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ONLY A SIMPLE SHOEBOX, BUT FULL OF SECRETS…AUTHOR LYNN GRIFFIN INTERVIEWS HER CHARACTERS

Author Lynn Griffin writes stories about strong women, courage and survival. She loves the way the characters take her by the hand and lead her along the path. They tell Lynn what they want to say and what’s going to happen next.

Why did you write this particular book you’re talking about today?

I find that every book I write is filled with stories of courage and survival. I’ve met so many wonderful people in my life. So many I admire. Their strength of character, their courage. They are survivors. It is for those I write. To demonstrate (quietly), that it is possible to be a survivor. The Twenty-One-Year Contract is a standalone, just like its prequel Secrets, Shame, and a Shoebox. Both are a mix of romance, crime, and suspense.

What’s the most difficult part of writing and why?

Okay, well let’s get down to brass tacks. Marketing is a real issue unless you are a natural born salesperson, which I am not. Should anyone reading this have any great ideas how to do this better, any help gratefully received!

I’ve never been good at bragging about myself, and that’s what it feels like. Selling my brand, telling everyone I’m great, my books are great. Go out and buy my book. Really, that’s not me. I’m shy enough as it is!

Marketing can also be expensive, not only in time but money, and of course it stops me doing what I love to do most. Writing stories.

My sincere thanks go to every reader who has, or is considering buying my book. Without you lovely readers, writers wouldn’t be needed. So, thank you from the very bottom of my heart.

How do you get to know your readers? What do you learn from your readers?

Reviews are brilliant. They tell a story. I learn from that, and thank them for their valuable time and effort.

I also blog. I offer simple writing suggestions for budding authors and share I’ve learned along the way, and anything additional that I think might be of interest on social media.

It really is lovely to hear back from them. However, here comes an apology with regard to my blog. www.wifeinthewest.com because I have temporarily stopped responding to my readership. Why? Because unfortunately I have had over a 1000 scams/trolls ruining perfectly good dialogue my readers, with genuine questions. I takes hours to read through messages to weed out the good from the bad. I’ve begun with a clean up program, hopefully that will resolve the issue.

Oh, and I’ve also recently listed my recent up to date program on my blog so readers knew what is available, rather than them having to trawl through every post.

Author Lynn Griffin interviews her characters

Kathleen Gray is our central character in The Twenty-One-Year Contract. Kate, as she is now known, agreed I could ask her a question for this blog. I think I floored her when I did. It was difficult, I have to admit.

“In a nutshell, why did you run away, Kate?”

She gave me such a look.

“In a nutshell?” Her eyes watered, I felt guilty for asking, but she plowed on ever the determined character she is. “I think you know the answer to that, but honestly, I wanted to find my birth mother. But then of course there was Uncle Jack. I absolutely adore him. Since my parents died… he had to take care of me… I knew he needed to get on with his own life. He needed to settle down, get married, have a family of his own. He couldn’t do that with me hanging around.”

Dorian Craddock is a secondary character in The Twenty-One-Year Contract. She’s pure evil, but in my opinion, she shines out as one of those people you love to hate. I thought I’d push one of her buttons to get a response.

“Dorian, I think you owe an answer to our readers as to why you feel the need to be so mean to so many people.” I handed her the mic. And started typing furiously.

“I owe the readers answer, do I? Seriously? Who do you think you are, pushing me about, asking me to tell the readers about my business? Really, I’m mean? Besides, you know full well Harriet and Kate got everything they deserved! It could have been so much worse.” She gave me one of those sly smiles. “Read the dialogue, read between the lines. You wrote it. I’m owed plenty, as you well know, and I’m going to get what I deserve.”

(Little does she know!)

Excerpt from The Twenty-One-Year Contract

After a glass of water, Jack made himself a cup of tea and returned to the job in hand. This was going to be much harder than he could ever have imagined. Working deep through the night, Jack methodically sifted through volumes of paperwork until light inched its way through the curtain. Though he felt thoroughly ready for bed, he continued searching, his aim to find at least a smidgen of information about his niece.

Randomly tidying up as he went, Jack noticed an encyclopaedia oddly extended over one of the top shelves. He tried pushing it back into place. It was jammed. It looked awkward. Pulling it out to check the depth of the book, he found a box file hidden behind. Upon the side panel was one word, capitalized in thick bold lettering: KATHLEEN

As the hazy sunlight grew, puzzled, Jack pulled the curtains to lend natural light, took the file off the shelf, sat back in Henry’s chair, and looked inside…’

Blurb for The Twenty-One-Year Contract

Only a simple shoebox, but full of secrets…

Kathleen Gray—talented, a little wild, at times rebellious, but always popular—has a fun, easy life in rural Somerset, with a doting family.

Suddenly, they are gone, everything is changed, and she has only Uncle Jack. Try as he might, he cannot be father and mother to her—he has a business to run and his own life to manage.

Kathleen takes a chance and becomes Kate Westfield, fending for herself in London, with a new life built on her hopes and dreams and new friends. She could hardly have imagined that one of those friends has a shoebox full of answers.

About the Author

I’m happily married and surrounded by my lovely family. I’m lucky to be a grandmother of five and had plans to trek the world. But that was put on hold for good reason. We were in Spain when the invisible big bad wolf arrived (Covid). It changed so many lives, forever.

Going back in history, I was told I was thick at school. No-one should ever do that, not to anyone. I’ve always had this notion I wanted teach and write, and I did, even though I came out of school with nothing. Just goes to show if I can do it anyone can!

I worked full time, got married, had children and did a wide range of jobs: from cleaner, to barmaid, to secretary, to social worker and eventually got my certificates and became a lecturer. Nothing stopped me writing though. It’s a passion. I always wrote around the full-time paid job. Well, the bills don’t pay themselves do they?

When I eventually retired, my husband and I decided to travel. I still didn’t have the confidence to submit my work. If it hadn’t been for a couple of good friends and my husband that did the ‘do it before you pop your clogs mate,’ that did the trick. I couldn’t believe it when I was offered the contract! Pinch me!

New mission: share stories of courage and survival, eat loads of British Strawberries and drink the occasional glass of Prosecco.