Title: What Might Have Been
Genre: Literary fiction/women’s fiction
Author: Lynn Steward
Website: www.LynnSteward.com
As a fashion buyer at one of New York’s most glamorous department stores, Dana McGarry is a tastemaker, her keen instinct for fashion trends and innovative ideas coupled with a razor sharp business sense. But like the elegant and conservative store that employs her, Dana is caught between two eras—between being liked and standing her ground, between playing by the rules and being a maverick. Dana is sensitive and beautiful, but what you see is not what you get. Behind the cool and attractive facade, Dana is both driven by her need to control yet impeded by her expectation of perfectionism. As she competes to replace women at the top of their game, she is challenged by jealous colleagues. And when a wealthy love interest wants to open doors and support her ambition, she embraces Coco Chanel’s mantra of “never wanting to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird.” As the women’s movement paves the way, Dana finds a path to the career she wants at the expense of happiness that was not meant to be.
Steward captures the nuances of 70s life in New York City and provides the perfect backdrop for an independent woman determined to make her mark. What Might Have Been is a story that transcends any period.
When did you decide to become a writer?
I started writing five years ago, when I began developing a TV series.
What are your ambitions for your writing career?
I would like The Dana McGarry Series to be a TV series, and I am working on the pilot script.
Give us an insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special?
As a fashion buyer at one of New York’s most glamorous department stores, Dana McGarry is a tastemaker, her keen instinct for fashion trends and innovative ideas coupled with a razor sharp business sense. But like the elegant and conservative store that employs her, Dana is caught between two eras—between being liked and standing her ground, between playing by the rules and being a maverick. Dana is sensitive and beautiful, but what you see is not what you get. Behind the cool and attractive facade, Dana is both driven by her need to control yet impeded by her expectation of perfectionism. As she competes to replace women at the top of their game, she is challenged by jealous colleagues. And when a wealthy love interest wants to open doors and support her ambition, she embraces Coco Chanel’s mantra of “never wanting to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird.” As the women’s movement paves the way, Dana finds a path to the career she wants at the expense of happiness that will have to wait.
Dana is an underestimated over-achiever but she is likeable, and the readers root for her. She is strong yet vulnerable; determined but not quite sure how to get where she wants to be.
Do you have a special time to write or how is your day structured?
I do my creative writing and thinking early in the morning, often as early as 4:30 a.m.
Where do the ideas come from?
The story was influenced by my career and knowledge of the fashion industry, and my life in New York.
Do you work to an outline or plot or do you prefer just see where an idea takes you?
I started this project by researching the period and I knew where I wanted the story to start. Once I started writing the outlines, the characters and plots quickly developed. As they say, “Write what you know,” and it clearly made this a pleasant writing experience for me.
Any tips on how to get through the dreaded writer’s block?
Go for a walk, a movie, dinner with friends! Get away from the blank screen!!
What can we expect from you down the line?
I’m working on the pilot script for The Dana McGarry Series. If your readers would like to see Dana and her story on the screen, I would love them to tell the world if they write a review on Amazon!
Lynn Steward, a veteran of the New York fashion industry and a buyer on the team that started the women’s department at Brooks Brothers, created the Dana McGarry series, set at a transformational time in the 1970s world of fashion and in the lives of multigenerational women. What Might Have Been is the second volume in the series. A Very Good Life, Steward’s debut novel, was published in March 2014.
LynnSteward.com
Pinterest.com/LynnStewardny
Facebook.com/LynnStewardnyc
Twitter: @LynnStewardNY
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