In her twenties, she wrote several songs, but raising children and a really satisfying singing career was how she used her creative energy. She was happy and felt grateful to learn more about photography, how to hand-build pottery from clay, working with liquid embroidery, and how to create acrylic paintings.
In her thirties, she began to draw together all the scraps of paper and little booklets then put them in some order. She started to read some of it to her friends. Encouraged by their responses, she entered many contests and amassed many rejection letters. There was never a time that she totally stopped writing, but she could never really get started either.
Her late thirties, forties, and fifties saw an avalanche of words, which never ceased to fall out of the pen. She amassed several books - for kids, recipes, humour, short stories, and lots of poetry. She began a greeting card business and wrote all of it herself. She joined a writers' group and never looked back.
She’s taken many writing courses, most recently, How to write a great novel and How to write a great script, studied Writing & Publishing at SFU, and enjoyed various workshops all over the lower mainland of BC.
Connect with Lyn at:
Main Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lyn.ayre.9
Author website: www.lynayre.com
Artist website: www.lynayre.ca
Perfumer website: www.scentofnature.net
Podcaster website: https://MadeWhole.podbean.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lynayre
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/LynAyre/
Email: lynayre@telus.net
YouTube Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jj1lmEzSXs
Member of the Federation of BC Writers
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in New Westminster, BC, Canada in the 1950s. My dad was a musician and didn’t send much money home, so Mom and we six kids had to move around a lot. Everything was scarce – food, free time, new clothes, and shoes. But even at that, Mom made what we had enough. I went to eleven different schools in the first seven years of schooling. The New Westminster Public Library was one of the two things that held me together. The world of words opened me up and set before me a buffet of ideas and opportunities. I read for hours every week. The other saving grace was Winnie Cooper, a selfless woman who took us to Sunday school every week, no matter where we lived. Today, I live in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada only ten minutes from where I was brought home to after I was born.
When did you begin writing?
My father brought me a thick scribbler and a pack of pencils when I was eight, and I was off and running. Poetry seemed to fall out of the end of my pencil, and I worked hard to keep up with the flow of it coursing through me. I’ve been writing ever since. I write every day.
What is this book about?
As one person kindly commented: Fragments of a Shattered Soul Made Whole is a book about a woman who has a continual spiritual recovery from childhood sexual abuse, absent father, rape, lousy relationships, foster care, cancer, multiple health issues, addictions, alcoholism, and four miscarriages. After two failed marriages, she goes on to have a warm, heart-centered relationship with a loving husband for over twenty-nine years. She learns to develop nurturing relationships, a purpose-filled niche for herself, and beautiful hobbies, which eventually morph into her final career.
Lyn Ayre is a word-wizard who can shape shift even the most horrific life incidents into palatable paragraphs. She then blends them into a story of an unbeatable spirit who strives to pull the pieces of her life into a coherent whole.”
Lyn says:
"Writing has helped me to weave all of these threads into the tapestry of me. I am unique, as we all are. No two of us are alike. My story will resonate with many who struggle to overcome their demons and find a way to let their own light shine. I used the keys of willingness and faith to unlock my hidden spiritual potential. So can you."
What inspired you to write it?
At forty-nine, after my mother passed, I decided to write a book called The Life of Vi, but soon discovered I didn't know enough about her. So, I wrote my memoir on sticky-notes while working at an office full time. I'd write the note to get it out of my head so I could work, stick it in my purse, then word process them after supper. The book is called Fragments of a Shattered Soul Made Whole and ended up being over two hundred pages long. That's a lot of sticky-notes. Through writing this book, my mother's story was told incidentally from age seventeen to sixty-seven. Most of what I specifically knew about her is in there. Our stories are so intertwined.
How is it similar to other books in its genre? How is it different?
I’ve gone through some of the same things others have had to go through and overcome. I’ve incorporated them into my life and, by accepting that they happened to me and dealing with the ramifications of those incidents, have become a whole person. Like so many others, I found that writing is a way to get a clearer picture of myself, my life, and my destiny.
I am dedicated to helping others pull themselves up and out of their misery and suffering. Many people who have gone through what I have are in the helping professions. In those ways, this book, and its writer, are similar.
Every one of us is different, though we share similar experiences. No two, not even in the same family, will have the same perception of their life events. In that way, my book is different. It is my perspective and perception, skill set, creativity, dogged determination, and faith in LOVE – that beautiful universal underlying energy of it all - that paved the way for me to survive and thrive. Life still happens and all is not perfect – never will be. My beautiful husband of twenty-nine years died two years ago, and I’ve had to learn to make my way on my own. I honor him by living the very best life I can. My next book, Always is about my life from ages fifty to seventy, and the wonderful love story of my life with Norm. I’m sixty-seven now and have given myself three years to write it.
Where can readers purchase a copy?
Thanks so much for asking, Cheryl. My book is now available in hardcover, softcover, and ebook-Kindle, Kobo, and Nook-at:
https://www.amazon.ca/Fragments-Shattered-Soul-Made-Whole ebook/dp/B07KWTFBNS
https://www.amazon.com/Fragments-Shattered-Soul-Made-Whole/dp/1525534408
https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/fragments-of-a-shattered-soul/9781525534423-item.html
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fragments-of-a-shattered-soul-made-whole-lyn-e-ayre/1129942818
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Lyn_E_Ayre_Fragments_of_a_Shattered_Soul_Made_Whol?id=0Ml7DwAAQBAJ
It’s noted on Google, if you’d like to leave a review there, as well as at Amazon:
https://books.google.ca/books/about/Fragments_of_a_Shattered_Soul_Made_Whole.html?id=0Ml7DwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y
If you'd like to leave a review at Goodreads, that's always helpful and appreciated, too:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43066147-fragments-of-a-shattered-soul-made-whole
It’s available through my publisher, FriesenPress. To save on courier charges, get together with friends should you decide to go this route so there’ll be only one shipping charge.
https://books.friesenpress.com/store/title/119734000072249767/Lyn-E.-Ayre-Fragments-of-a-Shattered-Soul-Made-Whole
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30164714792
https://www.bookdepository.com/Fragments-Shattered-Soul-Made-Whole-Lyn-E-Ayre/9781525534409
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/fragments-of-a-shattered-soul-made-whole/id1444682316
What is up next for you?
I’m concentrating on the "Made Whole" part of the book title and have begun to develop free podcasts on these topics: We live in a Sea of Ch’i, Crystal & Colour Healing, Sound & Light Healing, Shamanism - Drumming & Journeying, Getting the most from your Psychic abilities, Chakras & Ch’i, Hold Point Therapy & Meridian Technologies, Meditation & Peace, Manifestation Board & Intentions, How to Create the Life You Really Want, Music – it’s in our brain, Art – it’s in our blood, Freedom in Forgiveness, and New Beginnings. Podbean is hosting me at http://MadeWhole.podbean.com
As well, over the last sixteen years I created my own company and worked full time as an energy worker, seeing clients and teaching classes. I developed twenty-seven courses on the subject, and I’m in the process of turning those manuals into .pdf books for sale on my website at www.lynayre.com I hope to have all of this done in the next year or so.
I’m also an acrylic abstract artist and do several paintings each year. Every four months, I submit them for hanging at local galleries and libraries.
What is the most important thing readers can learn from your book?
I know it sounds like I’m just stringing clichés together, but clichés got their name for a reason – they are well-loved phrases with a lot of depth and meaning. Here’s my message, “Keep rising above it and don’t let it break you. You’re here for a reason. You are unique and an important part of the world at large. Share yourself, and your message of love freely, in whatever form that takes – sports, music, science, the arts, numbers, mommy, dad, writing, singing, you’ll know it when you feel it.” Love always, Lyn
Is there anything you would like to add?
I really appreciate you taking the time to interview me at this very important occasion in my life. Thank you so much, Cheryl.
Bright Blessings for a Safe and Joyous Christmas and New Years.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment