Meet Lynne Kelly

We recently connected with Lynne Kelly and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lynne, thank you so much for making time for us today. Let’s jump right into a question so many in our community are looking for answers to – how to overcome creativity blocks, writer’s block, etc. We’d love to hear your thoughts or any advice you might have.

I’ve found that when I’m not sure what happens next in a story I’m working on, it could be because I don’t know enough about my character yet. So, I’ll take a step back to figure out more about the character; if I get to know them like a real person, I’ll know how they’d respond to the story events, how they’ll create their own problems, what they’re afraid of (which they’ll have to confront in the story), etc.
I also like to just write through a block– if I set a timer and write or type without stopping, I come up with some really good ideas. The continuous writing without stopping to think about it helps in keeping the internal editor out of the way when it’s time to be creative.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I write middle grade novels, which are for kids around ages 10-13, though adults enjoy them too! My stories (so far, at least) have been inspired by something fascinating I’ve learned about animals. After finding the animal who will be featured in the story, I come up with a character who will have a connection to that animal. My novel Song For a Whale, for example, was inspired by the real-life “lonely whale,” who sings at a frequency much higher than other whales do, as if he’s singing his own language. The main character of that story, Iris, is the only deaf student at her school, and feels like she understands that whale; they’re both isolated, even when surrounded by others.
I started writing my latest book, The Secret Language of Birds, after reading a Texas Monthly article about whooping cranes nesting in Texas for the first time in a century. The main character, Nina–who was a minor character in Song For a Whale–is an avid birder, and I gave her this momentous whooping crane nest discovery.
In the Fall of 2025 I’ll have a new novel out called Three Blue Hearts, about a boy who finds an injured octopus on a Gulf Coast beach and helps take care of her over the summer.
It takes a lot of time and work to write a book, but I really enjoy taking an idea and seeing the story unfold!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Being a big reader helps with writing stories; I think we get a feel for good storytelling if we read a lot of good books. And like any skill, we get better with practice, so we learn to be better writers by writing. When I write a novel that doesn’t get picked up for publication, it’s disappointing, but I remind myself that I’m a better writer on page 200 than I was on page 1.
Having a community is vital, too. We need feedback from other writers so we can revise our manuscripts and make them as strong as can be before submitting them to agents or editors. A good critique group is great for commiseration and support, too, like when the rejections roll in. The best part is getting to celebrate with them when you have good news!
Speaking of rejections, it’s important to be persistent. When we do submit our work to an editor or agent, the answer is usually “no,” if not silence. It takes time and patience to continue sending out the work until it lands on the right desk.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

Stephen King’s book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is a favorite of many writers. One quote from that is, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.” Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird is another favorite; the title alludes to a metaphor about tackling things one at a time.
Probably most helpful for me is Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. He writes about the fear of failure kicking in when we’re close to achieving a goal. It’s human nature to avoid the unknown, since we don’t know if what’s ahead is safe or not. It helps to recognize that when I’m getting close to the end of a story and I procrastinate and get easily distracted!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lynnekellybooks.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynnekkelly/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorLynneKelly/
• Twitter: https://x.com/LynneKelly

Image Credits

headshot by Sam Bond Photography