Mary Devlin Lynch
Mary Devlin Lynch:
I live in New York City (like Melissa!), but the Bronx to be technical. I lived in Darien and Norwalk, CT for years before moving to NYC. I worked for a consulting firm that helps non-profits in fund raising projects until my retirement. I now manage my husband’s psychology practice on a part-time basis. Other jobs have included administrative assistant, real estate management and law firm paralegal work (yes, like Magee!). I have a beautiful daughter, Megan, who lives in Natick, MA with her husband, Peter, and two sons, Collin and Luke. Obviously, my grandboys are the most brilliant, handsome, amazing children ever–or at least in Massachusetts since Debbie’s grandchildren are in Pennsylvania. In my “spare” time when not writing, I am an avid quilter and, of course, reader.
Debbie Devlin Zook:
I retired from a position as church secretary which I had held for almost 10 years to take a much more enjoyable position as babysitter to my grandson and later to my granddaughter. I have been an administrative assistant, secretary and bookkeeper; and ran my own business for a couple of years (who knew frozen yogurt was a fad!). In a previous life (prior to my marriage), I worked at a major university located in central PA (hint: PSU). After retiring, I moved to a quaint, rural town (population 2,200) with one red light. My husband manages a local bank and we have one handsome son (not to be outdone by my sister!) who lives with his beautiful wife, son and daughter in a small town in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area. I read as time permits and also write short stories for my own amusement.
Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you?
Oddly enough, I was totally overwhelmed by Bruce Catton's Civil War trilogy when I was about 12! Always a Civil War history buff.
How do you approach cover design?
At first, we did our own covers. We wanted that control so they were very plain. We were quite proud of them until a Writer's Digest judge gave us great scores but suggested that the plain cover would keep the book from selling. So we now work with a designer. She reads the book and tosses us some boards and we go from there. It's so much fun! Usually we have some idea in our heads. But of our eight books, there was one where we were clueless and she came up with a great idea. It really is critical to have a well-designed cover to engage the potential reader.
Read more of this interview.