Woman of Valor – Lynne Golodner

Episode 50.
Woman of Valor is Lynne Golodner’s first published novel after six non-fiction books and two poetry collections. This engaging story lets us into the rewarding and complex life of Sally, who took on the Orthodox Judaism of her grandparents. Happily married to Barry and a mother to three young children, she leads a full and contented life, but trouble arrives unexpectedly. In this episode, Lynne talks about Woman of Valor, how the story draws on her own life experiences, authors that inspire her, and her writing in general.

Highlights:
00:05:15 Grew up as a Reform Jew, then became Orthodox, and now affiliates as a Conservative Jew.
00:07:16 Religion structures, spirituality personalizes; community versus individual.
00:10:14 Believe in yourself, accept criticism, revise.
00:20:15 Religious experiences and cooking shaped her life.
00:27:31 Normalize conversation about sexuality; remove stigma
00:32:23 Inspiring authors build series, endure and evolve.

Social Media links for Lynne: 
Website – https://lynnegolodner.com
Your People website – https://yourppl.com
Scotia Road Books – https://scotiaroadbooks.com
Make Meaning podcast – www.makemeaning.org
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lynnegolodner/
Substack – https://lynnegolodnerauthor.substack.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LynneGolo/
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnegolodner/

Social Media links for Méli:
Talking with God Project – https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/melisolomon/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066435622271


Transcript:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1851013/episodes/13675304


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The Living Our Beliefs podcast offers a place to learn about other religions and faith practices. When you hear about how observant Christians, Jews and Muslims live their faith, new ideas and questions arise:  Is your way similar or different?  Is there an idea or practice that you want to explore?  Understanding how other people live opens your mind and heart to new people you meet. 


Comments?  Questions? Email  Méli at – info@talkingwithgodproject.org

The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project – https://www.talkingwithgodproject.org/

Transcript

Lynne Golodner transcript
Woman of Valor

Meli  [00:00:05]:

Hello, and welcome to Living Our Beliefs, a home for open conversations with fellow Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Through personal stories and reflection, we will explore how our religious traditions show up in daily life, at work, at home, in the community, in good times, and in bad. There is no one size fits all right answer. Just a way to move forward for you, for here, for now. I am your host, Meli Solomon. So glad you could join us. This is episode 50, and my guest today is Lynne Golodner. Lynne is a published author, marketing entrepreneur, writing coach, and podcaster. She has written 6 nonfiction books, 2 poetry collections, and her first novel, Woman of Valor has just been released. Following a career as a journalist and marketing entrepreneur, Lynne pivoted to all things writing. She teaches writing, leads writers' retreats, and facilitates the writers' community. She fuses her marketing expertise with her writing background in webinars and masterminds, which show writers how to market their work and build consistent author brands. Lynne earned a BA in communications and English from the University of Michigan and an MFA in writing from Goddard College. She is the mother of 4 young adults and lives in Huntington Woods, Michigan with her archivist husband, Dan. Her social media links are listed in the show notes. Hello, Lynne. Welcome to my Living Our Beliefs podcast. I'm so pleased to have you on today.

Lynne [00:01:58]:

Well, thank you so much for having me. It's been something I've been looking forward to.

Meli  [00:02:02]:

Before we get into talking about your book and your which is certainly the meat of the topic today. I do want to just start with my usual first question. What is your religious and cultural identity?

Lynne [00:02:17]:

Well, I'm Jewish through and through. It's the religion that of my ancestors that I was born into and that I've chosen, and, culturally, it's how I identify as well. 

Meli:

What denomination are you currently living in?

Lynne [00:02:31]:

I have belonged to reform, conservative and orthodox in my life. I am now a member of a conservative synagogue. I'm actually on the board, but I will say that I'm just Jewish. I say that all the time because I take from each of the denominations and my experiences in them, and I also reject from all of them equally. So, yes, I belong to conservative synagogue, but I don't know that I'm a conservative Jew. I'm just Jewish.

Meli  [00:02:55]:

You know, I hear that sometimes. I deal with 3 religions, and I hear that kind of comment from all 3, which is just really interesting. What is it about that for you? I mean, is it this kind of I accept, I reject? It's like the, you know, the smorgasbord approach to religion that causes you to say, I'm just Jewish.

Lynne [00:03:18]:

Well, that's that's interesting. You'd have to know my personality to, I think, understand the context of it. I I've always had a strong personality, and I'm Rebellious by nature. I don't like people telling me what to do. I've had experiences through the course of my life in Various Jewish communities that have been wonderful and spiritually awakening and inspiring and also the opposite. And so I think for myself, I really prize that. I ask questions which Jewish tradition insists that we do. But I am not just gonna comply check boxes because this denomination says to or that denomination says not to or whatever.

Lynne [00:04:00]:

Also, I've traveled extensively around the world and experienced different spiritual lineages where I have found incredible inspiration, Text and leaders and practices and rituals that I find really illuminating. And so sometimes I borrow from that, and I don't make any apologies for it. I feel like I have come to believe that spirituality and religion are very personal journeys and that we're all saying the same thing. And so if I really like something from Hinduism or Native American spirituality or or whatever, I think it's okay for me to own it, to Do it as a way of expanding my own spiritual practice, and I make no excuses for

Meli  [00:04:49]:

that. Nor should you. But it is interesting you say we're all saying the same thing, and yet you've lived at various times. I I don't know what order. I'm curious about that. In reform, conservative, and orthodox, You've traveled widely. You've clearly been exposed to other religions. What is that through line that you're seeing when you say we're all saying the same thing.

Meli  [00:05:13]:

What are we all saying?

Lynne [00:05:15]:

So first to answer the earlier question, I grew up reform. I spent 10 years orthodox, and now I'm in the conservative middle ground, I guess I would say. But what is the through line? Really, it's a spiritual backbone of looking at the seasons, being connected to nature and the earth, and understanding that humans want a way to mark time, to make meaning out of the mundane. And all of these lineages, all of these traditions provide that with different stories. But many of the stories, I have so many similarities. And so the more I've studied different traditions, the more I've read a different text, the more I see the same characters, the same themes, the same origin stories coming again and again with different names on them or different details, but they're really at the core of the same stories. I also feel and this may be a radical concept. I hope the listeners are okay with that, but I do believe that organized religion really is a way to make sense of things and give answers to things that are unanswerable, but also it's a way to control the masses.

Lynne [00:06:27]:

And like I said earlier, I have a rebellious personality. I don't really believe that anybody else Is my conduit to a higher power or responsible for the way that I live or my happiness or my discontent? And that's really up to me and so my spiritual journey is mine alone. And whatever speaks to me that makes my life more meaningful, more beautiful. That's how I'm going to live, and that's what I believe personal spirituality really is.

Meli  [00:06:56]:

In that wonderful answer. I I also hear, in a way, a commingling of religion or, as you say, organized religion and spirituality. How do you see the distinction between religion, organized or or unorganized, I suppose, and spirituality.

Lynne [00:07:16]:

Well, religion, as I understand it, is a system. It's an ideology. It's an organized structure or thought process that is supposed to guide your days and give you rules and parameters. But spirituality is so hard to define, so hard pinned down, and it's this ethereal way that we live with the energy of the world and the spirits, however we want to invoke them, and that is within us from the start and at the end, and it's nameless. And so we, as humans, try to name everything and try to understand Things that, like I said, aren't really hard to understand. But spirituality is is something very personal. Religion is about community. It's about structure. It's about going somewhere to find a way, to make sense or to fit in. But spirituality is wherever you are.

Meli  [00:08:08]:

Frankly, I agree with that, but I was just curious because I think different people would give different answers to that, especially folks who are on the spiritual end and not actively religious. I've found they tend to come out with quite a different answer. So okay. Fair enough. Thank you.

Lynne [00:08:26]:

Yeah. Yeah.

Meli  [00:08:27]:

Yeah. Let's get to talking about your writing. You're a published author, 6 books of nonfiction, 2 books of poetry, so mazel tov for that. Thank you. And your newest book, Woman of Valor is your 1st novel. My leading question is, why write a novel after 8 books of nonfiction and poetry?

Lynne [00:08:49]:

Well, I always wanted to write fiction, but I actually found earlier in my life that it was a harder genre for me to enter. And I think, Personally, my writing skills, and my my personal growth needed to evolve and develop before I could really sit with a novel and develop it and and see it through. It's quite an undertaking. You're creating worlds. You're creating plot lines and characters. Nonfiction, you know, I was a journalist. I was trained as a journalist. It's not hard. You do the research. You have all the material in front of you, And so you just piece it together in a in a beautiful way. You weave the words and you there's an order that that emerges when you've done that research in the interviews. Poetry, you know, it's what I have my master of fine arts in. You do individual poems, and they might all form a collective theme. But at 1 poem, it's like 1 essay. I write creative nonfiction essays all the time. It's it's 1 snippet.

It's like if you go on vacation, you take 200 pictures. And, you know, I'm dating myself here, but you have a photo album of 200 pictures. That is the story of the vacation, but each picture is a moment. So each poem is a moment. Each essay is a moment, but a novel, that's the journey. That's the album. And, you need patience And you need, humility, and you need endurance to persevere and get that story out. And when you think it's fantastic and it's really not. You need to be able to hear from an editor or critics that it needs work, and you need to believe in it and yourself enough to go back and do the work. Woman of valor is not my the 1st novel that I've written. It's the 1st novel that is being published. So the 1st novel that I wrote, I wrote 23 years ago. And I was very proud of myself for completing it as I should be. Gave it to 5 people to read, got a lot of critical feedback, and put it in a drawer for 5 years. You know? And then I did the I repeated the process And did it again in the drawer. That book, I just don't think I had the maturity as a writer or as a person for it to to be something I wanted in the world. I don't know that it ever will be, but it was a good warm up. And so Woman of Valor is a book that I started writing in 2011. I wrote 60 pages installed because I had no idea what I was doing, and I put it aside for 10 years. And when I came back to it 2021, I was a different person as a writer and as a human, and I was really ready to develop it and I wanted to. It wasn't easy, but it was fun. It was so fun.

Meli  [00:11:22]:

Before we talk more about Woman of Valor, it's interesting to me what you said about the novel being hard and the nonfiction being easy. You have all the information in front of you. Well, I do research. Right. My Talking with God Project is research on how Jews, Christians, and Muslims live their faith and sense of God and all that. When I write about that research, yes, I have the transcript, but I find one of the Things that's challenging is clarifying the through line. What am I really trying to say? What's the story in in all of this because in an hour-long conversation with somebody, they'll say a lot of things, and then I'm comparing it to, you know, 50 other people or so. But I'm not hearing that from you, so I just wanted to check about that.

Lynne [00:12:16]:

Yeah. I mean, that's a great point, and that certainly can happen. I have found in all my years of interviewing and researching and writing that it's all the good stuff comes at the end. So it's the last question or it's the so so anything I haven't asked that you'd like to talk about, whatever reports from that. I often do see similar things come through when I'm interviewing multiple people and sort of the theme, just presents itself, and I'm like, well, that's interesting. I don't think I could have planned that. When I write creative nonfiction essays, and I've had a lot of them published over the years, and I I have a lot of them in process right now. They're usually me trying to figure out how to make sense of something that I've experienced. So, like, my mother just sold my childhood home where I lived for 50 years, and it was very emotional. And so I was trying to figure out, like, I think that's an experience we all, at some point, go through. And I was trying to make sense of it from my perspective and the emotions I I experienced. So a lot of times when I'm doing that, I put the details in, the thoughts, the feelings, but it takes many drafts before I figure out what I'm trying to say, and the ending is usually hard until I know that. For example, one of my favorite essays that I wrote was about a relationship I had in my twenties. It was right around the time I was starting to become religious in Judaism, and the person I was in a relationship with was not even Jewish. And so I was really being pulled between these two worlds. And so I wrote this essay 20 years after I met him.

Lynne [00:13:44]:

So I had needed that time to to gain perspective and distill it down, and I still didn't know what the point of the essay was. We did a lot of driving back and forth. We lived in different places. We did a road trip across the country. So I did research into what American roads are made from. I created a paragraph about this. It became a metaphor for the whole piece, and it was the final paragraph, and then everything made sense. Sometimes that information, that research is what helps you to find the through line And really give structure to what you're trying to say.

Meli  [00:14:17]:

I'm wondering if with the Woman of Valor, did it only make sense when you got to the end, or did you have a sense at the beginning of this is the arc, these are the themes, these are the kinds of characters I want? Tell me about that process.

Lynne [00:14:32]:

When I wrote Woman of Valor, I did not plan it out, and I should have, and that made it harder. So my novels that I'm writing now, I spend a month planning before I even start writing, so that I know that. And it makes it easier to write. It still needs tons of revision, but it makes it Easier out of the starting gate. With Woman of Valor, I borrowed from some of my own experience as a young woman choosing to be orthodox in Judaism. But as you know, I left after 10 years. At first, when I was writing that very, very first draft, I was only a few years out of living that way. I was remembering the things that were unpleasant. But then when I came back to it 10 years later, again, I had that perspective, that distance. I thought, you know, there's plenty of books out there about not wanting to be religious. I don't need to add to that. I don't need to be somebody disparaging that way of life. Even if I left it personally, there are beautiful things that I remember and miss and that I continue to do. I Knew that I wanted to write a book about a young woman who chooses to be religious in Judaism, and there are challenges that she faces, And she wants to stay, and can she find a way? So that was sort of the guiding force. And there were things that were gonna come up, that she would confront That would really, really push her to the edge. But would she find a way to make it her own? Which then again is a little bit of my personality. How do I How do I live this way, but on my own terms? So I think that's as much of the structure that I had when I went into it, but it went through some very serious revisions. The hardest pages to revise were those first 60 pages because I really was reluctant to let them go even though I had totally changed myself and my perspective, they were the roughest and probably the most amateurish pages, and so I had to rework them of all many times.

Meli  [00:16:21]:

And were those first 60 pages the more negative or just the first parts you'd laid down?

Lynne [00:16:30]:

I think both, and also probably earlier writing of mine, and so my voice had deepened and and I think gotten better. Every artist improves over time, and so I probably should have just cut it all, but there were there were nuggets that I wanted to hold on to. So I just had to keep massaging and tweaking so that it represented my voice today that was in the the latter part of the book, I did, you know, but it was definitely, sort of like a quilting exercise while the different squares that I was going together, but, like, this next novel that is in its revision stages now, was so much smoother and so much more consistent because I had the vision ahead of time. I had the plan, and I had learned from that experience with woman of valor. And I do hope that for the next book I learn from this, because I'm already seeing, oh, I should have taken my time here. I should have done this earlier. So I hope with each subsequent novel, I I get better and better.

Meli  [00:17:25]:

I hope that for you too. So let's talk a little more specifically about Woman of Valor. Tell me about the title. What's that about?

Lynne [00:17:34]:

Well, it's a familiar and popular song that a lot of religious husbands sing to their wives on Friday night, and my first husband saying it to me every Friday night. It comes from scripture, but I also liked the double entendre of here was a a strong woman main character, and she really clung to her values and beliefs and her strength even when it was hard to do that. Not the literal understanding of the song woman of valor, but, you know, another layer of meaning as well. And it just made sense to me. So I feel like when Jewish people see that title, it will have 1 connotation if they know that song, which a lot do. Somebody said to me, there's a military connotation to woman of valor. I had never thought about that. So we'll have other types of connotations, but I don't mind that Because there is a a connotation of strength in that, that's what I hope comes across is that, it's a strong woman at but at the heart of it.

Meli  [00:18:33]:

Yeah. And interesting about the different interpretations, and the song being sung by a a husband to his wife. Was that a nice experience to be sung to each Friday night?

Lynne [00:18:45]:

Well, my ex-husband has a beautiful voice. He's actually a professional musician, but it had meaning for him and not for me because I didn't grow up that way. And so I was coming into his tradition and sort of being the object of his tradition. I I didn't love it, to be honest. I thought it was a romantic gesture. I liked that part of it, but it didn't resonate with me in the way that it resonated with him.

Meli  [00:19:08]:

It can be a real challenge. I don't even know if it's really possible to fully take on someone else's tradition. This is this is always the challenge in a in an interfaith or intercultural or interracial relationship is somebody is more at home unless you each find, you know, together a third way. It's like moving into somebody's house. Right? It's like it's theirs and where are you fitting in? Oh, you get the top drawer. Great. Okay.

Lynne [00:19:38]:

Well, ironically, he moved into the house I bought when we got married. But I did become religious before I met him. I was finding my own way into orthodox Judaism, but he had a clear vision of what he wanted, and I sort of went with the flow, which is not necessarily how I wanted to. I I wanted to find that that middle road, but that is what happens in Woman of Valor is there is a husband and wife who do try to work together to figure out a way that they can both walk the same path, which I think I wish I had had.

Meli  [00:20:09]:

Yeah. Thank you for saying that, Lynne. I was just about to ask you really how autobiographical is the book.

Lynne [00:20:15]:

Well, it's not an autobiography, in any way. What comes from my life is my knowledge and experience of being religious. And the things I admired about it were some of the things that I kept, like, you know, my attention to my children, which I don't think is unique to just orthodox Jews. Also, cooking for Shabbat, making all these recipes that a lot of them I do make, and there's a lot of food in the book that came from my own passion for cooking with my kids, cooking for my kids, and all of that. As well, there is, an ex-boyfriend that shows up on Facebook. It's very, very loosely based on a college boyfriend I had, but none of the story actually happened. I took some notions of him and folded them into a character that I created. And then the arc to the end. Yeah. The arc of the story is definitely not my story. It is is very much a work of fiction. There was research that went into some of it too. You know? It takes place in Skokie, Illinois. I don't live there. I have been there multiple times, but I did a lot of research into the community. Sally, my main character is a runner. I hate running. I'm very athletic, but I do not run. But I did a lot of research into orthodox women who run. There are many. Some things came from my personal experience, but most of the book really came from research and and creativity.

Meli  [00:21:37]:

Are there characters in Woman of Valor that you are particularly fond of or dislike?

Lynne [00:21:44]:

I really came to dislike the ex-boyfriend. His personality and his almost stalker quality I really became uncomfortable with. I really like that Sally has a best friend in Batya who is her next-door neighbor and somebody who also became religious, and I love that friendship, and I think that's really special and important. You know? So many women have these close friendships and and I do as well, and they're just, you know, guiding lights in your life. And I think that when you're entering a new community, it's really important to have people at your side who are doing the same thing. I also really like the husband, Barry. I think he's a great guy. I love how flexible he is and and knows who he is and confident and just a really good husband. I really like him. So Yeah.

Meli  [00:22:32]:

Yeah. Interesting. I've never written fiction. And and listening to that answer, Lynne, I find myself thinking, so what would that be like to create a character, and then you end up really disliking them. I mean, does it do you find yourself in a bit of a kind of a strange hall of mirrors with that?

Lynne [00:22:50]:

I mean, no. I I was really proud of myself. Like, oh, cool. I created a character that I really don't like, because you need to have that in a book. You need to have surprises. You need to have twists. It can't all be roses. What really, I guess, excited me was every time I went back to the book and read it again or read a passage. I really liked it, and I think that's a good sign that I could see it with fresh eyes, but I could I also really feel good about what I had created. I don't have a problem disliking the characters. And in my next book, there are characters that are really questionable as well. And I think it just adds texture to the story because that's life. A story has to mirror real life in a lot of ways for us to get sucked in and and relate to it. We're not gonna like everyone, but they are there to teach us a lesson and for us to grow as humans. So I think it's really important to have that in a book.

Meli  [00:23:41]:

I really enjoyed the book. It really drew me in, and I stayed up late reading. I was surprised by the number of scenes of intimacy between Barry and Sally, and I did wanna ask you about that.

Lynne [00:23:56]:

First of all, thank you. I'm so glad that you enjoyed the book. That makes me feel really great. So I had been pitched to a local rabbi that I've known for a really long time who has a radio show. And as I walked up to his house, I thought about those scenes of intimacy, and I thought, I can't wait to hear what what he says, if he says anything. And I found out later that he declined to have me on the show about this book because there was too much sex in the book, which is funny because orthodox families tend to have a lot of kids, so there's a lot of sex happening. We're all human. You know? I mean, everybody has sex and everybody likes sex or not everybody, but a lot of people do. And, it is a it's a part of human human relationships. I wasn't surprised that that rabbi declined to interview me. I love writing sex because it is such an important part of my life and other people's lives, and I think it can be very creative. It's not erotica. You know? So it's I don't think it gets to that point, but it is intense, and it is something I enjoy writing. I feel it's a challenge. And I wanted readers to see a religious couple who are passionate for each other. I I want them to know that that is normal and healthy, and it exists in these isolated communities where everybody is covered up and men and women are often Separated by societal convention, but in the privacy of their relationships, intimacy should be celebrated, and it should be there. That was very important to me that they have a healthy connection and that they they could find that with each other. I haven't had any other complaints. So what I think is gonna happen, and we'll have to touch base after it comes out, is I think that this is going to be a book that a lot of Orthodox people read secretly with brown paper to mask the cover and hidden under mattresses, but they're gonna pass it around and not ever talk about it. So I do think that's gonna happen, but there are going to be complaints, I'm sure, and I'm okay with that.

Meli  [00:25:58]:

Yeah. So interesting. And I definitely wanna touch based in in a month or two after it's out and you've done some, you know, some of the book tour and all that. It strikes me in that answer, Lynne, that that it's yet another aspect of this controlling of what's visible and what's hidden. And that came through very strongly in the book. I found all kinds of pairings of that. You know? Certainly, the clothing, the the sleeping arrangements, you know, the what they call family purity laws, what is spoken of and what is not, what is actually whispered, and the rumors that go around. I mean, this is often true in a lot of communities. Right? Was that an aspect that was very strong for you that you wanted to make sure come through, or did it just evolve as you wrote?

Lynne [00:26:53]:

No. That was deliberate. That was very important to me. And one of the reasons that I left orthodoxy was because, you know, I entered it with a really idealistic perspective thinking that people who live this way and adhere to these standards were at a higher level, they weren't as petty or as gossipy as maybe in secular society. And what I realized is that people are people wherever you go. And I always say don't confuse Jews with Judaism. That there could be beautiful wisdom in these rules and and, you know, guidelines, but that doesn't mean the people are any better than anybody who doesn't follow them. You're gonna find good and bad people in every community. And so, yes, I wanted to show both the positive side of a community that is often misunderstood and the shadow side And to to grapple with it. I think that we have to. And, you know, it's not just the orthodox Jewish world or a religious right-wing world that is, shy by about talking about sexuality or passion between husband and wife. It's also in our society at large. Many, many societies don't wanna talk about sex or don't want to admit that it's happening, and yet it is. And I am hoping that in my writing, I can normalize this this kind of conversation. Like, why should we be embarrassed about things that everybody experiences and that are Essential. I'm a very open book myself because I want to take the stigma away from any topic and just say we're we're just relating person to person.

Meli  [00:28:21]:

So the relating, the complexity of of human relationships and not confusing Jews with Judaism, that's a great quote. I noted some some other issues that, you know, you had on your marketing packet, and I was curious. Enduring love, challenges, is seeing the beauty in life, weighing external expectations or pressure, and the internal voice. That was very interesting. Balancing individuality and being part of a conservative community that values conformity, and lastly, when to follow unexpected opportunity and when to Stay on a planned path. I definitely saw all these coming through, but I was curious again whether These were things you started out wanting to bring through or were these things that emerged?

Lynne [00:29:13]:

Yeah. I wish I could say that I had this all planned out ahead of time, but I just I just wrote, and I just got swept up in the storyline and the characters. Then when I had a high-level perspective, I could say, oh, I'm seeing this theme or that theme, and here's some some questions that are coming up. So, no, I didn't really plan it. I just sort of let the writing happen, which is pretty much how I do write. I have an idea. I have the the structure, and I'm just gonna go, and then we'll see what comes out and play with it. You know, I think that these are issues that we all confront, And I I think it's important to talk about them just like we were saying in the previous question. It's a complex thing to figure out who you are and where you belong. I don't care what community it is. There are going to be expectations from other people that may not resonate with you. When do you give in and just make everybody happy. And when do you really listen to that internal voice? And it takes a lot of courage. And I think there are many, many adults that never get to that point Because we are raised to listen to other voices, not to trust our own. It is really hard to be a part of a collective And be a unique individual. They butt heads. I think all of these are are things that I have pondered my whole life, and they come up in my writing again and again in different ways. I just think that this is a story about having the courage to be who you wanna be and and really staying with that despite the challenges that are going to face you.

Meli  [00:30:39]:

Well put. And to do so within the framework of of a marriage and a family.

Lynne [00:30:46]:

Yes.

Meli  [00:30:46]:

Yeah. That brings its own complexity. Yeah. Okay. We're coming to the close of our time together, Lynne. I do wanna ask just a few more questions about the broader topic of your writing, especially given that this was your 1st published novel, and you have another 1 or 2 in gestation. What novelists inspire you, or act as models?

Lynne [00:31:14]:

Oh my goodness. That is such a hard question because I read voraciously, and there are so many writers that I admire and really love. So I really love Diana Gabaldon, all the Outlander novels. So Outlander is like a a cult hit, and everybody loves a TV show, and it's a good show. But the books are phenomenal, and I love her story. So I was really curious when I read the the books, and and I was trying to figure out, make sense of it. And she had another career and said, what if I could write a novel? And she just sort of challenged herself, and it it's really become a global phenomenon. And then after I finished all the books, I wanted to find other books That were like it because I really just got sucked in. And that is historical fiction, which I do not write. I found another writer that I like even more. It's a pen name, Sara Donati, body, but her real name is Rosina Lippi, and she's very clear in public about I am her and she is me. And she has written a 6 book series called the wilderness series, Also historical fiction, so gorgeous. I can't even tell you. Just riveting, like, the way that she describes everything. I've become friends with her. I actually finished the 6th book. I was crying. My husband thought something was wrong with me when I he came to bed, and he's like, what's wrong? I'm like, I can't believe I finished it, and all these things happened, these characters. Anyway, so I I Googled her and found an email, and I I wrote to her and just said how much I appreciated the series. And she wrote back and said that an email like that is what a writer saves to read at the middle of the night when they feel like they're the biggest failure ever. And we got to talking and we've become Friends, and I asked her if I could interview her on my podcast. I did, and it was just such a thrill. And so those 2, I really find Inspiring for a lot of reasons, and there are many other authors that I love, but their endurance in building a series, which I haven't yet tried or contemplated, but I do admire that because you're not just developing 1 story line, 1 cast of characters, but you're continuing through years, decades, centuries sometimes, and evolving and expanding, and that's a challenge. I mean, 1 book is hard enough, but the exquisite beauty of their writing and that they are researching history to have authentic voices and and details is remarkable. Now the thing I was gonna tell you is my next novel was, it started out as historical fiction, and I learned very quickly that is not my genre because I do not have the patience to to really know a different place and time and that authentic dialogue, and so I admire them even more. But I took the initial concept and I made it into a contemporary, story, which is what I'm working on for the next novel right now, but there are, like, historical bits, but the core story is taking place in the present day. So that was just another lesson, a humbling lesson of, oh my gosh, historical fiction. Love reading it. I don't think I'll ever write it.

Meli  [00:34:08]:

But, again, it's it's another instance of learning about yourself, learning your voice, and learning your place. So Yeah. You know, that's good. That's good education, however difficult it is. Okay. Two more little questions. What is your writing practice?

Lynne [00:34:27]:

So I write 5 days a week in the mornings, 3 to 4 hours at a time. This was something I really carefully planned because I have a marketing company that I've been doing for a lot of years as an entrepreneur, it's about 5 years ago, I pivoted my schedule. I made a plan to work toward the point of being able to focus on my writing as a priority, and my income earning, you know, is the 2nd priority. And I really pivoted everything I did. I kept a couple of marketing clients but changed around to focus on teaching writing classes, coaching writers, helping writers build their brands and market their books, And lead writing retreats as my income earning, but still the best part of my day is the first part, which is writing. So that's 5 days a week. I don't work on Saturdays. I'm not Shomer Shabbat, but I do take that off. Sunday mornings is when I send out writing for submission, like essays and things like that, and work on the business side of writing. So 5 days a week, creative, and then one that I to the logistics of it.

Meli  [00:35:31]:

Would you say that that echoes or mirrors or in is inspired by having lived a religious life at at these various levels of religiosity?

Lynne [00:35:45]:

No. I think it's more indicative of my personality. I'm, I'm very high energy. I am really good in the early mornings. I I go to bed early at night, get a lot done. My husband loves to joke that I get done in 4 hours what it takes somebody else 2 days to do. I just really work fast, and I I get a lot done. I wanted the best part of my day when I'm really focused and and just, you know, awake and have great energy to focus on something that I love. Don't get me wrong. I have loved my career and the businesses I've built, but they didn't fuel my soul the way that writing does. And so I didn't want that to have to fit into the shadows or the little hours I could grab. I wanted it to be the core. Took me about 5 years, but I did it. I got there.

Meli  [00:36:31]:

Yeah. Well, again, hats off to you. I think taking 5 years to make that journey is is really not so bad. Okay. In closing, how can people where can people find your book and attend a book reading?

Lynne [00:36:46]:

I'm everywhere, so follow me on social media. I'm on on all of them except for TikTok. And my website that you should look at is lynnegolodner.com. The book is available everywhere online. So Barnes and Noble, Amazon, wherever you buy your books, you'll find Woman of Valor both in print and E-versions. I am starting all kinds of book talks after the launch, and there is an events calendar on lynnegolodner.com. And I'm working on some book tours right now, in California, in the Pacific Northwest, other places as well. So if it's a community that you want me to come to, Let me know. We also have all kinds of volume discounts for book clubs and things like that pretty much everywhere. Just Google me, and you'll find a lot.

Meli  [00:37:31]:

Great. I will definitely put those links in the show notes so people can find that and attend a book reading or reach out and say, hey please please come to my city. Wonderful. Well, Lynne, this has been a delight to speak with you, to talk more about your Woman of Valor and your writing in general and and your personal path. It's so interesting to hear how people's faith bleeds through their lives, and it it clearly came through in the novel. Again, hats off to you. I look forward to hearing more about your success moving forward.

Lynne [00:38:06]:

Thank you so much for having me. This has A lot of fun.

Meli  [00:38:11]:

Thank you for listening. If you'd like to get notified when new episodes are released, hit the subscribe button. Questions and comments are welcome and can be sent directly to info@talkingwithgodproject.org. A link is in the show notes. Transcripts are available a few weeks after airing. This podcast is an outgrowth of my Talking with God Project. For more information about that research, including workshop and presentation options, Go to my website, www.talkingwithgodproject.org. Thank you so much. Till next time.