Lynn Dove poses with her two books Heal the Wounded and Shoot the Wounded. The books deal with teen issues such as teen pregnancy, bullying and gossip.

Cochrane author releases second book in trilogy

A life of working with youth has inspired a Cochrane mother to turn her experiences into a book trilogy.

Lynn Dove’s fictional books series parallels the struggles of students she witnessed during her 30 years in education.

She began the three-part series by penning Shoot the Wounded, a book she started in 1999.

“It covers some of the angst of some of the real serious issues, particularly with bullying and gossip,” said Dove, a part-time teacher at Bearspaw Christian School.

Dove experienced her own trials when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001, relegating her novel to the shelf.

In 2003, Dove beat her cancer and enrolled at the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary in Cochrane where she procured a Masters of Religious Education.

“After I graduated seminary and re-evaluated and saw what God wanted… suddenly God opened doors for me,” said the mother of three. It was a conversation with her husband in 2009 that encouraged her to pick up the pen.

After finishing Shoot the Wounded in November 2009, it took Dove less than a year to write the follow-up, Heal the Wounded, published by Word Alive Press.

“I thought Shoot the Wounded would be the end, but young adults and teens especially, seem to really like sequels,” said Dove. “Teens kept asking ‘when are you going to come out with the next one?’”

The series centres around three main characters and their adolescent battles, said Dove, who noticed teens tend to bully peers if they are going through hardships rather than build them up.

“I really wanted to point out a message to my young readers that that kind of behaviour isn’t tolerated,” said Dove. “My daughter was bullied something fierce when she was in high school but she still has the scars from those bullying incidents.”

For Dove, writing is more of an organic process, but when she gets on a roll, there’s no stopping her.

“With Heal, it took more thought and preparation because I wanted the characters to continue their journey,” she said. “Once it started going, it was nose to the grindstone for a couple months.”

Dove inserted herself into Heal the Wounded when main character Jake’s mother is diagnosed with breast cancer.

“I’ve elected to share a bit about my journey,” she said. “It took me 10 years to write about my experience.”

Dove is currently writing the final book of the trilogy, Love the Wounded, and hopes to release it next year.