Lynda Williams

Born 1958 in Prince George, British Columbia, Lynda holds three post secondary degrees. Her last Masters was in computation from McMaster University in Hamilton. She works as Instructional Designer for the Rural Acute Care Nursing Certification prgram at the University of Northern B.C. Lynda is married to David Lott with daughters Jennifer, Angela and Tegan.
Lynda always knew she wanted to write but postponed the inevitable with a series of careers in crisis intervention, journalism, software development and support, teaching applied computing at the post-secondary level, managing a web development lab for distance education and stints as a librarian in both public and academic settings.
The Okal Rel saga evolved with her, collecting wisdom and ideas from her studies and experiences. She is particularly grateful for the encouragement and intermittent participation of a few special friends. Lynda's preoccupation in her writing is with characters and how they negotiate relationships and moral dilemmas created by serious cultural differences and technology representing our best hopes and worst fears.
The Okal Rel universe was designed to model social problems caused by mankind's great potential for doing harm through the blind pursuit of personal goals. Heroes stride the stage with charismatic power, but no leader can shun or exterminate an enemy without suffering serious consequences. Life-supporting habitat is rare, and each culture must struggle to control its empowered members enough to protect it for future generations. No characters are without flaws, and even the bad guys have a redeeming characteristic or two.
Although most of Lynda's characters are old friends she knows as well as her real family, they have evolved to answer important questions which preoccupy her. Questions such as: Can Amel afford to be kind or will it simply destroy him? and How can Horth balance ambition with integrity?
Lynda's short story "The Harpy" appeared in 2006 anthology Mythspring, edited by Julie E. Czerneda. She has also published non-fiction works in a variety of capacities and works with other writers to fill in the blanks across the wide scope of the setting she creates for her own work.
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