Alaska, The Great Land by Lynn Lovegreen

I’m Lynn Lovegreen, and I’ll be posting here on the second Thursday of each month. Thanks to the Genre-istas for welcoming me to the group. I’m very excited about joining this group of accomplished authors who are also very nice people.

I write young adult/new adult historical romance set in Alaska. That’s an unusual niche, I know, but it encompasses all my passions. First, I enjoy young people. Adolescence and new adulthood when we’re just discovering ourselves and our place in the world are heady, and scary, times. I hope my books can offer some assurance to readers that we all survive the tough parts, or offer nostalgia for those of us past that stage in life. Second, I’m a big history buff, so immersing myself in the past is really fun. And since we’re celebrating authors from around the world this month, it seems an appropriate time to tell you about my home in a special part of the U.S.: Alaska.

There are a lot of things I love about Alaska. The most obvious one is the landscape. It is inspirational to see mountains every day, and I spend as much time as I can near the water. Even if you live in town, like I do, there’s weather and earthquakes and other things that influence our daily activities. That is pretty neat, in my perspective.

Plus, I love the Alaskan people. There is a diverse population here now, and I enjoy learning about the Alaska Native and other cultures. Due to the small number of residents, you can participate in your community in many different ways. The frontier tradition and rugged land encourage people to be friendly here. If you know a person who wasn’t able to fish this year and you have a freezer full of salmon, you give them some. If you meet a tourist with a map out, you ask where they’re going and point them in the right direction.

The frontier tradition also has a flip side: independence. If you can fix the truck/cabin/whatever yourself, you do it. If you want to live outside the box, there’s lots of space to do your own thing.  And your family’s status or reputation isn’t very important; you create your own life here. This independence creates a lot of interesting characters who live in Alaska. 

Which brings me back to my writing. It is very easy for me to find stories in our history to write about, and real people who can act as inspiration for my fictional characters, or get cameo roles in my books. I will never run out of stories as long as I live in Alaska.

Thanks for reading this, and I hope to see you around!  

Lynn Lovegreen grew up in Alaska, and still lives there. Her young adult historical romances are set in the Alaska Gold Rush, a great time for drama, romance, and independent characters. See her website at www.lynnlovegreen.com.