ABOUT LYNNE
IN SHORT
Lynne is an Australian writer and the author of a crime fiction novel, The Bait Trap. She writes crime with feeling, that deals with gritty social issues, like addiction. The Bait Trap draws on her own struggles with alcoholism.
Before turning to writing full-time, Lynne was a copyright lawyer for over three decades. She now works with alcoholics and addicts in correctional facilities in Sydney and regional NSW, facilitating 12-Step meetings and taking men and women through the 12 Steps. Lynne lives in the Southern Highlands on Gundungurra and Tharawal Land, with her husband and many animals who lack boundaries. Lynne has degrees in arts, law, corporate governance and risk management.
MORE ABOUT LYNNE
A dreamy and sensitive child, I created a safe world for myself with books and television shows. I always wanted to be someone else. Why would I want to be Lynne from Hurstville when I could be Anne of Green Gables. A person with superhuman attributes - the Bionic Woman. Or a challenger of stereotypes like Lizzie Bennett in Pride and Prejudice. After finishing school, I didn’t realise that being a writer was actually a ‘thing’, and there were no degrees in creative writing, so I trained as a copyright lawyer-- it was the closest thing that I could find to being a writer without being one.
I was always drawn to the storytelling aspect of law. I often lingered far too long on a witness’ backstory in the front end of an affidavit, asking them why they did the things that they did. I’d always been fond of mimicry: observing people who are entertaining, writing down their dialogue and repeating it after perfecting the accent, usually in front of family and friends.
So, when my role as a government copyright lawyer came to an end, which coincided with me becoming an empty-nester, I sat down to write my first book. I worked out that I had a lot of material. Fun fact: most of my characters were inspired by real-life people. Relatives who live on the Autism Spectrum. Quirky friends. Pervert ex-bosses. And people who just happened to be next to me on the bus or in an HCF queue.
Crime had always been my favourite genre. Listening to confessions of psychopaths. Real crime. Hard-boiled crime. Mysteries, police procedurals, courtroom dramas. Outback noir. Scandi noir. Anything noir. And I felt most comfortable in the company of men and women who inhabited correctional facilities. I’d often wondered what it was that led a person to take someone else’s life, how they’d gone undetected and what shock waves it sent through the lives of family, friends and the community. So, I found my natural resting place in crime fiction.
Many of the titles I’d read featured different iterations of the alcoholic detective and the boozy lawyer. But I’d not been able find any crime stories that had alcoholics who’d done some real work of themselves, swallowed large chunks of truth, sought forgiveness and been redeemed. So, I wrote one. The Bait Trap, is my debut novel, which was influenced by my own struggles with alcoholism, experience of what it was to forgive and be forgiven and the exquisite freedom that forgiveness brought.
When I’m not writing, I now work with alcoholics and addicts in correctional facilities in Sydney and regional NSW, facilitating 12-Step meetings and taking men and women through the 12 Steps. I live in Moss Vale, NSW with my husband and one of our three adult sons (who flits back and forth to university) and many animals who lack boundaries. Another fun fact: Our house does have mice.