Lynea Bowdish

MY WEBSITE HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED IN A LONG TIME. I'LL BE WORKING IT THIS SPRING, AND HOPING YOU'LL CHECK BACK IN JUNE . MEANWHILE, HAPPY SPRING TO ALL!

LYNEA BOWDISH, APRIL 20, 2014

Lynea Bowdish started writing stories and poems as a child, and they are still her favorite things to write. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to Long Island as a teenager, where she attended Hofstra University. Like many people, she had an assortment of jobs back then, but she still kept writing by doing verses for greeting cards, and trying to get published in magazines.

She later returned to school for her Master’s Degree, and taught English literature at Hofstra University for six years. Lynea began writing for children after college, but was sidetracked by having to make a living. She still wrote, but now it was grant applications, newsletters, and other business-related things. She admits they weren’t nearly as much fun as writing fiction.

In recent years, Lynea has concentrated on writing for children. She still writes fiction, but has also branched out into non-fiction, including biographies and educational materials. Most of what she writes are early readers, chapter books, and middle grade fiction.

Why does she like fiction so much? Because with fiction, she says, you can make people smile, and sometimes even laugh. Humor is an important part of much of what she writes, and she admits that she probably laughs at what she writes more than her readers do. But that’s okay. As long as they at least smile once in a while.

Lynea no longer lives on Long Island, but even after many years, she still misses the smell and the sound of the ocean, and walks by the water in the winter. She also misses Brooklyn, and the Prospect Park Zoo, the seals, the smell of bus fumes, and having New York City just a subway ride away.

Lynea now lives in a quiet area of Maryland with her husband David Roberts and their dog Cody. She loves the open fields, the color of soy bean plants turning deep yellow in the fall, and the sound of geese flying overhead in the fall and spring.

Yes, she’s a bird-watcher. Shore birds are her favorite, but she’s taken an interest in owls lately. She’s heard two different ones nearby, and can actually imitate their sounds, but if you want to hear her do it, you have to ask her nicely. You also have to promise not to laugh at her efforts.

Has she any plans to write for adults? Not really. There are too many stories she still has in mind for children. Though truthfully, Lynea doesn’t think of what she does as writing for children. It’s more like just writing, and the stories happen to be about children, and her readers seem to be younger than adults. And that’s just fine with her.