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Janet Nichols Lynch

Goodreads Author

Born

in Sacramento, The United States

Website

http://www.janetnicholslynch.com

Twitter

JanetNicLynch

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Young Adult, Nonfiction

Influences

Jane Smiley, Jane Austen, Lorrie Moore, Anne Tyler

Member Since

January 2009

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/janetnicholslynch

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Janet Nichols Lynch’s most recent novels are COMMIE PINKO, about the McCarthy era and teen life in Berkeley, CA, in the 1950s; WHEEL OF FIRE, about a teen trying to free another teen from a destructive cult; MY BEAUTIFUL HIPPIE, about growing up in San Francisco in the late 1960s, and RACING CALIFORNIA, about the Amgen Tour of California. She is the author of the novels ADDICTED TO HER, MESSED UP, CHEST PAINS, and PEACE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD.

Janet is available for book readings and signings, writer workshops and conferences, and school visits.

In COMMIE PINKO, it’s 1958, the era of the Cold War and McCarthyism. In Berkeley, California, fourteen-year-old Donna is happily organizing the Richie Valens Fan Club, when her father, a physics p Janet Nichols Lynch’s most recent novels are COMMIE PINKO, about the McCarthy era and teen life in Berkeley, CA, in the 1950s; WHEEL OF FIRE, about a teen trying to free another teen from a destructive cult; MY BEAUTIFUL HIPPIE, about growing up in San Francisco in the late 1960s, and RACING CALIFORNIA, about the Amgen Tour of California. She is the author of the novels ADDICTED TO HER, MESSED UP, CHEST PAINS, and PEACE IS A FOUR LETTER WORD.

Janet is available for book readings and signings, writer workshops and conferences, and school visits.

In COMMIE PINKO, it’s 1958, the era of the Cold War and McCarthyism. In Berkeley, California, fourteen-year-old Donna is happily organizing the Richie Valens Fan Club, when her father, a physics professor at the University of California, is subpoenaed by the House Un-American Activities Committee. At the hearing, Donna is caught between angry demonstrators and militant police in a dangerous conflict that ignites a decade of protest.

In her YA thriller, WHEEL OF FIRE, seventeen-year-old, aspiring detective Kori Lawton has been fascinated since girlhood by the Church of Wheel of Fire, whose raging bonfires light the night sky near her small town located in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Kori assumes that the cult’s members are burned-out aging hippies, until she meets Flicker, a desperate young woman near her own age, whom she is determined to free. Despite being repulsed by the enigmatic cult leader Promus, Kori falls under his hypnotic spell as he plots a deadly doomsday scheme. In the gripping climax, it may be up to Kori to save not only Flicker, but all the members of the cult.

In RACING CALIFORNIA, Evan Boroughs is shocked when his idol Tour de France winner Dash Shipley asks him to join his team for the Amgen Tour of California. He accepts the offer and wins sudden fame as the youngest rider in the event. Racing 800 grueling miles, at top speed, in bitter weather over some of the toughest terrain in California, Evan experiences spectacular triumphs and bitter disappointments. He is further challenged by an aggressive media, allegations that Dash is using performance-enhancing drugs, and pressure from his family and girlfriend to quit the race and return to his college-prep classes. There’s thrilling sports action in this novel about a gifted athlete who realizes that it takes more than talent to succeed in his first pro event.

Janet, born and raised in Sacramento, California, is the author of ten books. In 1984 her first published short story appeared in THE NEW YORKER, and since then her fiction has been included in SEVENTEEN, SAN JOAQUIN REVIEW, BALTIMORE REIVEW, CONFRONTATION, WRITER'S FORUM, and the anthology of California writers HIGHWAY 99: A LITERARY JOURNEY THROUGH CALIFORNIA'S GREAT CENTRAL VALLEY. For the past fifteen years, Janet has read her fiction on Valley Public Radio’s (KVPR, Fresno and KVPX Bakersfield FM 89.3)VALLEY WRITERS READ, hosted by Franz Weinschenk.

Janet received a B.A. in Music from California State University, Sacramento, a Master of Music Degree in Piano from Arizona State University, and a M.F.A. in Creative Writing from California State University, Fresno, where she won the 2003 Outstanding Thesis Award in the College of Arts and Humanities for her short story collection WHERE WORDS LEAVE OFF MUSIC BEGINS. She has taught music at De Anza College, Cupertino, and Skyline College, San Bruno, and music and English at College of the Sequoias, Visalia; and history and English at Divisadero Middle School and El Diamante High School. Currently, she teaches piano in her own studio. She competes in runs and triathlons, and once rode her bike from Phoenix, AZ to Washington, D.C. She lives in Visalia with her husband, composer Timothy Lynch, and they have two grown children, Caitlin and Sean.

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Janet Nichols Lynch’s books

Average rating: 3.95 · 877 ratings · 152 reviews · 17 distinct works • Similar authors

	Messed Up 4.14 avg rating — 577 ratings — published 2009 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	My Beautiful Hippie 3.64 avg rating — 115 ratings — published 2013 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Addicted to Her 3.36 avg rating — 104 ratings — published 2010	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Racing California 3.79 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 2012	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Peace Is a Four-Letter Word 3.18 avg rating — 22 ratings — published 2005	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chest Pains 3.83 avg rating — 12 ratings — published 2009 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Wheel of Fire really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 6 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Commie Pinko 4.75 avg rating — 4 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Where Words Leave Off Music Begins it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2004 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Casey Wooster's Pet Care Service it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 1993	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Janet’s Writing

CHEST PAINS excerpt (Literature & Fiction)

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Janet is Currently Reading

Janet Lynch is currently reading

The Seashell Anthology of Great Poetry

by Christopher Burns (Goodreads Author)

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Feb 13, 2020 09:43AM

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Janet Lynch rated a book really liked it Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5) by J.K. Rowling	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Sep 11, 2020 04:26PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Janet Lynch rated a book really liked it Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5) by J.K. Rowling	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Sep 08, 2020 04:08PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Janet Lynch rated a book it was amazing On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this, part memoir and part how-to for writers. Stephen King's voice comes through as a modest, kind friend. I appreciated his honesty about his drug addiction and I found the telling of his near-fatal accident of getting hit as a ped ...more
Sep 08, 2020 03:54PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of On Writing by Stephen King. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — On Writing by Stephen King <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Janet Lynch rated a book really liked it Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5) by J.K. Rowling	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Aug 09, 2020 05:54PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of On Writing by Stephen King. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — On Writing by Stephen King <iframe id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
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I'm surprised that I liked this as much as I did. Four teens in detention are suspected of killing a fifth. At first the characters seem stereotypical. The four first-person narratives sound all alike, and I had trouble telling them apart. Then thing ...more
Aug 09, 2020 05:41PM · like · see review
Janet Lynch rated a book really liked it Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter, #5) by J.K. Rowling	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Janet’s Quotes

“During our lives...we experience so many setbacks, and fight such a hand-to-hand battle with failure, head down in the rain, just trying to stay upright and to have a little hope.”
― Lance Armstrong, It's Not about the Bike: My Journey Back to Life

tags: go, lance-welcome-to-visalia

28 likes

“Standing amid the tan, excited post-Christmas crowd at the Southwest Florida Regional Airport, Rabbit Angstrom has a funny sudden feeling that what he has come to meet, what's floating in unseen about to land, is not his son Nelson and daughter-in-law Pru and their two children but something more ominous and intimately his: his own death, shaped vaguely like an airplane.”
― John Updike, Rabbit at Rest

5 likes

“excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. you are what you repeatedly do”
― Shaquille O'Neal

16 likes