Gael Lynch: Bio
Gael Lynch is a writer and storyteller who traces her roots back to her dad’s carefully crafted bedtime stories of fairy queens and villains, beggars of old, the rags to riches sagas of the ancients, always set in the rich green tones of the Irish countryside. Her own greatest ideas, though, are not those of far away and long ago, but ones that exist right under her nose. In what seems to be the ordinary, Gael loves nothing more than a chance encounter while waiting on a line at the grocery store. Perfect strangers offer a world of little gems, experiences she might never have had herself.
The Newbery Award winning author, Patricia Reilly Giff, mentored Gael for many of her writing years. Always a person of pure encouragement, it was Pat’s gentle wisdom that kept her writing and believing in herself for many years.
Her debut novel, IVY LEIGH EVER AFTER, is the story of an eleven, almost twelve-year-old girl whose mom has died and whose life is in a swirl of change with boy crushes, bullies and besties who pressure her to grow up and change. Without a mom, Ivy must navigate this new landscape alone…or so she thinks, anyway. With a mix of humor and heart-rending moments, Ivy will learn that by extending a hand to others, she can also help herself.
If Gael is not at her desk writing, working on Ivy’s sequel, she’s off riding waves, tossing balls in the air for her large golden retriever, Wrigley, or listening to live music under a starlit sky alongside her longtime husband, Tom. She lives in coastal North Carolina with its warm nights and soft ocean breezes. But Newtown, with its pastoral beauty and its warm-hearted people, will always be the place she calls home.
Gael lives in coastal North Carolina with her ultra-furry golden retriever, Reilly, and her rock and roll loving husband, Tom. She’s a kayaker, wave rider and baseball fanatic. When she’s not writing, she’s a part-time staff developer for Teachers College Reading and Writing Workshop and continues to promote reading and writing and great books in classrooms all over the US through her very small mom and pop shop called ‘Teach INK, Inc.’ She is always available to match the right book to the right kid and to promote writing anywhere and at anytime!