The "Short" Story That Started It All...

"You're only given one little spark of madness, you mustn't lose it" - Robin Williams

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From an early age, Lynn knew she was different and not in a stereotypical way. Alright, maybe a little bit... Growing up between Chicago, IL, and Florence, SC, for the first eleven years of her life, Lynn developed a love of three things: sunshine, great food, and stories. Whether told to her by her neighbors, a theater performance in the park, films her family would watch together, or books her mother would read to her before bed, stories and the way people would share them, with slight changes to make them their own, fascinated her. Even with this love of stories, it wasn't until second grade that Lynn learned to read despite staring at picture-filled fairy tales and X-men comic books due to being dyslexic. She would act out the images, giving voice to scenes as she interpreted them, leading her mother to enroll her in theater classes at her local community theater in Chicago, making her one of the youngest pupils in the group. Even so, Lynn was embraced. Described in old notes as “infectiously enthusiastic” and “emotionally engaging,” Lynn fed off the energy of her castmates and vice versa. A common staple that followed her throughout her performing days. Yet there was one major flaw to Lynn’s skill set, and when one of the older girls discovered that Lynn couldn't read, she took matters into her own hands and began helping Lynn between scenes, just as a teacher would during recess. Once Lynn learned through their guidance? Nothing could stop her.

Starting with the creation of comics for her school paper about a brother and sister lightning bolt superhero duo, Lynn dove headfirst into any opportunity to write something that would entertain her peers. While adding additional dance classes and singing lessons, Lynn started a Livejournal and a Deviantart, sharing other stories and comics that the school paper wouldn't publish. From a tale about a lottery system to deal with overpopulation to a murder mystery at band camp, to a comedy about a pair of friends who built a dimension-traveling toaster in hopes of finding girlfriends in a different universe, it seemed as though Lynn's imagination was as boundless as her energy. She landed auditions and solos in her school and community theater, quickly proving herself on stage and on paper. Despite being bullied by peers who didn't feel she was pretty enough to garner such attention and teachers who thought they were helping by making unhealthy suggestions, not knowing some of her more personal struggles, Lynn just kept at it. She had a dream, and no one could wreck her plans. Not yet, anyway.
 

After taking a break to write fanfiction for a while, Lynn started writing original works again, this time building bigger worlds. In 2005, she turned in a ninety-page creative writing assignment that inspired her to turn her hobby into a real goal. This led to PLAYING WITH FIRE, her debut novel, which would later be published in 2019. Around the same time, Lynn stopped acting after a theater professor told her there was no market for someone like her, despite her talent. A darkness swallowed Lynn after this and for the next few years, Lynn's life became a blur until the birth of her eldest child. Working to turn her life around for herself and her newborn daughter, Lynn returned to writing while working two jobs and shortly before PLAYING WITH FIRE was first published, her youngest was born. The debut of her first novel did not go as planned, as while the story was well-received, the editing was terrible. Not one to give up, Lynn worked on finding a new editor, queried for a publisher, and continued writing the next books in the series only for Covid to hit and derail everything in more ways than one. 
With her writing dreams on hold, Lynn took some time to process her disappointment as well as the loss of her grandfather, who had always supported her. Eventually, she got back up and worked to make PLAYING WITH FIRE the book she always wanted it to be. She also started a new project for the first time in 17 years, inspired by the experience she’d rarely talked about. This project brought new opportunities and she began discussions with an indie publisher. When Covid forced the publisher to close and Amazon KDP shut down her account over an internal error with her ISBN number while she was preparing the hardcover and pre-orders for book two, Lynn considered changing direction again. But she had come too far to quit. Instead, she wrote her first film script. And then eleven terrible pilots, followed by eleven more. She has currently lost count of how many terrible scripts she's written, but the "good" ones has almost come to equal that original eleven and she's pretty proud of that.  

 Despite these set backs, Lynn has continued to write, to learn and grow within her craft knowing that at some point, she'll write something worth filming.

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Lynn is a passionate creator and activist who works to educate others on issues that matter to her and her community. She weaves these topics into her stories to show readers they can achieve anything they set their minds to. Research, production, and careful editing are key parts of her writing process. Lynn also believes in the value of Sensitivity and Diversity Readers, offering her help to other writers, including some bestsellers, for minimal cost or free to help make stories more inclusive. She plans to donate part of any future earnings to various non-profits, just as she did with the first profits from PLAYING WITH FIRE, and plans to keep doing so for as long as she can.

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When not spreading joy, awareness, or attending various protests and/or conventions with her equally creative sister, Lynn can be found painting, hiking, swimming, or watching her favorite movies with her two children, whom she adoringly refers to as her Mini-Avengers.