She leads a double life.
By day, Lynn Eldridge works as a mental health therapist and director of clinical services at Process Strategies. At night, she writes historical romance novels set in the Old West.
She couldn't choose one over the other.
In the daytime, she loves interacting with her clients, listening to them, encouraging them, giving them the tools they need to change the problems that brought them to her.
At night, she loves immersing herself in a bygone era, researching for historical accuracy, bringing the plots that ferment in her fertile mind to the printed page.
Her first novel, "Black Woods Bounty," debuted in March. A book signing is planned from 2 to 4 p.m. May 7 at the Kanawha County Public Library.
A followup book is in the works for fall. Six others, already written, await their turn. She recently signed a contract with Sunstone Press, an international publishing house.
Reared in Missouri and California, she nurtured a fancy for cowboys, Indians and the Wild West throughout girlhood. A college course in sociology defined her fascination with human behavior and inspired her career.
She has a master's degree in social work from West Virginia University.
Vivacious and radiant, she exudes a contagious happiness rooted in her mantra of living in the moment. In that moment, in every moment, she decides to be happy. So she is.
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"I was born in Missouri. My parents divorced when I was 2. My grandfather was the love of my life. He was my biggest fan. He used to take me out in the bottomland in the crops and let me drive when I was only 6. After we moved to California, I spent every summer with him until I was 17.
"My uncle was the sheriff of three towns. We knew when he wasn't going to be in our town, so I could drive. When I would drive well and not take out many crops, we would go to the Dairy Queen. He was my biggest pal. He believed in me.
"We had a very diverse population in southern California. My high school was probably a third white, a third black and a third Mexican. I wanted everybody to be a friend. I couldn't understand why they weren't friends.
"Even back then I think I wanted to be a social worker or therapist and just didn't know it. 'What are your feelings about this? Why are we having this gang fight today? What do you think that is going to accomplish?' I was always trying to help.
"When I got into the State University of California, I had my first sociology class, the study of man and his environment, and everything started to click. It started to make sense why there was so much prejudice, not liking someone because they weren't from your culture.
"I got my bachelor's in sociology. I will always be a sociologist at heart. My master's is from WVU in social work because that allowed me to do the clinical part of my job.
"The father of my four sons got moved here from California in 1980. He was a jeweler for McCormick Jewelers.
"By the time I got my master's degree, I had divorced and moved to Colorado for a few years.
"I came back to West Virginia because Olivia, my granddaughter, was going to be born. I started working with Highland Hospital. Process Strategies and Highland Hospital are everything I would want. Highland owns us. Highland is in-patient and we are out-patient so we get a lot of their patients when they are discharged. It's the best job I've ever had.
"I was director of clinical services. Dave McWatters, who passed away, hired me. I was going to go to work for one of the hospitals in town. He said, 'How often do you talk to the CEO there?' I said never. He said, 'You can talk to me every day and we will do the things you want. Give it six months.'
"I didn't want to give up my direct practice because that's what I had done for 16 years. I asked to do half managerial and half direct practice. He said fine. I see five patients a day and the other hours I do the managerial piece. I manage a staff of seven therapists.
"I like to think that when a client comes in my office, I have the skills and expertise and education to help them, so when they walk out, they feel a little better and have tools in their tool belt. I teach them tools. I have lots of tools in my tool belt for lots of problems that people come to me with.
"One of my first clients came to me through a domestic violence situation. I said, 'Why do you keep going back?' I told her how to make a decision. I had to see her three times before she would really talk to me. Then she left and I didn't see her for two years.
"When I ran into her, she ran up to me and said, 'Lynn, Lynn! My whole life is different! I'm no longer in a domestic violence situation. I used the tool you taught me about how to make a decision and not change it on the spur of the moment. You changed my life.' I said, 'I did not. I gave you the tool to change your life. I empowered you to change your life.'
"I've learned to stay in the moment. It's so important to have that mindfulness to stay in the moment. It's the only place we can be. I don't ruminate on the past. That's the definition of depression. Don't rehearse the future. The future is a crapshoot. That's the definition of anxiety. If you stay in the moment, you've got some power, because you are making a decision about what you are going to do at that moment.
"I decided I would choose to be happy. Happy is definitely a choice. If you are in the moment and are choosing to be happy, you aren't ruminating on the past or rehearsing tomorrow. One of my biggest tools in my toolbox is staying in the moment and choosing to be happy because happiness is always a choice.
"If you wait to be happy until you go on vacation or get a new job or a new car, you are always waiting and time runs out.
"I am a happy person and very resilient because of that. I have tools for throwing away the past and tools for not rehearsing the future. Keeping in the moment is huge. I teach it every day, this tool or that tool.
"Sometimes it's hard. I have a lot of [addiction to] meth, cocaine and heroin and pain pills in my practice. And that's tough. But we have tools for that, too.
"About the writing, one day back in 1988, I had a scene come to me in my head. I was seeing this girl on a riverbank and she was running from someone and trying to push a canoe off the riverbank. She hears this scream in the forest and she knows she better get away while she can or it will be too late.
"After a few days, I decided to just sit down at the dining room table and write it out and maybe it would go away. But as soon as I wrote it out, I had the next scene and the next scene, and before I knew it, I had about a 1,000 page book which I split up into two, the first book and the sequel.
"My love of reading and writing started with my mother's old set of Nancy Drew. I had such a love of those books that I never stopped reading.
"I didn't start writing until that scene came in my head. I submitted 'Black Hills Bounty' to a publisher who loved it. She said it was the best thing to come across her desk in six months.
"Well, my critique partner died of ovarian cancer. My agent had a heart attack and retired and the publisher who loved it went on maternity leave and never came back. So I put my writing away. By then, I had eight books written.
"My sons encouraged me to keep writing. My son, Nicholas, would say, 'What are you doing tonight?' I'd say, 'Oh, I'm going to watch TV.' He'd say, 'Really? Because other people are probably writing.'
"He reminded me of the story about Stephen King, who had 100 rejections from publishers and felt he was done, and his wife came along and sent the book - I think it was 'Carrie' - to one more publisher. That was the one publisher who liked it.
"I contacted that one more publisher. 'Black Woods Bounty' is my debut novel, which just came out in March.
"When I wrote it, I went to the library and checked out 20 historical nonfiction books. Then I narrowed it down to three and had Taylor Books order them for me. That's how I wrote 'Black Woods Bounty' and 'Remember the Passion.'
"I used to love to pretend I was a cowboy or an Indian. I always loved the west. I like going back in history. If you read one of my books, you will learn all kinds of things about history. If I say it rained on March 18 in 1836 at the Alamo, it rained that day. I am extremely historically accurate. You can weave in fictional characters as long as you keep that accuracy.
"My next one, 'Remember the Passion,' will be out by fall. This publisher wants to do all of them. He was looking for a romance writer. I was in the right place at the right time.
"Ideas are always in my head. It's like opening a drawer, and I take it out and it's on my screen.
"I'm totally immersed now in 1836. When Nick comes in the room, he will say, 'Are you in 2016?' I will say, 'Yes, now I am.' But as soon as I sit down with my story, I am in 1836.
"I get home and change clothes and go straight to my laptop. I can't wait to get to 1836. I love it. I live it. I will let everything go. I'm in my own world. That's my happy place.
"I'm a therapist by day and a romance writer by night. I wouldn't want to give up either one of them. I am very happy. I live in a neighborhood surrounded by my four sons who are successful and happy. I see them almost every day. Knock on wood. I am really lucky.
"My dream? That my books would be on the New York Times best seller list."
Reach Sandy Wells at sandyw@wvgazette.com or 304-342-5027.