Do you let other people read your work while it’s in progress, or do you mostly wait until you have something that’s close to finished? Who gets to read your first drafts?
Have you started on a new project, and if so, can you tell us anything about it?
Thank you for your next batch of questions, Kim! I’ll try to answer them, one by one.
First of all, oh, yes, I’ve been on the road a bit for the book, from Palm Springs, California to London. Here are Michael Arnold and I at a party in celebration of the Marilyn Monroe exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.
But my favorite way of connecting with readers is through book clubs, both in person in the metro Atlanta area and on Zoom elsewhere. Being on the book club circuit is my choice–I love talking with readers one on one. When We Were Brilliant, and all my books, are about so much more than the famous people in them. The famous people are my vehicle to write about real things that women face–like the work/family choices we have to make or overcoming challenges in our lives.
I’m always amazed by the energy each different book club brings. I learn something every time. And then there was the book club at which a woman presented me with a fantastic watercolor painting of an Eve Arnold photo of Marilyn…
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As to where I write–yep, I no longer write on a pad of paper in my minivan at my kid’s soccer practice. I usually write every day, for hours on end, on my couch or outside with the birds, laptop at the ready. Recently, I went full circle. I found myself at one of those same soccer fields, waiting for my granddaughter to finish her practice, with my laptop balanced against the steering wheel of my electric car. The car, child, and writing device had changed but little else. Life is strange and wonderful!
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Thank you so much for being here, Lynn, you’ve been an awesome guest. Before we say goodbye, is there anything you’d like to talk about? Anything you wish we’d asked that we didn’t?
To wrap up some of the questions I haven’t answered:
I’m working on a new book now. As always! I’m not happy unless I’ve got a story to put together. Writing a story is much like doing a puzzle. I take pieces from the lives of people in history and try to figure out how they fit together as a story. My aim is to show what their lives have to say about the human condition. I want to show how are their struggles and joys like ours, and that we are all motivated by the same force–the need to love and be loved.
As far as who I share my work with as I write, there are only three people to whom I send drafts–my agent, my editor, and her assistant. I don’t send my drafts to friends and relatives, not only to spare them the bother 
, but because I revise so much that they wouldn’t have time to remark on pages before I’ve changed them and I don’t want to waste their time. My agent sees everything first. She’s a very patient, longsuffering woman because my first drafts are rough!
She’s seen most of what I have so far of my current manuscript but the story is at such an early stage that I can’t talk about it. It’ll be a happy day when it’s far enough along that I can announce it. It’s about a subject everyone knows and loves and I can’t wait to share it with you!
Thank you so much for the great discussion, Kim! I’m here to field any questions anyone might have. Once this window has closes, I’ll be on facebook at authorlynncullen or instagram at lynncullenauthor. As I mentioned earlier, my thing is hanging out with book clubs. The discussion is never dull–both the people I meet and I learn so much each time. I can be messaged through instagram or facebook to set up a visit.
Thank you for hosting me! Big hug to all BookBrowsers!