Make-Believe Mondays With Lyn Mangold

Today on Make-Believe Mondays our guest is Lyn Mangold.

Lyn, thank you for joining us on Make-Believe Mondays, this Labor Day weekend.

Ray Bradbury said, “We are cups, constantly being filled. The trick is, knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.” How do you keep your creative cup filled?

Lyn: First of all, what a great quote! I’d never heard it before. I keep my creative cup filled by reading a lot. I absolutely love to read, especially stuff in the fantasy or paranormal genres. All the different creatures and worlds give me ideas and really make me look at the world from a different perspective and think, what if?

Debra: Thank you, Lyn. It's always been one of my favorite quotes. That what if question is the perfect jumping off point for any creative endeavor, I believe. Fantasy is a way of stretching the mind.

Is there a point when your characters begin to come alive and you can see and hear them?

Lyn: Yes. The more I think about my characters the more real they become to me. They also have a mind of their own sometimes. Sometimes, as I’m writing, they do and say things that catch me by surprise. Or I’ll be trying to write one thing and find that it’s just not working with my characters. It’s frustrating and interesting at the same time.

Debra: Yes, it is. I love it when they surprise me though, kind of like a new friend does.

For some writers, dreams play a role in creating fiction. Has this been true for you? Have you ever dreamed a scene or an image that later wound up in one of your books?

Lyn: Yes. The idea of my book Warrior Woman came from a dream I had. It was like a saw a glimpse of the story in my dream and when I woke up, I wanted to know more about what had happened. I had written about the dream in my journal initially, but the more I thought about it, I decided that I had to develop it into a complete story. It is available in eBook and print through Samhain Publishing.

Debra: I've always felt that there were certain stories that just wanted to be written, and I've come to suspect the ones that appear in our dreams fall into that category.

As a child did any particular book or author pull you into their imaginary world?

Lyn: Absolutely. My favorite book when I was a child was Beauty by Robin McKinley. I was always reading fairy tales and myths, but Beauty just took it to another level for me. I loved all the magic in the story and the wonderful description. It was like I could see and hear everything like I was physically there. I still pull that book off the shelf and reread it periodically, and every time I am pulled into the world Robin McKinley created.

Debra: Oh, I haven't read that one! I must add it to my list. Thanks!

Please visit Lyn at"
Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lynmangoldgroup/
http://www.myspace.com/lynmangold
Email: lynmangold@yahoo.com

Lyn, thank you for joining us here on this Make-believe Monday to share a little bit of the magic of writing with our readers.

----------------
Debra's News/Debra is watching:

I was thrilled to receive my Romantic Times Book Lovers magazine this week. Flavia mentioned me in her column in the Oct issue, and it was another reason for me to celebrate. I was positively giddy about it all day.

And I'm able now to announce that I'll be at the RT convention in Orlando all week next year, working with Judi McCoy in the beginning writers program and with Bobbi Smith in the advanced writing program. I'm just thrilled to be a part of it all and looking forward to helping other writers.