After
a lifetime as a corporate suit, putting all her creativity into
keeping employees from fighting with each other, Lynne Spreen, author
of the debut novel, Dakota Blues, was finally able to cut back
to part-time and write. Unfortunately Lynne discovered that, for all
her brilliance in composing corporate memos, she knew almost nothing
about constructing a novel.
She says, "Dakota Blues
was my first novel and I did everything wrong at first, which
necessitated having to go back and rethink everything a million times.
Or at least it seemed like a million. Maybe only a thousand. I spent years learning--attending classes, conferences, and reading books and articles."
Dakota Blues went on to receive the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Finalist Award for Women's Issues.
Lynne shares her experience as a new writer who battled the learning curve of a first novel--and came out successfully.