She?Äôs always loved to write, and she has always written. Growing up, Becky (Fink) Lang didn?Äôt expect her writing to come to anything. Then one day that changed.
At the time, she had two young boys at home, and she was laid off from work. She decided that this might be an opportunity to be more serious about her writing. She wrote lots, and started entering contests. Then she started winning contests, and she met an agent. Even
though that agent moved on, Lang was on a path toward publishing.
Lang got a new job, and had a third son, but she was able to balance her busy life to include time for writing in her spare time. Now, with three boys in hockey, she has figured out how to write at the hockey rink. Wally?Äôs Caf?© in Watkins is another favorite spot for writing.
Lang?Äôs favorite genre for writing is historical regency romance. She has two novels currently available for Kindle through Amazon.com. The Duke?Äôs Temptation, and The Runner?Äôs Enticement. She was asked to write a novella (about a third the length of a novel) to be part of a new collection of novellas, due to be released in November. Now that the novella is completed, she?Äôs getting back to her third novel.
Her publisher is Soul Mate Publishing, a small ?Äúindie?Äù publisher. Lang chose this option as opposed to self-publishing. She still needs to do a lot of her own marketing for the books.
Author and EV-W alumna Becky Fink Lang (pen name Addie Jo Ryleigh) spoke at the Eden Valley Area Library about her three romance novels. She balances a busy career, three sons, and writing every day. Staff photo by Jean Doran Matua.
Lang writes directly into a computer, not long-hand. She does not use an outline, but prefers to develop her characters and their main issues, and then lets them walk and talk, as she puts it. Her characters tell their own story as she writes. The only pre-planning she does is the arc the characters take through the book, letting that guide her writing. She tracks her progress (number of words written) in a spreadsheet.
She likes to drink coffee and listen to music while she writes, as they help her creativity. ?ÄúCreativity kind of comes and goes,?Äù she said. She does her own research but, as she says, she inserts it modestly rather than bogging down her stories with detailed descriptions.
Lang uses the pen name Addie Jo Ryleigh, derived from her sons?Äô names.
She has no desire to quit her job, but she is looking forward to writing full-time at some point, and writing in retirement. She would love to try writing contemporary books, too.
Lang?Äôs presentation had been scheduled for last November, but a snowstorm caused it to be rescheduled to Thursday, March 30.