Lynne Hugo |
I imagine the impetus to write springs from as many sources as there are authors. I write because I love words: their weight, shape, sound, translucence, and power. I love how they may carry us through and over our preoccupied dailiness into meaning. With words, our inchoate yearnings become questions, affirmations, imperatives. They are messengers that tell the intentions and insights of our hearts; they are what we have, really, to draw and keep us close to one another.
I started with poetry, with the centrality of an image crafted from the fewest possible words. Most early poems were lyrics, a form I still love. THE TIME CHANGE, my first book, focused on a woman's experience in various family relationships. The natural world, especially the play of light and water, are my favorite sources of imagery. Soon lyrics turned to narratives, and stories pressed their way out. Narrative poems came together in A PROGRESS OF MIRACLES, a novella in forty-nine closely sequenced poems.
A PROGRESS OF MIRACLES turned out to be my bridge into fiction. Anna Tuttle Villegas was my trusted partner in the writing of two novels before we ever set eyes on one another. (How this happened is detailed in an interview conducted by our editor at William Morrow, Inc. ) Our first co-authored work, SWIMMING LESSONS, about severely tested friendship between two women, was made into a movie for Lifetime Television. Our second collaborative novel was BABY'S BREATH, a story about a hidden pregnancy, an abandoned baby, and how the love between a mother and daughter ultimately saves and redeems them after an act most consider unthinkable and unforgivable. We wrote about our collaborative process for Fiction Writer Magazine, "Two Women, One Story" .
WHERE THE TRAIL GROWS FAINT: A Year In The Life Of A Therapy Dog Team won the River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Book Prize for 2004 and was published by the University of Nebraska Press. Initially an account of working in a nursing home with my chocolate Lab, Hannah, the story kept evolving, growing deeper and more personal as my mother's health failed and my elderly father was caring for her in their home, 800 miles from mine. Images and insights from the residents and Hannah began to seep into my dreams and surface in my consciousness, until finally the book emerged, a memoir of a year in the life of a writer, her dog, her family, and the patients in a nursing home, all of us mysteriously changed by each other. Click on the title for more information and a sample.
A children's book, JESSICA'S TWO FAMILIES, aims to help children of divorced parents cope with their parents' remarriage and blended families. Please click on the title if you'd like to see a summary, two of the illustrations, and a brief excerpt.
Published May 1, 2006, THE UNSPOKEN YEARS is a novel set in the 1960's and 70's, the tumultuous story of Ruth, whose single mother, Elizabeth, claims she is God's bride and that although she is Ruth's and Roger's birth mother, she remains a virgin. Unfortunately however, the divinity didn't make it into the children's genetic makeup; they are quite fallible, and Elizabeth quick to correct and "purify" them. Elizabeth, like many mentally ill people, can be as charming and engaging as she is abusive and destructive, switching without warning. A call from Ruth's grandmother--whom she's never met--sets mother and daughter on a cross-country journey, during which the fragile fabric of their small family begins to unravel. A sample of THE UNSPOKEN YEARS is posted under the title.
GRACELAND was published October 1, 2006. Set in contemporary northern Kentucky, it focuses on the relationships of three sisters to each other and the families they have formed in adulthood. The sisters go through the crucible of an auto accident, the tragic consequences of which severely increase the hidden conflicts and bitter divisions between them. Yet, for one of their children to survive, they must transcend their envy, competition and rage. The first two chapters are posted as a sample. I hope you find the story rewarding.
My agent is Susan Schulman. She can be reached at 454 West 44th St., New York, New York 10036. Tel: 212-713-1633 Fax 212-581-8830.
Thank you so much for your interest. I hope you find this web site informative and easy to use. Your comments are welcome:
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This page was last updated on 01/13/08.
