A Cochrane-based writer with nearly 10 million hits on her online blog who has been shortlisted for a national award says her stories are intimate, simple and personal – and that’s what reaches her many fans around the world.
“I think I just speak from the heart … I keep it real. If I’m having struggles, I share that – we all have similar struggles,” said Lynn Dove. “I’m just a grandma and a mom and people like to read about things that give them hope, rather than all the other craziness that’s out there right now.
“People need hope, so they search the Internet and they find something that appeals to their heart – and my blog just seems to be the one.”
Dove published her first young adult novel in 2010 and started her blog shortly after as a way to promote herself.
“That actually took off even better than the books,” Dove joked.
Since then, she has continued to write in many different genres, with stories of hers even appearing in eight different Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies: including the most recent one, titled The Spirit of Canada, to celebrate the country’s 150th birthday.
Earlier this month, Dove was nominated for a 2017 Word Award – the same accolade she won in 2011 for her blog entitled Journey Thoughts. Awards are handed out in Ottawa in June for work published for Christian and mainstream audiences.
“I credit a lot of the storytelling to God’s stories – it’s how God has worked in my life and how he continues to work in my life,” she said, adding the universal themes in her writing reaches fans as far away as Saudi Arabia.
“It keeps me mindful of people who are actually reading it,” she said. “I’m not just writing this for me … it’s one that I want my readers to connect to.”
