Who is Lynnette?

I once was chased by a headless rooster. True story.

I grew up in Africa as a missionary kid, and we raised chickens. When I was about six, one rooster took a particular dislike to me. (I wasn’t mean to him, I promise!) Any time he escaped his coop and I got too close, he’d come after me. (I was small. He was mean.)

One day, my dad gave me the pick of the flock for dinner. Oh, I knew exactly which critter was going in the pot that night.

It became a family affair. We all gathered around to watch the rooster’s demise. I must have been the last thing that poor little fellow saw before . . . darkness. Because he somehow slipped free of his, ahem, slayer and took off running—straight toward me.

I bolted.

And I kid you not—that rooster turned every direction I turned all the way across the yard until he finally flopped over. My family was no help whatsoever. They were bent double, laughing.

At age eight, I left home to attend Rift Valley Academy, a boarding school in the mountains of Kenya, twelve hundred miles away from my family. Those first few years were hard. Really hard.

But I’m a firm believer that attitude matters, and I chose to love it there.

Despite a teacher who once called me “stupid, stupid, stupid” when I asked for help with a math problem. (Hello—I’m a writer for a reason. Haha!) Despite being so far from family. Despite crying myself to sleep some nights because I missed home so much.

Those years connected me with lifelong friends. They built a foundation that taught me—with God’s help—I could do hard things.

I attended RVA, off and on, from age eight until graduation. (We came back to the States on furlough for a couple of those years.) Somewhere along the way, I became a voracious reader. I’d stay up long after “lights out,” hidden under my covers with a flashlight, reading late into the night.

Those hours of reading planted a love of story deep in my heart. Eventually, that love led me to try my hand at writing and . . . voilà!

My first novel, Rocky Mountain Oasis, was published in 2009, and I haven’t looked back since.

Today, I write Christian historical western romance filled with faith, hope, heartfelt love, and just enough suspense to keep the pages turning. I also write some contemporary Christian romance under the pen name Brynn Stewart

I hope you’ll find a story here to whisk you away to another place and time—preferably one without mean chickens.

Happy reading!