A conversation with Julie Lawson Timmer

When Char Hawthorn's husband dies unexpectedly, she is left questioning everything she once knew to be true: from the cozy small town life they built together to her relationship with her stepdaughter, who is suddenly not bound to Char in any real way. UNTETHERED explores what bonds truly form a family and how those bonds can be tested and strained. Char, a college professor, wife and stepmother to a spirited fifteen-year-old daughter, loves her family and the joyful rhythms of work and parenting. But once her husband is gone, the “step” in Char’s title suddenly matters a great deal. In the eyes of the law, all rights to daughter Allie belong to Lindy, Allie’s self-absorbed biological mother, who wants to girl to move to her home in California.

While Allie begins to struggle in school and tensions mount between her and
Char, Allie’s connection to young Morgan, a ten-year-old-girl she tutors, seems
to keep her grounded. But then Morgan, who was adopted out of foster care,
suddenly disappears, and Char is left to wonder about a possible future without
Allie and what to do about Morgan, a child caught up in a terrible crack in the
system, and causes Char to once again question her connections to the people she
loves and the entire meaning of family.

Author Julie Lawson Timmer, an attorney by training and profession, zeroes in topics that seems pulled straight from the headlines. She talks to Fresh Fiction columnist Yona Zeldis McDonough about the cross over between the two professional worlds she inhabits and how she uses one to inform and amplify the other. YZM: How did you get your start as a novelist?

JLT: I have always loved writing, but it wasn't until 2011 that I decided to
take a real shot at writing a novel. I lost a friend to cancer that year, and I
was so enraged for her sake that I felt I had to express my feelings, and
writing made the most sense to me. Also, I was turning 45 that year, and for
some reason, that felt momentous to me. I did some soul searching and decided
that in another 40 years, as my days were coming to a close, the one biggest
regret I would have is not trying to write a book and see if I could get
published. I decided I didn't want to live with that regret, and that the time
was now, so I promised myself I would have a draft of a novel completed by my
birthday. I met that goal, and as a reward, I booked myself a seat at a writer's
conference, promising myself I would have the novel revised in time to pitch at
the conference. I did pitch it there, and while those pitches didn't lead to
representation, I learned so much at the conference and made some lifelong
writer friends, and those things combined helped me revise the book again and
again until I finally landed my agent, two years after I began writing the novel.

YZM: Does your work as an attorney influence or enhance your work as a writer?

JLT: I don't know that my day-to-day work as an in-house lawyer influences my
writing. I do know, however, that my training as a lawyer and my prior job as a
private firm litigator have helped my writing enormously. Litigators have briefs
to file all the time, often on little notice. We are used to writing fast and
efficiently, whether we feel inspired or not, because we don't want to commit
malpractice or be fired for failing to write the thing and get it filed with the
court on time. So, we don't wait around for the muse or other inspiration to
strike, and we spend very little time staring at a blinking cursor on a blank
screen. Instead, we WRITE. I carried that training with me in writing my first
book and have carried it for all other books since. I don't insist on certain
background music, a certain location, a certain kind of coffee, or any other
inspirational sort of thing: I just write. Lawyering also teaches time
management, which is helpful to anyone who intends to write a novel while also
holding down a job and balancing kids and home life. It also teaches outlining,
and structuring a narrative in a way that is clear and concise. All of these
things are great skills for a novelist.

YZM: UNTETHERED deals with both step parenting and with foster case; timely subjects for today’s readers? JLT: I think so! There are so many blended families these days; I expect each of us knows a stepparent or knows someone who has a stepparent, even if we're not in those roles ourselves. And of course, foster care and adoption have a long history. In my social media feeds, there are many people who are fostering kids, fostering-to-adopt, or who have or are about to adopt. The modern family has changed a great deal, and I think UNTETHERED presents a picture of the new modern family. YZM: What do you hope readers come away with after they finish your book? JLT: I hope readers who are stepparents come away with the sense that they are not alone in facing the challenges of stepparenting. It's a unique role, and many stepparents feel misunderstood by their closest friends because those friends, if not stepparents themselves, often simply don't "get it." I think UNTETHERED shows those parents that there's someone else who "gets it" and I think that can be helpful. I hope it is.

I hope readers also come away with insights into the world of foster care,
adoption and "rehoming," and that they will see the many different facets and
challenges in those realms.

YZM: What’s next on your horizon? JLT: My third novel, MRS. SAINT AND THE DEFECTIVES, is scheduled to come out in August 2017, and I'm currently writing my fourth. True to my lawyerly self, I'm outlining it like mad. YZM: Is there a question you wish I had asked?

JLT: Well, anyone who follows me on social media knows I looooove to talk about
my dear little Miniature Pinscher (MinPin) whom we rescued about 1.5 years ago.
So, I'll pretend you asked how she's doing, and I'll tell you that she is
wonderful! This summer, she has learned to run in the trails near our cottage,
off leash--huge development for her as she used to run away any time she was
given any leeway. This makes the trails much more fun for all of us and I swear
she runs with a very proud expression on her sweet little face. :)