What inspired you to write Every Trumpet Blows for You?

It started with a workplace so dysfunctional, so performative, and so casually cruel that it felt like fiction already. As an English major, one quote by the immortal playwright Tennessee Williams kept echoing in my head: “Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable.” That line from Streetcar Named Desire stuck with me. That and Macbeth – it is amazing how Shakespeare wrote over 400 years ago how unchecked ambition and undeserved ascension to power can only lead to disaster. This book was my way of refusing to look away and telling the story of people who took their power back.

Why fiction instead of memoir?

Fiction lets me tell the truth without naming names. It gives me space to explore the emotional truth of a situation — the what-ifs, the ‘nearlys,’ the things we wish we said out loud. It also allows me to weave humor and humanity into some pretty dark material.

Who has influenced your writing the most?

Oscar Hijuelos, hands down. I had the privilege of studying under him at Hofstra University. He actually was notified that he won the Pulitzer for The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love during my class! One of the first short stories I wrote for him was about a pig roast that the guys in my neighborhood used to hold every year under the Whitestone Bridge. He loved it and told me to keep writing what I know — and more importantly, to never silence my voice. I plan to honor him in the dedications of this novel.

What themes do you explore in your work?

• Workplace cruelty masquerading as empowerment
• The tension between complicity and courage
• What it means to “lead” in systems built to suppress
• Female resilience and moral rebellion
• Satire with psychological weight
• Also: absurd rebrands, optics-obsessed, performative trainings, and styrofoam chariot races. (Yes, really.)

What’s your proudest moment in writing Every Trumpet Blows for You?

Without question: developing the character of Mara Goffo. She was inspired by a real-life “executive” — someone in a position of power who had no business leading anything, let alone shaping people’s careers. No empathy, no depth, no true qualifications — just optics and fear-based alleged leadership.

It would’ve been easy to turn her into a one-note villain. But instead, I gave her a backstory. A quiet rage. A shot at redemption. I moved beyond personal resentment to create a fully realized, complex character. Mara became more than just a caricature — and that transformation is one of the things I’m most proud of in this book.

How do you feel about corporate jargon?

Oh, I loathe it. Like, viscerally.

Maggie, my protagonist, can barely hear the word deck without rolling her eyes — because when did a slideshow become sacred text? And don’t get me started on the spiritual trauma that is Mavis’s speech at WarriorSync’s “Miss Management” pageant. The whole book reflects my deep skepticism of weaponized buzzwords, “culture-building” clichés, and the performative nonsense that’s often used to mask cruelty and chaos.

What do you hope readers take away from Every Trumpet Blows for You?

That they’re not crazy. That the things we normalize in the workplace — shame, fear, manipulation — don’t have to be tolerated. And that yes, you can choose to speak up. You can walk away. You can burn the playbook.

Do you do speaking or consulting?

Yes. With over 20 years in publishing, marketing, and nonprofit leadership, I speak and consult on topics like communication, ethical leadership, corporate dysfunction, and advocacy — especially within the disability services sector.
Contact me here.

How can I get in touch with you?

Whether you’re a reader, a fellow writer, or a potential collaborator, I’d love to hear from you. Contact me here.

Lightning Round with Lynne

Go-to writing fuel?
Coffee, diet ginger ale, That’s It! Bars, and occasionally rage.

Best book ever?
My first edition of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love — with Oscar’s signature, con molto carino.

Most underrated writing habit?
Talking out loud to your characters until they answer back. (Just don’t do it in public.)

Fictional character you’d fight in a parking lot?
Major Gerald McNamara from Every Trumpet Blows for You. And I’d win.

Fictional character you’d defend with your life?
Maggie Maxwell. No contest.

Corporate buzzword that makes you irrationally angry?
“Circle back.” Closely followed by “deck.” It was the inspiration for Maggie’s retort “It’s a presentation!” at the close of chapter 5, aptly named the same.

Quote you live by?
“Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable.” — Tennessee Williams