Suspense, Mystery, Horror and Thriller Fiction - Suspense Magazine

CONTRIBUTOR'S CORNER
A Father’s Influence
Gives Legs to a Dream
An Interview with Lynne Levandowski
Raised in upstate New York, Lynne spent the first fifty years of her life in
the Brockport area, a college town west of Rochester. The middle child of two
brothers, she spent most of her life as a tomboy who enjoyed playing baseball,
softball, and kickball with the neighborhood boys, since girls were in short
supply. Lynne attributes her love for reading, writing, and the paranormal to her
father, who directly influenced and supported her in these areas. However, she
believes all of her skills come from God.
“Without Jesus in my life,” she claims, “it would be nothing.”
She has been writing poetry and stories since she was nine-years-old, even
taking second place in a poetry contest in sixth grade for her poem, Arrows.
While growing up, it seemed everything she wrote creatively in school was soon
confiscated by the teachers who liked what she wrote for class assignments.
In 1980, she began writing her first book. It has since grown into a series of
five paranormal romance books that are still awaiting a home in the publishing
world. Prior submissions of her book were rejected and her ideas were stolen
by a publisher. Two other stories were rejected and stolen by the same
publisher, which makes her wary of the publishing world as a whole.
While working as a legal secretary, Lynne became friends with the
editor of the local newspaper, The Brockport Post, who encouraged her
to submit her work. So her first story to see print was titled The Parrot’s
Handiwork, the story of a pick-pocketing parrot owned by a homeless
woman.
She also holds a B.S. in Health Science from SUNY Brockport, as
well as a Master’s degree in public administration (MPA). It was after
her layoff from Eastman Kodak that she earned her master’s degree. But
unable to find a job in her field, she found survival work at Burger King
and Lifetime Assistance, working in five different group homes.
Eventually, the opportunity to leave New York presented itself, so
she relocated to Wellington, Kansas, to get more involved in ministry work. Instead, a prior back injury forced Lynne onto
disability. So, to stay sane, she immersed herself in her writing, soon becoming the Wichita Biblical Perspective Examiner for
www.Examiner.com.
She finally had her first e-book, “Unique Transformation,” published by The Wild Rose Press in 2008. A somewhat spicy
paranormal romance, she published it using her pseudonym, Karla Dawson.
Later, having left www.Examiner.com she tried her hand at writing book reviews, something she has always wanted to
do. Lynne finds herself writing reviews for several sites, including http://loveromancesandmore.blogspot.com and Suspense
Magazine. Recently, Lynne was contacted by another group, SpeakEasy, and asked to review Christian books. So, after
applying, she now reviews for SpeakEasy as well. In between all of this, she writes nonfiction articles for her website and
works on her fiction, still hoping that the alien series she has poured heart and soul into will someday see publication.
So without further ado, we give you Suspense Magazine’s featured contributor for this month, Lynne Levandowski.
SuspenseMagazine.com
Interview by Suspense Magazine
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