Meet Charlie Tanner...TODAY!

My latest novel launches today, in paperback, e-book and audio formats, wherever you buy books.

Dear Readers,

I’m so happy to share that today, my third novel, I LOVE YOU, CHARLIE TANNER, is out in the world and available for your enjoyment. If you’re looking for a new novel, please consider one of the versions you can find Charlie in—paperback, e-book and audiobook, wherever you buy your books. Or request it from your local library!

This book literally poured out of me. I think I wrote the first draft in six weeks, and this was my first novel that didn’t need a major overhaul. I mean, it needed an edit, of course, a few rounds actually, but it was in pretty fine flow from the start.

That’s in part because I had the idea for the story in my head for about a year and a half. When I was doing other things—writing essays, teaching writing classes, sending kids off to college, marketing my first two novels and then my essay collection—I was thinking about writing a book where a middle-aged protagonist (Charlie Tanner is 40 when the book begins) who loses her life partner, processes her grief in the garden and somehow falls in love with a rabbi.

That’s all I knew.

I had no idea there would be a cult-like commune where Charlie wasted half her life with the wrong partner. I had no idea that the rabbi would be so hot or so sexy. I had no idea that there would be a murder (actually two)! Or a motorcycle-riding best friend. Or three landscapes—Cape Breton, the Green Mountains of Vermont, and Traverse City, Michigan.

What I love most about writing is the act of writing. You have an idea, you sit down to put it on paper, and then the characters started channeling through your fingers on the keyboard.

They did what?! Where did that come from!? Who is this?! Why did she say that!?

I’m not joking. The story literally takes on a life of its own and it’s so fun to see it unfold and chase after it to keep up.

In I LOVE YOU, CHARLIE TANNER, you’ll find familiar themes:

• small town living

• second-chance romance

• Jewish identity

• hot rabbi

• leaving a cult

• hope & healing

• gardening & nature

You’ll find a gorgeous cover (thanks, Paddy & Sue!). And I hope you’ll find a story that moves you, that makes you think, that inspires you, that captivates you.

Please do me a favor and consider buying a copy. And writing a review (if you like it!).

Now, it’s on to writing the next book. Yep, I have it all planned out. I have been dying to start writing again. It’s been all-things-book-launch for far too long and I’m not complaining, but I am at my happiest with fingers flying over the keyboard and new worlds being born on my screen.

Stay tuned for details on that. (All I’ll say is the story was inspired by my friendship with my incredible best friend Katie, my soul sister.)

Oh, and I narrated the audiobook for Charlie. Let me know what you think!

Love, Lynne

Thank you for reading A Look in the Mirror, Lynne Golodner’s Substack, a twice-monthly newsletter about belonging, confidence and community, and the writing life. If you like what you read here, please share it with others, leave a comment, or consider becoming a paid subscriber.