Today we’d like to introduce you to Lynn Slaughter.

Hi Lynn, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?

I grew up in New York and Connecticut, the youngest of three daughters raised by my single parent father, a publishing executive. Within six months of my birth, my mother was institutionalized for mental illness, and I never really bonded with her. After ten years, she was released, and our parents divorced. My father remarried when I was twelve, and I was ecstatic to acquire a warm, loving mom. She was the first parent I’d had who wanted the job, and we remained extremely close until her death in 2019 at age ninety-eight. We shared a love of books and reading, and she was very supportive when my second career turned out to be in writing.

Both sides of my family tree are peppered with musicians. My biological mother was a classically trained pianist, and my father’s cousins, the Teagardens, were jazz musicians. There was always music playing at our house, and music made me want to move. I suppose it’s not surprising that I became a dancer and spent many decades in the field.

My father, however, did not want me to pursue dance and insisted I join my sisters in attending a Seven Sisters college. With Wellesley and Mt. Holyoke already taken, I went to Smith where I fell in love with sociology. People had always fascinated me, and here was a field devoted to studying them!

The need to dance, however, never left me, and when I pursued graduate work in sociology at the University of Arizona where I’d moved with my first husband, I led a double life. By day, I was a grad student in sociology and by night, I studied dance and performed with a modern dance company.

When my then husband relocated us to Michigan where he joined his family business, I decided I needed to make a choice and either pursue sociology or dance. I chose dance and earned a master’s degree in the field from the University of Michigan. After graduating, I joined a Detroit-based modern dance company, had a baby I was crazy about, and a marriage that was falling apart.

Fast forward several seasons, and I met the love of my life and my longtime spouse when he joined the dance company. He was seven years younger than I, and I was sure he wouldn’t ever be interested in me, an older, divorced single parent. Thankfully, I was wrong. We went on to dance together for many years and have a second son who has brought us lots of joy (and a few challenges as well!). Our grown sons now have families of their own, and we have five amazing grandchildren.

Both my husband and I ended up re-careering. He became a physical therapist, and after stints as an arts school administrator and part-time college instructor, I became a novelist, something I honestly never expected!
Life continues to unfold in surprising and lovely ways, and I am very grateful.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

Financial survival was quite challenging during the years when my husband and I were modern dancers. We were fortunate to love teaching, and we went wherever the work was– to Interlochen in the summers, several years at Colorado College for my husband, and teaching gigs for me at Eastern Michigan University, the University of Oklahoma, and the Youth Performing Arts School in Louisville, Kentucky. We also continued to choreograph and perform and co-founded and directed two modern dance companies. It was challenging to balance career and family.

I struggled to find my footing after age and injury led to my retirement from dance. I was grieving the loss of a major passion and big part of my identity.

After stints as an arts school administrator and college instructor, I felt fortunate to discover a new passion in writing. But of course, writing has its own set of challenges– lots of rejection, the challenges of marketing your work, etc.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?

Currently, I’m a novelist. My sixth novel, MISSING MOM, comes out on January 14 from Fire & Ice/Melange Books. Five of my six novels have been written for young adults. Although this is a mouthful, I call them coming of age romantic mysteries. I’ve also written an adult romantic mystery called MISSED CUE. I think my stories are entertaining, emotionally intense, and deal with some hard-hitting issues.

I am most proud of touching the lives of many students I’ve had over the years and have loved watching their growth and development, whether as dancers or writers.

I’m also proud of taking the risk of going back to school in my sixties to earn my MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. and for continuing to write novels. Unlike most of my author friends, I hadn’t always known I wanted to be a writer,. Dance was my passion, and it was a lovely surprise to discover late in life that this was not only something I was able to do but enjoyed doing!

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?

Whether in dance or in writing, I’ve found that perseverance and self-discipline are vital. It’s also so important to find work that you really enjoy and puts you “in the zone.” You’re much more likely to be successful if you genuinely enjoy what you do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lynnslaughter.com

Image Credits

Headshot by Shannon L. Wells
Cover for WHILE I DANCED: Painting by Suzanne Enriquez Dougherty
Cover design for LEISHA’S SONG: Ashley Redbird Designs
Cover design for DEADLY SETUP: Caroline Andrus
Cover design for MISSED CUE: Caroline Andrus
Cover design for MISSING MOM: Ashley Redbird Designs