Author Spotlight: Welcome Author Lynne Marshall!

I’m so pleased to introduce y’all to author USA Today bestselling author, Lynne Marshall. She is a writer after my own heart, being an inveterate day dreamer and storyteller. She tried to retire during Covid, but discovered there is no retiring from one’s own imagination!

Lynne used to worry she had a serious problem with day dreaming, until she discovered she was supposed to write those stories. Now traditionally published for many years with over thirty-four books as a category romance author, she has also gone hybrid. She is a Southern California native, has been married to a New Englander for a long time, and has two adult children of whom she is super proud. She is also an adoring grandmother of two beautiful little girls, a woman of faith, a dog lover (Milo can vouch for that), a cat admirer, a meandering walker, a curious traveler, and an optimistic participant in this wild journey called life.

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I’m happy to be here today at Nan Reinhardt’s blog. She’s an author I admire and truly appreciate.

I’m here to tell you about my latest book, which is a huge change in genre for me. This women’s fiction story + magical realism tells a sincere and sometimes gritty tale about a long-lived life. So, the fun book cover might be a little misleading. Cynthia Peabody is a character I couldn’t write when a younger woman. My goal was to write a story that delves beneath the color of hair or number of wrinkles on a face. To give a realistic snapshot of what lies beneath the exterior that we all see and judge. I wanted to allow younger readers to “see” and not take for granted a person who has experienced love and trauma along with all the activities of daily living. I wanted them to look at their grandmothers in a different light. In our often-self-centered lives, we forget the obstacles and difficulties our older relatives and neighbors have endured.

Then I decided to throw in some mysterious portals and crazy dreams!

Here’s why. I have insomnia, and I use meditation to help me fall asleep. One meditation suggested taking a walk in my mind. I tried it. I used my street and thought about how it might feel to walk through my neighborhood late at night when no one else was around. Wow. It was surprisingly realistic, comforting, and safe. Whereas, if I had physically taken that walk, I would have been nervous about being out by myself in the dark in the early hours.

Let’s just say the exercise made a huge impression on me. Then, as writers do, I flew off on a “what if” journey, and Cynthia Peabody showed up with her nutty story.

This writing endeavor gave me the opportunity to learn about and embrace the mysteries in life.  I believe we all have in one way or another witnessed the unexplainable. Some of us are more in tune with the odd than others. Think back, surely there was a time…

Care to tell Nancy and me about it?

Giveaway! I’d also like to gift two copies of the e-book to two randomly chosen commenters today. All you have to do is tell me about something unexplainable you’ve witnessed… let’s talk!

As a thank you for visiting today, I’d like to share a link to a five-minute recording where I take my website guests on a meditation walk which was originally in this book. As the drafts and revisions went on, that scene was deleted. I loved writing it and decided to make the recording and share it as a website magnet.

While you’re there, I hope you’ll connect with me on social media and leave me a comment on the Home page of my website letting me know what you thought about the meditation walk.

The Extraordinary Dreams of Cynthia Peabody

Cynthia Peabody can’t sleep. Recently widowed, her future seems a dreary blur. While practicing meditation techniques to fight insomnia, she discovers a mysterious portal in her backyard through which her dreams are shockingly realistic.

She runs to her neighbor for help after a dream about a dog leads to a real dog in her yard. The next-door teen offers to be the dog walker and a surprising friendship develops. Juniper’s natural sincerity influences Cynthia to reevaluate her grumpiness.

While dealing with complicated grief along with her life turning toward the supernatural, Cynthia’s doctor’s report brings lousy news. What else can go wrong? She’s desperate for answers.

Pouring out her heart to her husband’s memory, she fears the only logical explanation is that she’s gone mad. But people in her hometown need help, especially a certain next-door teenager. Wishing she’d had someone looking out for her when she was young, Cynthia will do whatever it takes to protect the vulnerable, even if it means risking her life.

You can get The Extraordinary Dreams of Cynthia Peabody in e-book, audio, and paperback on Amazon.