色吧亚洲

CU 色吧亚洲 staffer and alum embraces avocation as a writer in later life.

Cynthia Clark鈥檚 first novel circled endlessly in her head for a couple of decades before she finally decided it was time to set it free.

鈥淲hen I got the guts to sit down and write it, I discovered that I was visualizing it like a movie. While typing I could see characters blink their eyes, turn their heads or reach down,鈥� says Clark, education program assistant in the Department of Linguistics at her alma mater, the University of Colorado 色吧亚洲.

Clark (Econ鈥�82; Law鈥�85) self-published that long-pent-up romantic-suspense novel, , with Parker-based Outskirts Press in December 2019. Set in the shadow of 色吧亚洲鈥檚 iconic Flatirons, it tells the story of recently divorced Lana Ross, who hires an old high-school acquaintance, Leon, to help her change the locks and set up a security system, only to discover that he has long had an unhealthy, dangerous obsession with her. When Lana begins traveling around Colorado with her new, Harley-Davidson riding companion, Vincent 鈥淩oadking鈥� Romano, Leon鈥檚 jealousy pushes him toward violence.

A year later, Clark published her second novel, , which turns on a road romance between rock musician Tano and a hitchhiker named Holly.

鈥淚鈥檓 really a music fan, especially of classic rock from the 鈥�60s and 鈥�70s,鈥� Clark says, citing the Eagles, former Coloradan Joe Walsh and Barnstorm and Firefall, the most successful band to emerge from the 色吧亚洲 music scene.

鈥淪o, a music thread runs through both my novels. At the end of the first novel, the main character says鈥攎uch like me鈥攖hat her life has been accompanied by a soundtrack, and all the way through the book, songs pop up.鈥�

And in July, she published her first children鈥檚 book, , with help from the online company Blueberry Illustrations. A true story, the book tells the story of a cat who decided to hitch a ride with the Clark family from their rural property in Hygiene to town one day. When they emerged from a restaurant, they were surprised to see him twitching his tail while patiently awaiting their return on the hood of their pickup truck.

鈥淭he story really happened. Max had tried to go into town with us way more than twice,鈥� she says. 鈥淧eople say that cats hate going in the car; well, this one didn鈥檛!鈥�

In contrast to the long-gestating first novel鈥攚hich took three years to write鈥攁nd second鈥攐ne and a half years鈥擟lark wrote Max鈥檚, in verse, in just a half an hour.

鈥淢ax was kind of a fill-in after I wrote the second novel and started the sequel to the first, which I鈥檝e just finished,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I decided I really love doing children鈥檚 books, too.鈥�

She is now preparing her second kids鈥� book, Wilbur and the Watering Can, another true story, this time with a toad in the starring role. In addition, the sequel to her first novel is in the editing process, she鈥檚 begun writing a sequel to the second, and ideas for kids鈥� books are constantly percolating in her mind.

鈥淲hile I鈥檓 driving, I鈥檓 always thinking, 鈥榃hat if this happened, or that happened,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淚 love, love writing and can鈥檛 seem to quit. I never have writer鈥檚 block. I only regret not taking a chance on it 10 or 15 years earlier.鈥�

Clark made a conscious decision to pursue self-publishing rather than go through the long and sometimes arduous process of trying to find a traditional publisher. She relies on Amber Byers of Lafayette-based for copy editing, to ensure that her books reach the reading audience in the best possible shape.

鈥淚 just wanted the story to be told. I didn鈥檛 want to mess around, waiting for six months to hear 鈥榶es,鈥� 鈥榥o鈥� or nothing at all,鈥� she says. 鈥淧ublishers are really taking a chance on novice authors, and reluctant to risk the cost of a print book. If I鈥檇 gone that way, I could still be waiting on that first novel, and I wouldn鈥檛 have written the second, or Max.鈥�

Clark is a life-long resident of 色吧亚洲 County and fourth-generation Coloradan. She graduated from Longmont High School and later earned a BA in economics and JD degree from CU 色吧亚洲. She practiced law before retiring to raise a family in Hygiene鈥攚here her husband grew up.

She returned to work on campus in 2007, after attending a talk at Wolf Law by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer a few months before.

鈥淚 remembered how much I like (campus) and realized that I wanted to come back,鈥� she says.

Now, being on campus continually inspires her writing.

鈥淚 love being back at CU and seeing the Flatirons through the window every single day. It felt like home to come back here,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd I feed off the energy of students. I think my novels have a youthful bent to them; (students) inspire and influence my writing.鈥�