoy my family.

I wish you a happy fourth of July! I hope you’re with people you love, in a comfortable place, with good food to eat.