“My family can take an uneventful deerhunt and keep people laughing in stitches for 20 minutes …” Lynn Allen comes from a long line of storytellers, and it shows in her writing. I’ve said before that she has a striking understanding of rural people and places, so let’s find out how she meets these folks and tells their stories.
Lynn Allen
Lynn used to write high-action fiction, but a car wreck in 1993 left her with a concussion, and it somehow knocked the fiction out of her, even to this day. When she started writing more seriously again eight years ago, she needed a job that would enable her to stay on the ranch. She had the chance for a newspaper position, and it was as if God was telling her, “You can either get this job, or you can stand on your ego.” Personally, I’m glad she took the job, because I’ve seen her writing develop into a unique expression of rural life in Colorado. You can find freelance articles by Lynn in AQHA, Chicken Soup, Equus, and other ag magazines. She has won various awards, including the Society of Professional Journalists.
Lynn worked a while as an assistant editor, so she understands what an editor faces on deadline. But Lynn really didn’t want to work in the office. If you meet her, you’ll quickly understand why – she has way too much energy and independence to be tied down that way. So in 2005 she asked if she could do a column. These days Lynn is probably best known for her weekly Ridin’ Fence column. Reprints of those columns show up about twice a month here at Westinspect.blog.
I asked her, “How do you meet these interesting people?” Well, Lynn is friendly, and she “can’t keep her mouth shut.” That’s a quote from her, not me, but it’s true. She remembers people from most of her lifetime, and she loves to tell others’ stories. By the way, she neither tells a person’s story, nor quotes them, without their permission. That’s how it should be, isn’t it?
I’ve read most of her Ridin’ Fence articles, and the wolf story that was posted in July is still one of my favorites. “Why did you write that one, Lynn?” She had heard previous stories about the wolves in New Mexico, stories that touched her spirit, and she wanted to make sure she had heard right. She told me that “ranchers are ranchers because they have a heart for animals and are willing to sacrifice for that lifestyle.” On her trip to NM she saw what the wolves did that nearly destroyed one rancher’s life. “To be a writer, you have to feel it, you have to have a sensitive spirit. That column was a gut reaction, to show the fear those people have…”
So where did she pick up that spirit? Three authors have greatly influenced her: Lee Pitts, Gay Talese, and Jon Franklin. Lynn told me a large part of Franklin’s Ballad of Old Man Peters – I see how it can stir someone to keep looking ahead no matter what. And Lynn does have a vision for the future. As an author, she wants to sell more articles and make a profit. Her educational freelance articles are presented in a way that people will want to read and learn, while the Ridin’ Fence column is more personal. Lynn knows plenty of folks that she wants to write about, and she says she will go wherever God sends her to meet people and tell their stories. For me, it’s great to be able to offer Ridin’ Fence to you.
