Meet Lynne Hugo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lynne Hugo.

Hi Lynne, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Words have always been really important to me. I remember telling an aunt that I was going to write books when I was in fourth grade and giving her an example of how I’d describe a character’s emotion. (It was an elaborate extended metaphor that any semi-competent editor would have immediately cut, but hey, I was ten.) I was on the high school literary magazine and published many poems in that venue but also, had one accepted for a national teen literary magazine.

In college and graduate school, though, creative writing was shelved for psychology and training to be an English teacher– and then a therapist–because I got married and needed to be sure to generate an income. When my children were in school, though, and I wasn’t overwhelmed by the demands of babies and toddlers but (only) a job as the clinical director of a social service agency, I began writing poetry again. It was gratifying to have many published in literary magazines and have two collections accepted for publication.

In time, lyrical poetry gave way to the lure of stories when narrative poems gave way to a few short stories. Then–suddenly there was the siren call of a novel as I had the time for that longer, deeper portrayal. Now I’m starting to write my fourteenth. (One was made into a movie that still occasionally plays on TV.) Overall, my passion for a social justice issue undergirds most of my work thematically, although I don’t write polemic, but rather work to show how the complexity of the issue affects the intricacies of human relationships.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it’s not always been smooth. I doubt it is for any artist. I’ve had three different agents for various reasons, and I’m now with my third publisher. Each change is a significant adjustment, although none of this is the least uncommon. Raising a family means there are personal peaks and valleys, whether or not I have a deadline to meet. Most of my editors have been very warm, caring, reasonable, helpful, and highly skilled. Once in a while, one or another has wanted changes to a manuscript that I felt were really off base, that I didn’t feel were true to the work at all, and I’ve had to find a way to make a small accommodation but not the big one in order to maintain the integrity of the work.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I write literary fiction. I think my background as a poet (before I began writing fiction, thirteen novels ago) gave me a particular ear for lyrical language and vivid imagery that makes my prose well-crafted. My years of experience as a therapist have given me a great deal of insight into human dynamics and interaction so that my characters have psychological depth and motivation. My recent novel, THE LANGUAGE OF KIN, looks deeply at the ways we humans struggle to communicate, how we ache with and argue over ambiguities, and our conflicting needs, desires, commitments, and beliefs. I think, too, that those same years of listening intently have sharpened my ear for dialog. When my characters speak, it’s authentic.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
The Covid-19 years didn’t affect me deeply as an artist except that I’ve realized if I don’t want my characters to be reacting to either the Trump administration or Covid-19, I need to set my work during a different time period. I think the pandemic in particular was such a significant part of our lives, particularly from 2019-2022/2023 that if I don’t want to dilute/distract from the intended theme of a novel it shouldn’t be set during those years. I don’t think too many people (characters)–no matter what else was going on in their lives–could have been non-reactive to the political changes and or pandemic constraints, and if I didn’t deal with any of that in the story, I don’t see how the novel could ring true. For The Language of Kin, some of the early policy changes in the Trump administration were factors for the characters and definitely discussed, but the novel ends before the pandemic breaks out.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.LynneHugo.com
• Instagram: LynneHugoAuthor
• Facebook: Lynne Hugo Reader’s Page

 

Image Credits
Amphorae Publishing Group Alan S. deCourcy Kim B. Lee Kensington Books Amphorae Publishing Group