Up Close With: Patricia Lane
Meet the wonderful writers and patrons behind LWS.
Let’s call her the Matriarch of the Massachusetts Massive, because one thing’s for sure: if any LWS members are in the vicinity of Boston, you can bet Patricia Lane will gather the locals for a meet-up. You may recognise this week’s profiled member from the ET and Aussie writers hours, where she is a regular, or members may know her as part of the hosting team for the monthly US open mic session. We know her as Patricia — definitely not Patty; never call her Patty — and we’re proud to call her one of our own.
Patricia (NOT Patty!) Lane
- Based in Framingham, Massachusetts, USA
- On her age, she enquires: “Mental or physical?!”
- Hosts the US open mic for LWS community members
- One of the hosts for the LWS third birthday celebration 24-hour writing marathon next week! Details for silver+ members can be found here; everyone else sign up here.
What do you write, in general?
Fiction; focusing on adult right now, but also have a Middle-Grade series in the works.
What are you working on right now?
My epistolary novel about a straight woman (arts administrator) and a gay man (ballet dancer) and their life-long friendship through coming of age, sex, drugs, rock ‘n’ roll, AIDS and death.
Also, the extended story that’s growing out of a piece of short fiction piece that I wrote in Writer’s Hours for a contest that I came in second place in.
Where and when do you write?
ET mornings and often Aussie hour with LWS. I’ve also started taking myself to my favorite local library sometimes to focus on specific things. (Dream setup: an old house with a cozy library for winter writing and a shady screen porch for summer writing and reading…)
How do you write?
I write mostly on my laptop although if it’s not handy and something occurs to me I will grab a notebook. I also journal sporadically.
Why do you write?
One of my earliest memories is being frustrated at the age of four because no one would teach me to read before I started school. I wrote my first book of short stories at age 10 and it was very well-received by the beta (and only) reader, my dad. I was a regular fixture at the town library and got my adult card at age 12 because the librarian said I’d “pretty much exhausted the collection in the children’s room.”
In the 4th grade I failed to turn in a book report and when the teacher asked my mother why I allegedly replied, “If she wants to know what the book is about she can read it herself.” So you know which option I chose in high school English when we were assigned four novels to read and could either compare and contrast two of them, or write in the style of one author. Decades later the seeds sown in that paper became the basis for a mid-grade novel which is currently resting in a drawer.
I also wrote my first piece of epistolary fiction as a teenager, a short story based on correspondence between myself and my older sister.
What inspires your creativity?
Overheard conversations, photographs and paintings, people-watching in public places, and things that have happened in my life.
What’s your favourite book?
One? Seriously?! You’re getting more. Childhood favorite: Nancy and Plum by Betty MacDonald. Young teen: any mystery by Dick Francis. I loved mysteries and rode horses so… Adult versions of this are novels by Daniel Silva — thrillers with art! Latest 5-star reviews: The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois by Honoree Fannone Jeffers, and Still Life by Sarah Winman.
What’s the best advice you’ve received about creativity?
The Toni Morrison quote on my LWS mug: “If I waited for inspiration I wouldn’t really be a writer.”
What’s the one thing you would tell other/aspiring writers?
Don’t worry what anyone thinks, get your butt in the chair and write what you want to write. And come to LWS to establish a consistent writing practice! And read. And hang out with other writers…
How can we discover more about you and your work?
I don’t post about my work on social media or have a platform yet. But when I do, you’ll be the first to know! Or, you could come to Open Mic, which I co-host and occasionally share at. And a section of my epistolary appeared in the 2022 LWS Anthology. Stay tuned!
