Lynne Brightman Horn

Reading has always been important to me. As an English major in college and an English teacher I did a lot of reading. Exposing my students to good reading material was important. I was able to teach my ninth graders, Great Expectations and 1984. Most of them enjoyed the stories and the discussions were stimulating.

It wasn’t until years later when I took a writing workshop that I decided to write a novel. My first novel was The Glass Birds. This is a story about Hollywood and friendship. I wanted to explore how famous people work with those who work for them. When I started to write I realized I couldn’t concentrate staring at the computer so I sat at my dining room table where I could let my mind wander and stare out into my backyard. I hand wrote the novel, but every 5-6 pages I would type them up.

A few writers and their books that inspired me before I wrote The Glass Bird were: Jennifer Weiner, The Next Best Thing by Sophie Kinsella, Shopaholic to the Stars and Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare’s, The First Assistant. They dealt with Hollywood in different ways.

I wrote a short story about a graduate student who tests positive for HIV so she wants to stop working on her Master’s Degree. Her discussion with her graduate advisor gives the reader information they may not have had about that time. The student, Christine, talks about telling her parents about how it may have happened. Her advisor also tells her she needs to look into AIDS research, and how she needs to keep moving forward, after all she may not die from AIDS. She needs to find a group who deals with AIDS.

I was taking an acting class at a junior college, and I mentioned my short story to the instructor. He was interested and read it. He said if I can turn it into a one act play, he would let it be performed during the evening of one act plays he was presenting in a few months. It was quite an honor. I think it opened some peoples’ minds.

Books that have influenced me lately have been: Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens, A Thousand Steps, by T. Jefferson Parker, The Life She Wants, by Robyn Carr, and The Book Club of Waverly Lane. These different writing styles inspired me to look more deeply into my characters and their growth throughout the book. The books were important motivators and inspiration as I began writing my novel, “A Woman in Search Of…” which is now available on Amazon.

Having lived in Los Angeles during the 1970’s I experienced a new awakening in society, and I developed a new and overall outlook. The 70’s were a time of great change. Peace and trying to make life better for everyone was important. The Woman’s Movement was in full swing. Other happenings were the Viet Nam War and Nixon’s dilemma. It was a time of exciting new television shows, many of which dealt with topics in a new way: “All in the Family,” about different political views and social acceptance. “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” dealt with women making headway in the business world.

In a “Woman in Search Of…” The protagonist separates from her uncaring and critical husband Scott. She wants to set her life in a new direction. Gardening has always been her love, even as a child, so with her inheritance from her parents she decides to open an indoor shade plant nursery, since indoor plants were popular at that time. (I was an enthusiastic gardener also). At the same time her best friend, Cindy, introduces Wendy to the bar scene in Venice, California. Conservative Wendy doesn’t like the idea but when she hears and sees the male singer, Brad, at the piano bar she is totally taken with the man.

Her life centers around him and several other men who enter her life. She feels cared about. Her estranged husband continues to call her. When her indoor nursery, called The Shade House, opens Scott appears. She is upset he came but she sees and hears a change in him. He’s talking to her nicely and compliments her on the nursery and herself. Once into their marriage he rarely complimented her on anything. Even now with the change Wendy wasn’t sure she could trust him.

She continues to evolve as she becomes more involved in the bar scene especially when she makes changes in her conservative ways starting with wearing more in style clothes, more makeup, letting her hair grow longer. Although she decided on the changes to make Brad interested in her, which it doesn’t seem to be, she still enjoys being around him and the new alternative lifestyle. For the first time in a long time, she appreciates herself.

Her friend Cindy and others become involved with Brad. But Wendy’s life continues to change as she explores areas that are new, including drugs.

The editing of the novels took a great deal of time. I was fortunate to find two women who were well known editors, and they very carefully went through A Woman in Search Of… and offered wonderful suggestions. When I finished with those changes, I took a week break. After that I went through the novel a several times to see if I wanted to make any other changes and sure enough, I found words I liked better than what I originally wrote. I also found places I wanted to change the sentence order in a paragraph.

Basically, my writing routine is once a day I sit down and write or make changes. Usually, I write for an hour or so and take a break, often returning to write more later. I always leave time for other interests, like my children, grandchildren and friends and club meetings. When the book is finished, and the editing is complete I asked two friends to read it. It’s after that time I was ready to have it published.

At the moment, the new project I’m thinking about is a short story about a mystery on an island. I’ve never written a mystery but since I also like mystery books, I became intrigued with the idea.

In finishing I would like to say my involvement with All Author has been a wonderful experience. They keep me informed about everything going on including new activities.