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| Bewitched: An interview with Lynn Turner, author of Last Resort By PJ Nunn PJ NUNN - Welcome Lynn. Tell us about Last Resort. LYNN TURNER - Last Resort is the first book in the Gottingen Witch Mystery Series (Deadly Alibi Press). Although it's mainstream adult fiction, it's Wiccan friendly. Keely, the main character, is a lawyer who moves to a fishing village where she inherits a house that belonged to her grandmother, a well-loved witch. The locals are disappointed that Keely doesn't intend to pick up where her grandmother left off. She insists she's a lawyer, not a witch. However things go terribly wrong in her first case, so she decides to try to "drive" the crystal ball. By the end of Last Resort, she realizes she's been wrong to dismiss her grandmother's creed. What inspired you to write it? I decided to try to create a series that I would thoroughly enjoy as a reader. I love mysteries, of course, and if you add a bit of supernatural, I'm in heaven. Also, the books are set on the South Shore of Nova Scotia, one of the most beautiful places on this Earth. Why the witchcraft angle? I'm not a Wiccan myself, but one of my best friends is a witch. She was always very private about her belief, and I think her respect for Wicca must have rubbed off on me. I do believe, to quote Shakespeare: "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." What do you think sets the book apart from everything else out there? One of the things that has surprised me the most is the way people are enthralled with the setting. I suppose if you live in a big city, or away from the coast, a Nova Scotian fishing village seems exotic. I love Nova Scotia and have no desire to live elsewhere. My dream property is a long point jutting out into the ocean with fog on three sides. What is the first thing you had published? Cindy Moss and I wrote Love Safe Harbor, which was published in hard cover by Avalon in 1990. That was quite an experience. Two weekends a month, we left the kids with our husbands and perched over a keyboard like a couple of vultures over a carcass. We're still very proud of that book. How has your writing changed since that time? After ten years of constant writing, and teaching writing, I have to believe I've improved. I used to think that I had to rely on inspiration to carry the book. Sure, I'd do some line editing and such, but basically the book would be done when I finished the first draft. Then I wrote Three Cuts of Courage, a historical adventure. It was rejected 43 times before it sold - as a screenplay. Each time I would sit down and revise my little heart out; and each time the process resulted in a stronger manuscript. Who are you when you're not writing? What kind of work do you do? What are your hobbies? The average writer has to wear a lot of hats to earn a living. My degree is in Business Administration. Over the years I've taught both business subjects and fiction writing at our local community college and at Acadia University. I also write for film and television - which is considerably more lucrative than novel writing, although not nearly as satisfying. As for hobbies, I paint in the winter and garden in the summer. We have a boat and I love to fish too. Although I'm a lousy fisher, I'm very good at sitting with my feet dangling in the water and a big grin set on my face. Who or what has most influenced your writing? I love all kinds of books and I suppose they all influenced me. Mary Stewart's book, The Moon-Spinners, was the first book I every read from cover to cover without a break. I recently reread it and enjoyed it just as much this time around. As a writer, where do you see yourself in 10 years? In 10 years, I'd like to have a dozen or more books in print. They'll earn enough money so that I won't have to teach or write screenplays unless I want to. I'll spend the bulk of my time in my cozy office writing, with periodic breaks doing publicity or research. What do you enjoy most about writing? There are so many aspects I enjoy. The satisfaction of creating a rousing good scene, the feeling of security when I really know my characters, the thrill of finding exactly the right word. I also love research. It gives me an excuse to poke around an abandoned fish-packing plant, or to take a photo of the gun on that Portuguese policeman's hip. What do you find most difficult? For years I've been trying to find the right balance between doing what I love - writing - and making a decent living. Thankfully I've been able to earn money with scriptwriting. That's a feast-or-famine business so it leaves time for my novels. What's the best advice you have for new writers? Get up early, get dressed, sit at your desk, and write. Treat it like a job. Don't get discouraged. You'd expect to go to school for years to learn to be an accountant or a doctor or whatever. Writing is a profession too. Don't expect to master it without putting in the time. To find out more about Lynn Turner, visit her website at: http://www.lynnturner.com |
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