Meet Author Crystal Linn
Author Crystal Linn says, “I have written all my life. I wrote my first poem when I was eight and my first story when I was ten. The story was about my best friend and me traveling to Saturn. I have kept a journal and written poetry all of my life.”
Until the year 2000, Crystal never took her writing seriously, even though by then she had written many short stories and articles. She joined a writers’ group, attended writers’ conferences, and read everything she could find on how to be the best writer possible. Now, she’s blessed to teach, mentor, and encourage others on their path to becoming good writers.
Her first book was a small gift book of Renga poems, co-authored with a friend. (Renga is an ancient Japanese poetry form older than the Haiku, in which more than one person writes a poem.) Her second book is entitled, From the Heart, Volume One, and is an anthology on nurturing the inner child.
Crystal is pleased to tell us more about even more books she’s had published! “My third and fourth books were written together, sort of. While author Roger Rheinheimer and I were writing our Amazon top-selling series, Amish Forever, I wrote God’s Counterpoint for Mark Miller’s series ONE. God’s Counterpoint is the story of all of the miracles that happened during my husband’s cancer treatment. It has been over five years since he’s been in remission, the magic number for cancer survivors, and he’s still cancer free!”
Concerning the recent release, Amish Forever published by Trestle Press, Crystal tells us, “The publisher Giovanni Gelati read Roger’s first book, Amish Snow, and asked Roger if he would consider writing an Amish romance. Roger discussed Giovanni’s offer with his wife and then decided to write the book, but with a co-author. He placed an ad, and out of all of the many people who replied, he chose me. It’s been a perfect writing partnership, of which I’m continually grateful.”
Crystal and Roger will write more Ava and Zeke (the main characters in Amish Forever) stories together. Roger plans to write more novels on his own while Crystal will focus on writing parenting books and mystery stories set in the Pacific Northwest.
“I have more than twenty years of experience working with children and the adults in their lives,” she says. “I’ve worked from management positions in childcare centers to being a nanny and a tutor to being a foster parent. One thing that makes my parenting books different is I discuss how children think and how they view the world.”
An interesting fact about Crystal is that she and her hubby lived on a sailboat for a week in the Canadian Gulf Islands and learned how to sail. Often bald eagles escorted them, and once an orca
swam next to their boat and gave them a full breach. She even wrote a devotional about that experience. She also has a rescued pooch named Rosa, whom she simply adores.
A very special time in Crystal’s life occurred the weekend after 9/11 when her husband kept reservations to celebrate her birthday at the Empress Hotel in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. (She and hubby live in the state of Washington.) Crystal was very moved by the happenings of 9/11. She says, “I still weep when I recall how concerned and passionate our friend and neighbor, British Columbia, was and still is for us Americans. Churches and businesses collected donations to help those devastated by the 9/11 attacks.”
Another close-and-personal tidbit about Crystal involves a family member. “My great-great grandfather was a missionary doctor to the Oregon Territory,” she says, “and I still have some of his herbal recipes, studied herbs, and alternative medicine. I make my own herbal tinctures and look forward to starting an herb garden once again when I have the time.”
But for now, Crystal is too busy writing!
A nice tribute to a talented writer! I wonder how many of us started our careers with writing poems and stories when we were young. This resonated with me.