Meet author Lynne Tagawa
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Lynne Tagawa is an educator, author, and editor living in South Texas. She’s a mom of four and a grandma to six who loves writing historical fiction with a theological emphasis. A Fallen Sparrow: A Novel of the American Revolution, is a 2023 Selah Awards finalist, and The Root of the Matter: The American Puritans Book One, won the 2025 Angel Book Award for speculative fiction. Lynne sometimes falls down rabbit holes in her research, and her husband enables her by ignoring the dust. Coffee and chocolate, in that order.
Tell us about your newest book.
Jezebel’s Children: The American Puritans Book Two is the second in a series spotlighting the New England Puritans and what they went through during the 1600s. It focuses on the minister John Cotton, his arrival in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the problems when Anne Hutchinson nearly split Boston in two.
What inspired you to write your story?
Anne Hutchinson is a controversial person. Some celebrate her as an early feminist. I don’t, but I was concerned when I first read an excerpt from her trial. I esteem Governor John Winthrop, but here he seemed hard. What was really going on?
What genre do you focus on.
I write historical fiction. I like to bring history to life. When I first chose to write about the 1600s, I was stumped. I like to place the minds of my readers into that time period. It was difficult this time—until I had a flash of insight. Time travel. It worked.
Why do you write?
I am not sure I know. I am a former classroom and homeschool co-op teacher, and part of me still wants to communicate with students. Stories are such marvelous ways of doing that. Only now my “students” are of every age.
Who is your main character, and how did you choose that name?
Geneva Fielding is an archivist who preps time travelers for their location and time period. But now, she goes back in time too, along with her romantic interest, Peter, a physicist. The name Geneva is meaningful because the Puritans were very aware of recent church history. They cherished the Reformation, which they were trying to continue. Geneva, Switzerland, was a hub for religious refugees in the 1500s, and an important English translation of the Bible is the Geneva. John Cotton must have owned a Geneva Bible.
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing a book?
My work schedule is crazy. Because I am an indie author, I do many things, not just write. I must edit, arrange for a cover, market, advertise, and in the case of a recent anthology (The Design of Providence) I must communicate with the others in the group. But it’s fun!
What is the hardest part of being an author?
Being satisfied with small gains. I can spend an hour on three paragraphs.
What’s the best part of your author’s life?
Getting feedback from someone I respect that they loved my story. I have such self-doubt, and it’s a lot of work to get a manuscript whacked into shape before I throw it out into the void.
What’s one thing your readers should know about you?
I let my hair go gray. My headshot lies. I’m a grandma now and I embrace it.
How have you changed or grown as a writer?
I am more ready to receive correction and more willing to give help. As Thomas Umstaddt says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” and he was referring to marketing and everything a writer is involved in. That stuck with me. It is certainly biblical.
What is your favorite pastime?
The only other hobby I have besides writing is music. I have managed to keep playing the flute over the years. I accompany our pianist on preludes. Occasionally, we are pressed for time. She flips the page and points. How many flats? I manage somehow.
Do you have other books? We’d love to know.
I have an 18th-century series—not time travel—just a straight third-person trilogy, starting with the Great Awakening and ending with the American Revolution.
What are you working on now?
I am working on the third in the Puritan series, focusing on the Salem witch trials. Lots of research!
Website: www.lynnetagawa.com
Link to book: TBD
Social media links: https://www.facebook.com/lynne.tagawa X: @LynneTagawa
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