Getting to Know Lynda Rees

The Write Way Café welcomes author Lynda Rees, a dreamer who believes in making her dreams come true.

When did you first have the thought you'd like to write a book? Was that first thought related to writing romance?
I was four and learning to read with my grandpa and the Bible. He interpreted the stories and it was fascinating drifting into other worlds than the one I lived in. My first author hero was Louisa May Alcott, and my favorite of her books is Eight Cousins. It’s still one of my favorites.

What was your path to getting this book written and published? What type of research did you do?
I live on a farm, and we raised our children on horseback. My daughter was a horse trainer for Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, and we have friends in the racing industry. Plus I’m an avid fan of horse racing and the magnificent four-legged athletes.

Where did the idea for your story come from? 
Bloodlines & Lies is book 5 of The Bloodline Series. It didn’t start as a series; however, I fell in love with the characters in book 1, Parsley, Sage, Rose, Mary & Wine and wanted to discover what happened in the future of the small, tight-knit community. Each book thereafter has focused on different characters in the neighborhood, but brings in the original characters I started this journey with Lemon Sage Benton-Gordon and Sheriff Wyatt Gordon.

Why did you pick the setting you did?
I’ve always heard one should write what you know. I know about horses and racing, advertising, marketing, and relationships. My daughter and her first career as a race horse trainer inspired some of the ideas and our past in general spurred much of the rest.

Are your main characters completely imaginary or do they have some basis in real people? Do they reflect aspects of yourself?
Both—myself, family, friends and people I’ve met through the years inspire parts of characters I craft. Each one is an individual, sometimes made up of lots of bits and pieces of real or imaginary people. I believe this is true with most novel writers.

Did you face any blocks while writing the book, and if so, how did you handle them? If not, what's your secret?
Not really. I simply sit my butt in the chair and my creative muse takes over.

What have been surprises you've encountered while writing the book and after?
I have a background in corporate America in marketing and global transportation. When I decided to seriously pursue publication of my writing, I was surprised at the way the industry has evolved, and the amount of marketing that the author is responsible for. Unless you’re someone like Stephen King or Nora Roberts, with a long-standing successful track record, the marketing end of book selling is in the hands of the writer, whether indie published or with a small or large press publishing house. Minimal effort is put out by the publisher.

What did you learn? For instance, what did you learn about yourself, your process, the writing world; about thoroughbred horses, Kentucky, and the Triple Crown?
I was fortunate to have a horse-trainer, my daughter Brandy, who was educated in equestrian therapy and breeding to rely on to help me resolve the intricacies of the breeding process and the size of the prize for breeding in the racing industry. I’ve always been an avid fan of racing.

Tell us about your writing space and how or why it works for you.
I have an office in my home where I escape to for four to ten hours a day. I usually lose track of time, when working. My husband signals when I might’ve been at it too long by sitting a cocktail next to my mouse pad. He’s my true hero to put up with a workaholic like me.

What are some of your favorite books and why?
I adore anything Janet Evanovich writes. I’ve embarrassed myself more than once on a crowded plane cracking up out loud at her stories. I love to laugh, but find I’m not that funny when writing. I love Danielle Steele books and have consumed every one eagerly. I adore American History, so love books like Gone With The Wind and stories like Lonesome Dove, North To Alaska, and Dances With Wolves. I’ll read anything about a soldier or cowboy, so love a classic hero.

What are you working on now?
I’m finalizing God Father’s Day, a stand-alone romantic suspense set at a lake resort in Kentucky. Justin’s life seems perfect until tragedy awakens an evil past threatening to destroy his future and his chances with Becky, who has been hurt before and can’t compete with his wealthy fiancé.
This story haunted me since childhood when the father of a friend was gunned down on the street by the Mob.  I am excited to have it completed.

Would you like to try your hand at writing a different genre?  Which one and why?
Actually, I’m doing final editing on my first middle-grade children’s book. It is book 1 of the series titled Freckle Face & Blondie, and co-authored by my granddaughter, Harley Nelson. It is a work of love.

If you were not a writer, what would your dream job be?
Travel writer. I’ve been fortunate to have traveled to some glamorous, intriguing places and worked with many folks from other cultures. I have a wonder lust that never seems satisfied.

What aspect of writing gives you the most trouble?
I’d say the marketing end. It’s my background but when I decided to become a published author, I didn’t realize it would be my future job as well.

Who is your favorite hero/heroine?
That would have to be my lumberjack friend, Logan Pace, the hero of my award winning historical novel Gold Lust Conspiracy, where a marriage of convenience turns Jessie Blackstone into a young widow responsible for the livelihood of many in savage, lawless Skagway, Alaska. Jessie faces severe weather, brutal landscape, her sordid past, and her attraction to virile lumberjack Logan Pace. She must learn to thrive in a man’s hostile business world.


Lynda Rees is a story teller and dreamer whose dreams come true.  She lives on a farm in Kentucky with her incredible husband and herd of critters watching her children and grandchildren breath—fascinating. Born in the splendid Appalachian Mountains the daughter of a coal miner and part Cherokee Indian, Lynda grew up in northern Kentucky when the Mob reigned supreme in Newport and the city prospered as a gambling, prostitution and sin mecca. She’s fascinated with how history affects today’s lives and it works its way into her written pages. After a corporate career in marketing and global transportation this free spirited adventurer with workaholic tendencies followed her passion with for writing.

Gold Lust Conspiracy, her award winning historical romance, launched Sept, 2017 by Sweetwater Publishing Company along with Parsley, Sage, Rose, Mary and Wine, the first of The Bloodline Series of romantic suspense set in Kentucky horse country. Books 1-5 launch before 2018 with others schedule in the spring. Stay tuned.

Lynda’s first children’s book, Freckle Face & Blondie, is co-authored with her granddaughter Harley Nelson launching early 2018. Enjoy her stories. She hopes you become life-long friends.

To learn more about Lynda's work follow her by clicking here:

Website: www.lyndareesauthor.com

Parsley, Sage, Rose, Mary & Wine; The Bloodline Series, Book 1

Romantic Suspense/Cozy Mystery - Sweetwater Publishing Company


Watch the trailer on YouTube

PRINT:     Amazon      Barnes & Noble

eBOOK:   Kindle        NOOK          KOBO         Apple iTunes



Gold Lust Conspiracy (historical fiction/ romance)


View the trailer on YouTube 

PRINT:    Amazon          Barnes & Noble

eBOOK:  Kindle           KOBO         NOOK          Apple iTunes