Authors at Home: Lynne Reeves, “The Dangers of an Ordinary Night”
Today, we’re chatting with Lynne Reeves on Authors at Home: The Reading Lists. Her most recent novel, The Dangers of an Ordinary Night, was published by Crooked Lane Books on November 9th. Lynne is an internationally recognized family counselor and has incorporated her love of theater and her expertise in the mental health arena to bring readers the story of Nell, Cynthia and Fitz, as their lives intertwine in ways they never expected in the wake of a tragedy. Read on to learn more about Lynne and her novel, The Dangers of an Ordinary Night.
What are you currently reading, watching, listening to? Anything you wholly recommend as being inspiring, uplifting or just really fun?
I’m currently watching the HULU docu-drama Dopesick, which is an adaptation of the amazing book about the opioid crisis by Beth Macy. I’m reading Sinking Islands by Cai Emmons, a beautiful novel that asks readers to consider the climate crisis through story. And just for fun, my husband and I are watching The Good Place.
Can you take us through the day in the life of Lynne Reeves? What’s your day-to-day routine like — when you’re writing a book, and when you’re not?
I’m an early riser. When I’m drafting a novel, it’s the first thing I do before the world creeps in, altering my ability to get back inside my story. I juggle a few different kinds of work, so after I’ve written some of my own, I turn to editing other writers’ fiction and nonfiction, or I meet with my school and family clients. I have the ability to wear a lot of hats, but if I don’t work on my own writing early in the day, I inevitably run out of time or energy to focus on it.
In addition to your author role, we know that you are a family counselor. Can you tell us how you work your counseling experience and expertise into your fiction?
I’m a nurse and family counselor, so it’s my job to listen carefully to the parents and teachers who seek out my expertise in preventive mental health. It’s always been clear to me that we all talk in story. The ones we tell ourselves and the ones others tell about us. I started writing fiction twenty years ago, when I felt a strong pull to nurture my creative side. At first, I didn’t think I’d publish my fiction, I was writing for myself. But then I felt as if my novels had something to contribute to conversations about the challenges of family life, so here I am, four novels later.
What is one big message you want readers to take away from The Dangers of an Ordinary Night?
The through-line in my work is that there are so many family and relationship topics we consider undiscussable. Yet when we talk about our struggles, we connect with others who can relate, or who might empathize. It’s through these connections that we heal, that we find the hope to persevere. The Dangers of an Ordinary Night considers the issue of addiction in families. It’s an observation about the downside of keeping this illness hidden. And the power of seeking help, forgiveness, and perspective.
Theater plays a big role in your book. Why was it important for you to mesh the world of theatre and plays into your story?
It was my dream to go to college to study the dramatic arts. Life had other plans for me, but I always knew I’d revisit the theater somehow, some way. The performing arts school in this novel also works as a metaphor, for the many masks we wear in our relationships. I wanted to explore, using setting, our current preoccupation with social media and celebrity. Why we curate a public persona that in many ways keeps us from really seeing each other.
What is your absolute most favorite play and why?
I have so many favorites, it would be impossible to choose just one. So much so, that I placed dozens of play references inside the novel. Sometimes I used a nod to a play in dialogue between characters, or I layered in a visual image or play theme into the story. It was perhaps the most enjoyable part of the process of writing this novel.
Can you share your hobbies or other passions, and things you enjoy doing in your downtime?
No surprise, I love to read. I read nearly every genre, since there’s so much to learn from all kinds of stories. I live in a coastal town, so I enjoy walking the beach or along the harbor walk. My children and my two-year-old grandson live nearby, so whenever I’m not working, I love to spend time with them.
Do you have any upcoming projects you’d like to share with us?
My next novel of domestic suspense Dark Rivers to Cross is structurally built to mimic the Penobscot River in Maine, with its twists and turns, obstacles and barriers. Reminiscent of Nancy Price’s Sleeping with the Enemy, it’s a story about the impossible choices women must contend with in order to keep their children safe.
BOOK SUMMARY:
Perfect for fans of Celeste Ng and Megan Abbott, Lynne Reeves’ The Dangers of an Ordinary Night is an exploration of the explosive family secrets that are often hidden in plain sight.
On a chilly fall evening at the prestigious Performing Arts High School of Boston, best friends Tali Carrington and June Danforth go missing after auditioning for a play. They’re last seen in grainy, out-of-focus surveillance footage that shows them walking away from the school. Two days later in a town south of Boston, Tali is found disoriented and traumatized by the ocean’s edge, while June is pronounced dead at the scene.
Tali’s mother, Nell, is so bent on protecting her daughter from further emotional harm that she ignores rumors of her husband’s involvement and enlists the help of Cynthia Rawlins, a reunification therapist with personal insight into the riptide that hides below the surface of every unsuspecting family. Meanwhile, Detective Fitz Jameson uncovers a criminal undertow involving the high school’s overachieving students, and finally sees an opportunity for personal redemption from a secret that’s haunted him for years.
As Nell, Cynthia, and Fitz confront their own contributions to the scandals that beleaguer them, their lives turn out to be more deeply intertwined than they’d ever imagined. In the end, they must decide what lengths they’re willing to go to protect the people they love while also saving themselves.
About LYNNE REEVES:
Lynne Reeves (Griffin) is an internationally recognized family counselor, public speaker, teacher and writer of fiction and non-fiction. Her work has appeared in Parents, Psychology Today, Solstice Literary Magazine, Chautauqua Journal, Craft Literary, Fiction Writers Review, Brain, Child and more.
Lynne regularly appears as a media guest expert to discuss contemporary family life and preventive mental health, with her most recent appearances on WBUR’s Morning Edition and WCVB’s Chronicle.
Writing as Lynne Griffin, she is the author of the family-focused novels, Life Without Summer (St. Martin’s Press), Sea Escape (Simon & Schuster), and Girl Sent Away (SixOneSeven Books).
She writes novels of domestic suspense as Lynne Reeves, with THE DANGERS OF AN ORDINARY NIGHT which was published by Crooked Lane Books in November 2021. She’s a member of International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime National and Sisters in Crime New England.
Connect with Lynne:
Website: www.lynnegriffin.com
Instagram: @lynnereevesgriffin
Twitter: @Lynne_Griffin
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