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…well, friends, here we go again. I have another novel coming out this fall! But this time, I’m starting—and ending with a question for you: Do you know, or do you know someone whose life has been affected by their own or someone else’s addiction? (I’m asking specifically about addiction to a chemical substance, as […]

The Venue: What It’s Supposed to Look Like: One important use of the pool for a working writer: Another important use of the pool for a working writer: The Careful, Skillful Maintenance (an actual Olympic event in itself—the NIGHTLY POOL COVERING EVENT) Kindly notice that when properly covered it is very difficult to determine […]

I’ll be so grateful for your help if you’ll answer! I’d really like to understand what readers pay attention to and what’s useful to them. I promise, this won’t take long at all. If you will, please just number your answers and respond in the comment section below (as opposed to emailing me). This is […]

I’m very proud of myself; this time, I only spent two weeks getting ready for a one-week trip to Bermuda with my family. Of course, months ago, another week had gone into selecting destination, accommodations, coordinating with all family, making and remaking plans. I had to arrange to have Cassie cared for way ahead, too. […]

…I take many deep breaths and launch another novel out into the world. MOTHERS OF FATE is was published yesterday in tradebound paper and ebook, available on all the various platforms. The audible book will be out in the next couple of days. I really hope you love this one, in which I’ve tackled a […]

Are you hanging on by your last frayed nerve as you slog through the dregs of winter? I know it well: the March vagaries of a couple of days in the sixties that bring daffodil shoots above ground reaching for the sun, teenagers in shorts and T shirts flocking like birds, kids wobbling around on Christmas bikes, happy dogs taking their humans on long walks. Fooled again, suckers that we all are, the next day or the next week, of course, comes another “winter storm,” with sleet

Have you ever had a string of days in which everything goes totally, weirdly blooey? I’m definitely not talking about the unbearable losses that most of us suffer at some point now. I’m talking about those times when you’d swear some evil genie had set up your schedule like a very long line of dominos […]

…there’s a cat in Lynne’s next book, MOTHERS OF FATE! She wants you to know, she did her level best to get rid of it, but she’s failed. It’s dead in her house (see photo proof) but alive and well in the novel. She assures you, though, the (dull) gray cat has only a bit […]

The audible book edition of A MATTER OF MERCY: 10th Anniversary Edition is finally out and available! Here’s one way to get it: Amazon.com: A Matter of Mercy: 10th Anniversary Edition (Audible Audio Edition): Lynne Hugo, Kendra Murray, Amphorae Publishing Group: Audible Books & Originals. Here’s my behind-the scenes story, an excellent example of how […]

Thank you, thank you to those readers whose comment included a life lesson I can draw from our experience with Cassie! I have contacted each of the seven winners to offer his/her choice of my available books, OR, also available, A Matter of Mercy, coming out on August 6, about which I will proceed to […]

Do you remember that song, “Another Opening, Another Show”? One stanzas goes, “You cross your fingers and hold your heart. It’s curtain time and away we go…” I can’t cross my fingers (makes typing impossible), but I do hold my heart and my breath as I write to you: Here’s Scout studying the cover of […]

I think most people have probably had a year here or there that was just really rough. 2019 has been that way for my family. My husband had prostate cancer (successfully treated, I’m thankful to say), quickly followed by a hip replacement, then his opposite knee had to be replaced. Those of you who have […]

Maybe this happens to you, too? You’re breathing out relief because you got through something—and you look back and feel immense gratitude for the help that carried you to the other side. My husband and I have limped through a tough year with a lot of help from our friends, and I’m feeling very grateful. Lots of people have so much more, much worse, with which to contend—I know this. What made it difficult for us was the tumbleweed effect of my husband’s radiation for cancer

I have always been an animal lover. Possibly, like enough of my identity to be embarrassing, it was born of rebellion against my parents. Well, actually my mother. It was she who was most vocal in her adamant refusal to let me and my sister have a pet. Jan and I wanted a dog, we […]

In case you’re one of the few people who’ve managed to miss my news, THE TESTAMENT OF HAROLD’S WIFE is coming out September 25 from Kensington Books. I thought you might enjoy the real-life stories that gave life to this novel. There were two completely different experiences that planted the seeds. The first had to […]

Nancy’s husband sent a picture two days before she died. In that one, she wore a white sleeveless nightgown. Her grown sons leaned over either side of her, a hospice tray with a cup of applesauce in the foreground. She was sleeping. Perhaps she’d slipped into the mercy of a coma. Nancy Johnson Pinard was […]

We were recently with our daughter’s family. They have two kids, two dogs–one of which is a Labrador retriever–and astonishingly immaculate hardwood floors. We have no little kids at home, one Labrador retriever, and hardwood floors that make people wonder if we’re running an unlicensed barber shop. Labs shed. Forget that myth about twice a […]

I’ve spent a couple of years trying to figure out how my very smart dog—who can remember and break into any place food is stored—can have such an extremely short memory. Every day, when Scout the Lab sees the horrible menace of the mail truck as it stops in front of the house, we have […]

Do you remember Lee Ann Womack’s hit song “I Hope You Dance?” One of the lines goes, “… And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance, I hope you dance.” Here’s a story that I hope makes you not only want to dance, but just as importantly, to extend your hand […]

This happened before the election, when I wasn’t so worried about the country. My daughter and son-in-law claimed they still have only a three-year old girl and a six-year old boy, but they lied. They suddenly have nine kids, maybe more. I know this because my husband and I spent several days taking care of […]