Please Welcome
Lynn Townsend to the blog! It’s great to meet you! Have a seat and tell us all
about you!
I'm a geek. I love science fiction, fantasy, martial arts movies, comic
books, tabletop role playing games. One of my prized possessions is my Gil
Gerard autograph. My favorite song is about a depressed squid. I have blue
hair.
So, when did you
start writing?
Some time after I started breathing. I remember making up my own stories
when I was four or thereabouts. I wrote my first short-story in 5th
grade. (I still have it. No you may not read it.)
Awww, come on,
just a little? :P Well all right :D
What do you love
about writing?
I love meeting the people in my head. A lot of times they just tromp in,
throw their suitcase on the floor and put their muddy boots on my mental coffee
table, and I don't know much about them until we sit down over coffee and
discuss whether or not they'll be moving in. There are some characters who are
old, familiar voices. Even though I've already written out Bastian's story, he
refuses to go away. As long as I can remember, he's been there, kinda making
snarky commentary on my life. I'm never, ever lonely.
I completely understand! I have a whole cast of characters in my head
as well :D
What do you need
when writing? Music, candy, silence, etc.
Most of the time I need caffeine. I'm not really picky about my format,
although good coffee is always better. I listen to music almost all the time,
but that's hard to say if it's for writing or if it's because I have a brain
disorder called tinnitus; (ringing in the ear) and having some sort of
background noise keeps me from murdering people. I'm not much for longhand
these days, so a computer is good. Also, my muse. He is necessary. He is
represented by a tiny caged stuffed animal that hangs or sits near me while I
write. Sometimes I can manage to get a coffee-shop scrawl done without him, but
any long term venture, he's got to be present. I've had him since I was 12.
I love it! I
might just have to get me one of those caged muses! That will keep them from
running off when I need them! :D
How did you go
about building your world and characters?
Generally one of my characters throws me in headfirst and says “Hey, can
you find your way out?” A lot of the time I find things out as they happen.
I use world-building and character development as a way to get to sleep,
as well. I will tell myself stories, or head-work chapters as I'm falling
asleep. Sometimes I'll even dream about my characters. And entire novel
(unpublished and in serious need of edits before I'm willing to submit it) was
written based off one dream I had.
I try not to overthink it. And I have a couple of people who are
wonderful sounding boards for me. I bounce ideas off them and see what sticks.
That is pretty cool!
Can you provide
us with an excerpt? (Excerpt and book cover :D)
Synchronous
Rotations
Duncan Farnsworth, Earl Leveret
stripped off his gloves and deposited them in his hat, “Do you know, Jamison,”
he said to his butler, "what the absolute worst thing is about being
dead?" The sun was skimming the horizon. Another few minutes and he might
have had some unpleasantness. Jamison closed the heavy door behind his master
and Duncan shuddered with relief.
"I fear
you are about to tell me, sir," his butler replied, entirely uninterested.
"It is
simply this; being deceased has done nothing to improve the quality of my
social engagements."
"Perhaps,
sir," Jamison said, ushering his lord into the parlor and folding the
rain-damp coat over one arm, "you should lay down and play dead with
slightly more conviction."
Fun time!
Do you play
games? If so what kind? If not, why the heck not?
Would you like my geek resume? I play Star Wars; The Old Republic as my
current MMO, but have also played Warcraft, Everquest, City of Villains,
Dungeons & Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Rifts, Pirates of the
Caribbean Online, Asheron's Call, Guild Wars...
I also play paper and dice RPGs; including Shadowrun, 7th Sea, AD&D,
Vampire, Heroes Unlimited, GURPS, Serenity RPG, various d20 games
I used to play Collectible Card Games until I came to the realization
that my friends were all terrible losers and worse winners and I wasn't having
fun, but I do like things like Cards Against Humanity and Fluxx. I'm also a
mean cribbage player.
(I also might possibly have a really bad Candy Crush Saga problem)
My husband would be impressed, he loves Shadowrun! And I must admit to
a really bad Candy Crush Saga Problem myself!
Favorite author?
I'm not good with favorite questions, so just insert my standard rant
here... I'm the kind of person who has about 8 “best friends.” That being said, I'm fond of Jane Austen, Jim
Butcher, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller, Steven Brust, Julia Quinn, Lisa
Kleypas, Tad Williams, Sommer Marsden, Margaret Weis, Anne Gracie, Elizabeth
Brooks, Craig Johnson, V. L. Locey... you know, I could go on for a while.
Oh! You’ve managed to name a few of the authors I really enjoy too! :D
Favorite TV
guilty pleasure?
I don't have guilty pleasures. I like things. I'm not ashamed of it. I
do adore those terrible SyFy movies like Sharktopus and Sharknado and Behemoth
and whatnot. I like Castle, Arrow, Body of Proof (canceled, boo hoo) Warehouse
13, Eureka, Defiance, Bones, Longmire, Haven, and I'm fan-girl screamingly
excited for SHIELD. (there's a trend here... I like murder mysteries / cop
shows and sci-fi)
Okay, you’ve named many of my favorites here as well… have you been
peeking at my dvd cabinet? :D And
definitely BOOOOOO on the cancelling of Body of Proof! I love that show!
Favorite Action
Hero?
Captain Hammer
Either/ or
Lightening round!
Are you a dog
person or a cat person?
Turtle! (I tolerate cats. Not so big on dogs.)
Chocolate or
Vanilla ice cream?
Mint chocolate chip.
Fruits or
Veggies?
Tomatoes are a fruit, right?
Coke or Pepsi?
Coke Zero
Soda or Pop?
Occasionally “soda” but I usually say “coke” even if what I mean is
Pepsi.
Sweet or Sour?
Cheese?
Okay, I love you thinking outside the box! LOL
Pick at least one
:D
If you were
stranded on a deserted island and could only have 3 things with you, what or
who would they be?
A boat? Food? The Tardis!
If you were
stranded on a different planet, what planet would it be, what 3 things would
you want with you and what 2 people would you hope got stranded with you?
Have spacesuit, will travel.
Some sort of weapon would probably be good.
Air.
I don't really want anyone to be stranded with me. Stranded implies all
sorts of unpleasant deprivation and I'd rather not have to share it with
anyone, otherwise I need a 4th thing. Earplugs.
If you traveled
to an alternate universe, whose universe would it be? What would you do there?
I wouldn't mind living in the Liaden Universe, altho I suspect I'd be a
terrible Liaden. I'm just not that polite. I could seriously go for visiting
the Clutch Turtles, tho. (The Liaden Universe is a series of novels by Steven
Miller and Sharon Lee and I love that series so very much it's frightening.)
If you traveled
back in time, what time period would you want to visit most? Who would you hope
to meet?
Quite a while back, there was this cartoon, Tripping the Rift, and they
went back in time and accidentally killed God? You'd have to see the show, but
it was kinda awesome...
For realz, tho? I'd like to be around for a lot of the Edison/Tesla
invention era. That would have been fun.
The Important
stuff!
Any advice for
aspiring authors?
Always read the submission requirements. Always follow the submission
requirements.
Never badmouth an editor / agent / book company / fellow author. That
shit can come back and bite you in the ass. (It personally hasn't happened to
me, but I've certainly met friends of friends of people I've worked with where
they're more prone to do me a favor because I know so-and-so.) Networking,
baby. Don't burn bridges...
And personally, I don't really take writer's advice. What works for me
may not work for you. Whatever gets you words on the page is great! I'd suggest
knowing grammar rules before deciding to break them. There are no secrets to
writing. Butt in the chair, words on the page.
And make sweet with your editors. They are your best friends. They are
not there to murder your precious darlings; their job is to make your work as
good as it possibly can be. Find a good beta reader or two and staple them to
your life.
Excellent advice!
Lynn Also brought to my attention this fascinating book! He Loves Me for My Brainssss! A Zombie Anthology involving M/M relationships where she has a story called W.O.L.
It's a m/m antho with the main theme of Zombies. Mine's a post-apocalyptic story.
In Lynn Townsend's "W.O.L.", Knight Korin meets Doctor Avesy and is forced to consider
the sacrifices that every Knight must make -- and wonder if the cure is worse than the
disease.
Where can we
stalk… I mean find you?(Links baby!)
Where can we buy
your books?
(I keep this page updated regularly, which has links to a lot of the
places you can buy my books)
I'd like to take a few minutes to pimp this book, Return of the Kings,
because the proceeds for this book go to sending adult writers to the Clarion
Writer's workshop, and I think that's a wonderful cause.
Synchronous Rotations, my most recent short story from Torquere, just
came out a few days ago... it's a stand-alone in my London Steam series, m/m/f
menage steam punk story.
And Smokin' Hot Firemen, which includes my short story, Big Trucks, was
released early at Amazon, so you can check that out!
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing with us today Lynn! It was great to get to know you and see some of your work! <3 font="">
