07-10-09 Lynne Griffin, guest host
The transcript below covers the complete #litchat conversation on July 10, 2009. The order appears sequentially from the first post to the final post. Guest host was Lynne Griffin, author of novel Life Without Summer and parenting book Negotiation Generation.
| LitChat Welcome to #litchat. Today we have @Lynne_Griffin as guest host, completing topic How Real Life Informs Fiction. -1:01 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LitChat Hope Twitter is on its game today, because Lynne has a lot of great stuff to share about real life and fiction. #litchat -1:02 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin Thanks for inviting me to talk about how real life informs fiction. #litchat -1:02 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LitChat Please introduce yourself and also remember during the next hour to keep comments on topic and directed to Lynne. Thanks! #litchat -1:03 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LitChat Welcome @Lynne_Griffin. Would you begin by telling us a bit about yourself, personally and professionally? #litchat -1:04 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana Hi everyone, and hello Lynne. Look forward to chatting today. #litchat -1:04 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin I’m the author of the parenting guide, Negotiation Generation. I work as the parenting contributor for Boston’s Fox morning show. #litchat -1:05 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana @lynne_griffin Is this your first book? #litchat -1:06 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| abookinhand @LitChat Hi Lynne. I look forward to the chat today. #litchat -1:06 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin I began writing fiction for myself…no intention of claiming novelist as my job. But writing Life Without Summer changed that. #litchat -1:06 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LitChat What is your background and how did it lead you into parenting topics? #litchat -1:07 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana @lynne_griffin Given today’s topic, did real life inform LWS? #litchat -1:07 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| VanessaDobbs Hi tweetchat not working properly will try to join in #litchat -1:08 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @maggiedana Yes! One character is a grief counselor as I am. So I used bits from my work to inform her character #litchat -1:09 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin My counseling and nursing and education backgrounds very much inform my fiction. I bring all my experience to crafting characters #litchat -1:11 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| Trishryan Hi Lynne! Looking forward to what you have to say (as I contemplate a novel…) thx in advance for sharing #litchat -1:11 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana @lynne_griffin Fiction often more authentic when bits of one’s experience are included. #litchat -1:11 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin As for parenting background…I’m a nurse & teacher & counselor. Prior to NG, when I gave workshops, people always wanted a book. #litchat -1:13 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana Am flipping between Tweetchat and Twitterfeed in hopes of catching all tweets but I fear some are missing. #litchat -1:13 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @Trishryan Hi Trish~! Love your work…and know you have a novel in you! #litchat -1:14 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin Yes, things seem a bit delayed. Hope you aren’t missing my replies. #litchat -1:14 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| BookingIt @lynne_griffin Counseling, nursing & education all seem good ways to learn deeply about different people! #litchat -1:15 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| Trishryan @Lynne_Griffin was LWS easier to write bc you had more artistic freedom than with nonfiction?Or were characters harder to pin down? #litchat -1:15 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @BookingIt Really knowing people, their motives, & psychology has been invaluable for writing fiction #litchat -1:18 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| VanessaDobbs @lynne_griffin do you find it easier to write fiction or non-fiction #litchat -1:18 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| mizwrite @lynne_griffin Teacher/counselor seem like great careers to draw from, but tricky to keep from entering “real” people into fiction. #litchat -1:19 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| carleenbrice Hi Lynn. Couldn’t get into Tweetchat yet. Server seemed to be down. #litchat -1:19 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin Writing nonfiction and writing fiction are very different. Right brain left brain if you will. For me nonfiction is easier. #litchat -1:20 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana @lynne_griffin What’s next for you? Fiction or non? #litchat -1:20 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin With nonfic…I have an outline, specific messages to impart. It’s prescriptive. “This is the best way to parent.” #litchat -1:20 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin With fiction, though I do some outlining, the characters tell the story. I get out of the way. #litchat -1:21 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin Writing fiction w/out being prescriptive is very freeing. I’m able to show not tell. #litchat -1:22 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana @lynne_griffin RT The characters tell the story. I get out of the way. #litchat -1:22 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| carleenbrice I’m in Tweetchat now. Whew! #litchat -1:22 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin Thanks all for joining the chat. Sorry for the glitches. #litchat -1:22 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| VanessaDobbs @lynne_griffin when you write fiction do you know how the story will end #litchat -1:22 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana @lynne_griffin Plus with fiction you get to make stuff up. #litchat -1:23 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @VanessaDobbs For Life Without Summer, yes! The story came to me in it’s entirety. First line & last line have never changed. #litchat -1:24 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| carleenbrice I found fiction actually more revealing than nonfiction & that surprised me. Did you? #litchat -1:24 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @VanessaDobbs 2nd novel, Sea Escape to be published next summer…I didn’t know the ending and boy, was that tough! #litchat -1:24 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana @lynne_griffin These glitches are pandemic. Poor Twitter is way too popular, esp. in this time slot. #litchat -1:24 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana @lynne_griffin Did the ending of Sea Escape surprise you? #litchat -1:25 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @maggiedana What’s next is a second novel…Sea Escape. I have a parenting proposal ready to go but my fic career hijacked me #litchat -1:26 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| abookinhand @lynne_griffin That’s pretty amazing about the first and last lines. #litchat -1:27 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| debbieohi What are your writing habits? e.g. what kind of goals do you set? home office environment? hours worked? #litchat -1:28 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| Trishryan @Lynne_Griffin what’s next for you? #litchat -1:28 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| VanessaDobbs RT abookinhand @lynne_griffin That’s pretty amazing about the first and last lines. #litchat #litchat -1:29 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana @KatieFforde We’re chatting with Lynne Griffin in today’s #litchat. Pour a drink and come join us. -1:30 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @maggiedana Yes, the ending was a big surprise and I love it. There’s a twist at the end of Life Without Summer too. #litchat -1:30 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana Not all my posts are showing up. Sorry if I sound more discombobulated than usual ! Blame twitter. #litchat -1:30 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| CarolyBurnsBass Do you ever find yourself drawing from people with whom you’ve counseled? #litchat -1:31 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana <—- loves surprise/twisty endings that even surprise the author! #litchat -1:32 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| VanessaDobbs RT @maggiedana: Not all my posts are showing up. Sorry if I sound more discombobulated than usual ! Blame twitter. #litchat me too -1:32 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @CarolyBurnsBass I’ve made a commitment never to use my clients in my fiction. They need to know they can trust me. #litchat -1:33 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| kashicat Lynne, I like the idea of a fic career hijacking you. Almost seems like something meant to be. Nice idea. #litchat -1:33 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| debbieohi Was it a challenge telling “Life Without Summer” in two voices? #litchat -1:33 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin I do use all I know about development, temperament, and behavior in my fiction. It keeps things interesting. #litchat -1:34 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| maggiedana @lynne_griffin Have you read Michael Robotham’s SHATTER? Main character is psychiatrist. Fabulous book. Fabulous writing. #litchat -1:35 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| CarolyBurnsBass Do any of your characters ever get on a platform of beliefs/practices that you promote in your counseling? #litchat -1:36 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| debbieohi Hmm…I don’t think my posts are showing up properly. Twitter doesn’t like me today. 😦 Going to opt out, will read chat archives. #litchat -1:36 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @susanmpls Events are very different. When I give parenting talks, I’m the expert with advice. At book talks, it’s abt the story. #litchat -1:36 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| abookinhand @Lynne_Griffin #litchat I’m only a wannabe but that’s how I imagine writing. The story sort of taking over until you listen and write it. -1:36 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| kashicat @lynne_griffin So at fiction events, the characters & their lives are more important than you, in some ways, it sounds like #litchat -1:37 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @debbieohi I love writing in two voices. And since my characters are very real to me, it isn’t hard at all. #litchat -1:37 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @kashicat Absolutely. And I’m fine with that. The expert hat is hard to wear sometimes. Though fic hat is more personal. #litchat -1:38 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @carleenbrice Sea Escape is also a family story, told in 2 voices. This time a woman living inbetween kids and estranged mother. #litchat -1:40 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @carleenbrice And lots and lots of family secrets! #litchat -1:40 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| abookinhand @maggiedana Isn’t that amazing when that happens? I love it. #litchat -1:40 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @maggiedana I will pick up a copy. Thanks for recommending. #litchat -1:43 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| kashicat Try this again, with #litchat. Do you ever find your characters trying to contradict what you’d recommend as a counsellor? -1:44 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @CarolyBurnsBass I try not to let them! I use a writers’ group and my agent is fantastic editorially. So they call me out on that. #litchat -1:46 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| CarolyBurnsBass How much and what type of fiction do you read? #litchat -1:48 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @kashicat Yes, I try to write characters that are human, flawed and real. They often make choices that I wouldn’t recommend. #litchat -1:49 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| VanessaDobbs @Lynne_Griffin thanks will pick up copies #litchat -1:50 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| BookingIt @lynne_griffin Much more interesting reading this way! #litchat -1:50 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @CarolyBurnsBass I read a lot. I like upmarket fiction, short story collections, and psychology. For pleasure and to learn. #litchat -1:50 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin Though I think story is most important. For me authentic characters are critical. I want to care about them. #litchat -1:51 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| CarolyBurnsBass Do you have any favorite authors? If so, who? #litchat -1:52 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| BookingIt @lynne_griffin I haven’t come across the term upmarket fiction before! Can you give a short description or some examples? #litchat -1:52 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @CarolyBurnsBass Love Ann Patchett, Margot Livesey, Ian McEwan, Nicole Kraus, Amanda Eyre Ward, Amy MacKinnon #litchat -1:53 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @BookingIt Upmarket or crossover or fusion fiction all refer to fiction that is both literary and commercial. Great story & writing #litchat -1:54 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LiaKeyes I love Philip Pullman, Elizabeth Bear… so many, but those are the recent raves. #litchat -1:54 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @LiaKeyes I just finished Oxygen by Carol Cassella and Hello Goodbye by Emily Chenoweth…both lovely! #litchat -1:55 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| VanessaDobbs @lynne_griffin that’sthe sort of fiction that Ilike not heard that term B4 #litchat -1:56 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| CarolyBurnsBass What is it about these authors that you connect to? (Ann Patchett is one of my favorites.) #litchat -1:56 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LiaKeyes I just joined the party – is there a topic we’re discussing? Beyond favorite authors? #litchat -1:56 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| fannyfae @CarolyBurnsBass I love Dumas, Pauline Gedge, Diana Gabaldon, Jacqueline Carey, Rosalind Miles & Patricia Cornwell (sometimes). #litchat -1:57 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| niankhsekhmet @CarolyBurnsBass I love Dumas, Pauline Gedge, Diana Gabaldon, Jacqueline Carey, Rosalind Miles & Patricia Cornwell (sometimes). #litchat -1:57 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @LiaKeyes How real life informs fiction. I’m a family life expert with a new novel out. Life Without Summer. #litchat -1:57 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LiaKeyes Elizabeth Bear’s Promethean series has seriously scholarly research underpinning a wildly fantastic plot – never weighing it down #litchat -1:57 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| kashicat @lynne_griffin So, fiction that’s kind of “thinking” fiction, but still readable by most of the general publish, it sounds like. #litchat -1:57 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LiaKeyes Philip Pullman is a master of the almost lost art of omniscient pov, and as lyrical as the romantic poets #litchat -1:58 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin After being a grief counselor for years, I wanted to explore how each woman’s grief echoed in a different key. #litchat -1:58 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin My new editor calls my upmarket fiction…issues fiction. Which I like very much. I will never tire of exploring family issues. #litchat -1:59 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| abookinhand @lynne_griffin Unfortunately I have to leave. Nice chatting with you. #litchat I really enjoyed it. 🙂 -2:01 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LiaKeyes @lynne_griffin Thanks for update. Sudden loss of 18 yr old brother led to fascination with time, immortality, and the afterlife. #litchat -2:01 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| kashicat @lynne_griffin I really like the term “issues fiction.” I imagine it might get tedious if *all* fiction was that, but I like this. #litchat -2:02 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LiaKeyes Also the exquisite pain that loving someone deeply flawed can inflict #litchat -2:03 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @kashicat I like it too. I don’t see where it needs to be preachy esp if characters are allowed to tell the story. #litchat -2:03 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| BookingIt @lynne_griffin I like the notion of “issue fiction”! THE CASTAWAYS (which I just read) by Elin Hildebrand would fit in that. #litchat -2:04 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @LiaKeyes Reading & writing fiction is a wonderful means of coping. It’s a comfort to relate to characters–to be lost for a time #litchat -2:05 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| BookingIt @kashicat I was just thinking I’d like to have Issue fiction regularly in my mix, but not to be everything I read. #litchat -2:05 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @BookingIt Yes, & of course Jodi, Anita Shreve, Anna Quindlen to name a few more. #litchat -2:05 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LiaKeyes I hate the notion of ‘issue fiction’. Would rather see the truths of life explored in every story without taking it over. #litchat -2:05 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| kashicat @Lynne_Griffin Yes if story is just to lecture people ab. issues it won’t work. But a story about people *with* those issues works. #litchat -2:06 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LiaKeyes @lynne_griffin That’s true, Lynne, especially because when we write books we are the story god and can make things turn out right. #litchat -2:06 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @BookingIt Of couse…I like to shake things up with what I read too. Reading from all genres is the best way to learn craft. #litchat -2:06 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| VanessaDobbs @BookingIt I agree with you #litchat -2:07 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LitChat The 1 hour that @Lynne_Griffin promised us is over. She’s welcome to stay on, but we understand if she needs to go, right? #litchat -2:07 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin As for “issue fiction”, think of it more on the marketing side of the equation…not the muse side. #litchat -2:08 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin Story first…marketing the story second. When I write, I try to keep the marketplace out of my office. #litchat -2:08 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LitChat Twitter did a bit better today, but still sluggish. Thanks everyone who kept with us. Feel free to continue on. #litchat -2:09 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| dosankodebbie Just want to say, tho I didn’t contribute any comments, I followed and enjoyed today’s #litchat. Thank you Lynne -2:10 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| BookingIt @lynne_griffin I’ve put your book on my list, and I hope to add it into my mix! Thanks for chatting with us today. #litchat -2:10 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| VanessaDobbs @LitChat @lynne_griffin thanks for the chat #litchat -2:10 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin @LitChat Thanks for having me host this afternoon. I appreciate the time you spent with me. Feel free to follow me. #litchat -2:10 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| kashicat @lynne_griffin Thanks so much, Lynne, I enjoyed this. #litchat -2:11 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LiaKeyes RT @lynne_griffin: @carleenbrice And lots and lots of family secrets! Lia: Yeah, baby! #litchat -2:11 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| lynne_griffin Thanks for sharing your thoughts and comments! It was my pleasure to host. #litchat -2:11 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| mmj5170 RT @Lynne_Griffin: Story first…marketing the story second. When I write, I try to keep the marketplace out of my office. #litchat -2:12 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LitChat Be sure to come back next week for Religion, Faith and Mysticism in fiction, with Friday guest host @carleenbrice. #litchat -2:12 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
| LitChat Let’s shout a big THANK YOU to @Lynne_Griffin for joining us today. Will post chatscript on blog this weekend. #litchat -2:13 PM Jul 10th, 2009 |
LitChat 
[…] Lynne Griffin writes about family life. In addition to Sea Escape, she is the author of Life Without Summer (St. Martin’s Press, 2009), and the nonfiction parenting title, Negotiation Generation: Take Back Your Parental Authority Without Punishment, (Penguin, 2007). This is her second visit as guest host of #litchat. You can read the archive of her July 10, 2009 visit here. […]
[…] Lynne Griffin writes about family life. In addition to Sea Escape, she is the author of Life Without Summer (St. Martin’s Press, 2009), and the nonfiction parenting title, Negotiation Generation: Take Back Your Parental Authority Without Punishment, (Penguin, 2007). This is her second visit as guest host of #litchat. You can read the archive of her July 10, 2009 visit here. […]