Welcome Terri J. Lynn

Welcome everyone to the garden. Isn’t it nice to finally have spring here? Now we can have BBQ’s and soon I won’t need the heater’s while we visit. Today we have a return guest, Terri J. Lynn. We’re celebrating her release day! Everyone pour yourselves a little bubble, and fill your plate with some goodies and settle in.

Mary: Refresh our memories by telling us a bit about yourself. If you can tell us something you didn’t share last time.

Terri: Hi Mary:  Thank you for inviting me.  It’s always a rejuvenating experience to be here and talk about books and be able to answer questions from readers.

Let’s see – about myself, hmmm.  Well, I was raised in a large city, so when my husband and I moved to the country for a few years, I really thought it would be great fun.  We had no close neighbors, and it was at least 30 miles to the closest town of any size.  I learned that I’m not a country girl.  

One evening, when my husband was out of town, it was late and all the drapes were closed.  Our dog began to pace the floor, walking slowly in front of the floor to ceiling windows in our home growling very low.  It was apparent to me that something menacing was in the yard.  I hurried into the bedroom (armed with a long butcher knife) with the dog and closed the door.  I waited an hour until I was sure I heard nothing outside, then I let the dog into the rest of the house.  He acted normally, so I knew whatever it was had left.  I learned later that it wasn’t an uncommon occurrence to have a mountain lion come down that close as the area was in the midst of a drought.

That experience scared the (you know what) out of me but gave me a greater appreciation for the people who settled the American West and faced mountain lions, drought and far worse.

Mary: I love learning new things, especially my writing friends! Okay, now on to the fun stuff, please share how you came up with the idea for Shadow of Time, where your characters came from, etc.

Terri:  I got the idea for Shadow of Time from an area In Arizona that is now a ghost town.  As in the book, the town was destroyed by a flood in the late 1890s, and it never recovered.  Until the late 1960s or early 70s, there were a few partial, original buildings still standing.  Today, there is nothing left of the town that thrived on horn silver.  Although there is a cemetery somewhere in the original town, no headstones are left to mark it.

I relish searching these old ghost towns and would’ve loved to find something to indicate where the old cemetery was at.  However, some small independent mining was occurring there when I was in the area.  Those areas were lined with “No Trespassing” signs.  I took them at their word.

The Mojave Desert in Arizona as you drive toward Laughlin, Nevada, is an area that has a few homes in it today, but I imagined how forbidding it must have been in the mountains themselves a century ago.

Samantha Nelson is a character developed by watching the influx of people who come to Las Vegas with their hopes and dreams.

Jesse Warner is a compilation of character traits I think anyone living in the Old West would’ve had to have developed to some extent just to survive.

Mary: Wow, thanks, that’s interesting. Now, please share a blurb with us. Along with buy links, etc.

Terri:   Blurb: Samantha Nelson flees for her life from her violent ex-boyfriend, hiding in the remote Mojave Desert.  Jesse Warner appears, but will he keep her safe or break her heart?

Buy Link:   http://www.bookstrand.com/shadow-of-time

Mary: Terri, where can all your old and new fans find you? Facebook? Twitter? Blog? Web site? Good Reads? Share, share, share…

Terri:  My web site is:  http://www.terrijlynn.com
My blog is: http://terrijlynn.blogspot.com
My Facebook page is: Terri J. Lynn
Email: terrilynn39@comcast.net

Mary: I enjoyed your visit today, but before you go. If a new writer asked you for your advice what would it be?

Terri:  Never stop writing or learning about your craft.  It doesn’t matter if you can only write one line or read a book about writing every once in awhile.  I know life can get in the way, but it truly matters that you keep your dream alive.  And as a new writer, you have so much to share with the rest of us.

Thank you, Terri, for visiting the garden!

Thank you.  I had a wonderful time.