I was the eldest of the family of 4 children, from parents raised during the depression. I dared not speak out as their strict adherence to rules declared that children should be seen and not heard in public. We had our fun at home with the gentle side of our parents, too.  I became the sister in charge when parents needed to go grocery shopping on foot in streets of one of the boroughs of New York City.  So I had to entertain my 3 other siblings.  When evening came around and we all had beds in one very large room, (wedged up against the walls, I created story time to exhaust us to sleep.  I took my brother and sisters into an imaginary world that kept them silent while I searched for words to flow...and they did.  My love of English grammar and sentence construction earned me awards in school, combined with an inherited talent for drawing.  These were my beginnings. After marriage and birth of 4 sons, it was at the time I was at home with our last son, that I sincerely heard the please of the store owners of my local shopping center crying that they were being squeezed out of the businesses.  Their rents were not being renewed, and the building was being white washed.  I guess I took it to heart and then had a dream.  It was a creative one.  This is how my mind likes to solve problems.  I came up with a long clothes line with sheets, pillow cases, a shirt, etc. with the cut out words I made from black poster board that said, "WE WILL NOT BE WHITE WASHED."  Then, I was afraid to do anything with it. I usually never got involved with anything. I listened to the radio while they were interviewing the famed Kathryn Hepburn.  She said she gets frightened to do things all the time...BUT...she does them anyway.  That spoke to me.  I called the local chamber of commerce...told them what I had in mind.  They had been trying for 5 years to do something by polite letters, but nothing ever panned out.  I was invited to speak at the Chamber of Commerce meeting one evening and I got the backing of all members, plus the editor of our local newspaper. I was told to bring my clothers line in front of the shopping center and the editor carried the story until it's final glory. It succeeded, we had qualified for  funds to facelift  the shopping center that happened to be available for our town. Plus, I was requested by the eitor to do a news column about the the local community's goings on and announcements.  I did not own a typewriter, so I searched in an old thrift shop and they loved the reason why I needed a typewriter and sold me a standard (very old with cloth ribbon) typewriter for $2.   I then did some feature articles with my own by line. Fast forward to retirement. I stopped writing for newspapers, but in the Internet's make a web page...I did little stories I would share with friends.  Fast forward 10 years. I have a quadruple by pass surgery after having sat on my true calling, I opened my eyes and promised God, since he wanted me around longer to say something...I said, "God I promise I will get my stories published."   So my motivation was just that.  A promise to God...and it was hard work.  $2,000 to publish a book was not in my shoestring budget, so I printed, published and bound the books at home to start.  I have 9 stories.  I have published 2 by hand, then I found a printer to do the printing for me.   Here I am today, with messages in my stories that ring true from younger aged grade school 4 yrs old and up, to adulthood. I have had wonderful review on Amazon.com and many library readings, so far and more years ahead to finish up the other 6 stories. My books are different because I use high gloss finishes for wiping the books clean, I make sure the reader is engaged by including a refrigerator magnet of a character in the story and a bookmark with an attached charm related to the book title.

Recent placement in newspaper NC Brunswick News with photo: Local children's author, Lynn Darby (seated, second from left), visited Carolina Shores Book Club members at their first meeting of 2015.
Lynn spoke about struggles and successes of her journey as an independent author and of her entrepreneurial creations.
Her autographed books are featured at Sunset River Marketplace of Calabash, and Pelican Book Store of Sunset Beach.
Ms. Darby has read at local libraries and will happily accept visits to schools, groups, etc.
Contact her at Artsy931@aol.com for availability and book signings.
Visit her web page at www.LynnDarbyCreations.com to see 6 other books in the works, and other copyrighted items.