When asked about the pros and cons of writing with her sister, Valerie says, “There are so many more pros than cons. By the time (the book) is finished, we both have touched every page.” I may write a chapter and ask Valerie if she wants to finish it. “We talk each day and give each their marching orders. “About 70 to 80 percent of the writing takes place virtually … emails and FaceTime,” Lynne says. Living states apart, their writing process can be intense, but there is rarely any difference of opinion they can’t work out, she says. The sisters wrote it in about a year, Lynne says. Set in a fictional town in lower Fairfield County, there are many twists and turns and dark secrets, which their agent suggested made it a natural fit as a psychological thriller, Valerie says. Parrish,” the tale of an unscrupulous, money-hungry young woman who wheedles her way into a friendship with a beautiful philanthropist, with the intent of stealing her very wealthy husband, they didn’t think of genre, says Lynne, who came up with the story idea. “(The book) definitely got a lot more attention and got into the hands of a lot more readers.” With that exposure, “sales skyrocketed,” Lynne says. After publication, the novel was picked by actress Reese Witherspoon for her online Hello Sunshine Book Club.

The women signed with an agent Lynne met at ThrillerFest, an annual convention of thriller writers in New York City, who loved the book and sold it quickly. Parrish,’ we felt good about it and submitted it to five agents.” “We had plenty of rejection, (but) we kept on plugging,” she says. Writing under the nom de plume Liv Constantine (a combination of Lynne and Valerie’s first names and their maiden name), they found “overnight success,” Lynne says tongue-in-cheek, with “The Last Mrs. She and Valerie’s first collaboration as writing partners was the Greek-American family saga, “Circle Dance,” inspired by their heritage and stories told by their Greek grandmother. Lynne left marketing after having her children and home-schooled them until they entered middle school about five years ago when she started writing under the pen name, LC Shaw.

(It) was always in the back of my head that I have a story to tell,” says Valerie, who lives in Annapolis, Md., and is the mother of four sons. I don’t know if I thought from the beginning that’s how I want to earn my living. As a registered Democrat, she says the experience “was interesting and fascinating” and left her with “tons of stories” that she didn’t write. Valerie’s first job was in the Nixon White House in the scheduling office.

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