Today I have the beautiful and talented Lynn Crandall to answer some questions about her newest release, Touch Me. I had the honor of getting to beta read Touch Me before its release, and I still can’t stop thinking about it and its characters! Payson and Braden were so likeable, their conflicts so real, and their emotions so visceral I felt I was experiencing their life through Lynn’s words. Touch Me is a gem, and isn’t that cover amazing!?!
Bounty hunter Payson Silver stands on the top of the tallest building in her city and sees
proof below in the cries for help, the theft underway, and fighting in progress that darkness is
growing. Locating skips, lost people, and objects is only one of her jobs. Born an Aeon, a direct
descendent of evolved people of Atlantis, Payson came into the world knowing her purpose in
life – to balance dark energies with light and prevent the world from going deeply into darkness,
starting with the City of Auralia. Alongside the love of her life, Braden Powers, and other fellow
Aeons, she uses her psychometric ability and special skills to defeat the mission of Dark Aspects,
or DAs as she calls them, from turning the city into darkness. Her greatest weapon against the
darkness is her ability to send the energy of light and love into the world. Her greatest obstacle to
saving the world is fellow Aeon turned DA, Diane Butler, and her own resistance to her mission.
Braden too battles a lack of commitment to the Aeons’ mission, and the reminder that he
lost control of his mind-control ability once with dire consequences. While he understands the
importance of his work, it is only head-deep, not within his heart.
As bounty hunter and police officer, Payson and Braden counter darkness by enforcing
justice and protecting residents from those who harm others and commit crimes. But when
Diane’s dark jealousy drives her to block Braden’s mind to his real life and create a new one for
him, Payson can’t stop her. To lose her love is devastating and she knows she has only ten days
to bring him back to the light.
Dark forces are powerful, and Payson and Braden battle to save each other and their
precious relationship, while the fate of the world lies in balance. The battle for good goes on
under the radar of humanity, but the outcome will mean the difference of a thriving planet or the
slow death of all that is. They face difficult choices to save their love, save their souls, and save
the world from succumbing to the Dark Side.
Lynn’s Interview:
Thank you Angela for having me on your beautiful blog!
Thank you for being here. Now let’s get started!
What intrigues you about your Touch Me?
The challenge. I knew I wanted to write a kind of epic look at life from the perspective of the importance of daily choices, while exploring what it would be like to have a great love, then lose it. I also determined to improve my writing skills in writing the book. So I wrote very deliberately and tried new methods.
That’s awesome. It’s always fun to do something new, and I truly believe it helps our creativity. When did you absolutely know that you had to be a writer?
I read an article in the newspaper years ago about a local romance author and it piqued my interest. I made a rather flippant decision to write. I knew I had to learn all about it and one of the first things I did was read John Gardner’s On Becoming a Novelist. Boom! It was uncanny how much the book resonated with me. It was like I had just discovered my reason for being. From that point on my passion for writing has never diminished. It sounds ridiculous, but above all else, I want to write.
I’ll have to see if I can find that book! What was your favorite part of writing Touch Me?
I enjoy the process of writing a story, so simply doing that was great. Dropping into characters to the degree that I’m looking at what they’re going through from a first person perspective was something I found remarkably satisfying.
Are you a plotter, a pantser, or both?
Pantser. Writing for me is a discovery over and over. But I do create a loose plan for how I want the story to unfold. To write Touch Me I used a storyboard of index cards and followed the plan from Save the Cat. My cards were vague, as any pantser’s would be. I know there are programs for doing the same thing, but I like hands on and visual. My board is in my writing space and I can sit and contemplate it without staring at my computer screen.
That sounds like an interesting technique. Do you have a certain theme in all of your novels?
It seems to me that I write themes of family in a wider context than simple biological connections. It just keeps showing up in my stories. And also the concept of being different and accepting it. A line from a book I’ve written references the idea of opening our minds to possibilities: The world is nothing like you believe it to be.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I do. It’s kind of wordy and I like to use nouns as verbs.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
The message of Touch Me is we are in charge of creating our lives, whether we do it through conscious choice or not. Here are a couple lines that sum up the message: The difference between light and dark forces is choice. Choice can be seductive. Be careful what you choose.
Ooh, I love that! If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only take one book with you, what would you take?
Touch Me, lol!
If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only take one song with you, what would you take?
Oh, wow! What an interesting question. I get earworms so easily, I can’t imagine playing one song over and over. I totally love music and write to playlists, so I’m always discovering new favorite songs. Just this week I learned about Jon Batiste and his version of It’s a Wonderful World. He purposely added what he called spaces that promote reflection. I could stand replaying his version of that song.
Are you working on any projects right now?
Arrgh! I am going through a contemporary romance doing revisions. I don’t hate revisions, and things are going smoothly and quickly, but I’m at the point I want to be done. The story is titled Love and Cherish, and is a runaway bride story. My romances quite often end with a wedding. In Love and Cherish the wedding is at the beginning. I have enjoyed writing about the themes of needing to escape and finding yourself by running away.
That sounds interesting! Besides writing, what would be your career of choice?
I love (hmm, I’m using the word love a lot.) with art history. If I had been a young person who really knew myself, I can imagine I would have majored in art history, then used my knowledge of to write fiction.
What are your hobbies away from your computer?
I wouldn’t call them hobbies, but I “need” to get into nature to stay balanced, so I walk or I walk with my husband at parks. I also ride my bike, read, spend time with family, and watch TV/movies. Pretty average stuff. Can a love for drinking coffee be considered a hobby?
Absolutely! Have you traveled to any locations that appear in your books?
Touch Me is set in a fictitious Michigan town on the shore of Lake Michigan, and in Chicago. I’m from Michigan and Lake Michigan is in my blood. The town, Dunes Bay, was inspired by South Haven, Michigan, where I spent many hours at the beach. And I love Chicago and have been there many times.
That’s very awesome. The setting of Touch Me was so real to me, and I love learning about new places (even when they are fictitious) through novels. Can you share a tip about what you do when you get stuck in your writing?
Typically, when I hit an empty spot in my head while writing, I do clustering. It’s a brainstorming method that has no limits, and I love it. Clustering bypasses my inner censor and gets my thoughts flowing. For instance, if I’m having trouble bringing a scene together or can’t find a beginning to the scene, I’ll cluster regarding the purpose of the scene. The practice of clustering helps me with everything.
I love that! I had forgotten about that but I am storing it in the back of my brain to use it next time I’m stuck. What’s your dream vacation destination?
Zihuatanejo, Mexico. I’m a beach and water person, so I would go there for ocean and beaches. My husband and I talk about escaping to that town when we want a break from everyday life, based on a line in a movie: They say the Pacific Ocean has no memory. That’s where I want to live the rest of my life. A warm place with no memory. It sounds like a peaceful place where our lives could just roll along, but we don’t really know that, yet.
What a great line. Are you a pet person? If so, do you have any?
I definitely love animals. All kinds. I have always had pets, but I think of them as members of my family. I presently have one cat named Willow. She is my daemon, to coin a word from The Golden Compass.
I love animals and they are definitely part of the family. I probably have a cat in almost all of my novels. Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?
I first started making up stories when I was a little girl. My younger sister and I shared a bedroom, and at night I would tell her stories. I don’t know why, but I imagine I was simply expressing my creativity.
Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
With a reporter’s background, I tend to write in news style, which is not good in fiction.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Find a good therapist! LOL. Seriously, a good therapist can help find your true self. And look at writing as your path for personal development.
That’s great advice! If you could have been the original author of any book, what would it have been and why?
I wish I had been the author of the Nadia Stafford series by Kelley Armstrong. I enjoy the raw depth of emotions Armstrong writes, and the characterization is beautiful.
How can readers discover more about you and you work?
Website: http://www.lynn-crandall.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LynnCrandallAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lcrandallwriter
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lynncrandallwriter/touch-me/
Amazon: http://a.co/d/0NUqJQn
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41840203-touch-me
About Lynn:
Email Address: lynncrandallwriter@gmail.com