I always wanted a child. Even before I knew I wanted to be a writer, I hoped that someday I'd be a mother.
I got my wish. As a new mother – first in my early twenties, and again at forty-five, I spent four unbroken decades raising several children and a stepchild, mostly on my own. Meanwhile, I earned a doctorate in English at UC Santa Barbara, taught the "Great Books" program at St. John's College in Santa Fe and Annapolis, became a political activist, and founded a popular singles club in Santa Monica for people with advanced degrees.
But underpinning these pursuits—always—was being a mother. So once my children were grown, when I took up writing fiction, parenting inevitably informed my work.
To write A REAL DAUGHTER, I had to wait until I'd digested my life—until I had the necessary emotional space and the time to put my feelings into words.
Lynne McKelvey
Award-winning Author of A REAL DAUGHTER (Savant 2017)