| An Interview with Lynn Osterkamp |
How would you describe your novel, Too Near The Edge?
I call it a character-driven mystery with a paranormal twist and a humorous tone. In the story the protagonist,
Cleo Sims, a 37-year-old grief therapist who has accidentally discovered a process through which people can
make contact with dead loved ones, helps a young widow discover who pushed her husband off the edge of the
Grand Canyon. Cleo’s investigation takes her near the edge in the complex worlds of technology, university
research, drugs, alternative medicine, nursing homes, and psychics, while she confronts her own issues with
her police-detective boyfriend, her grandmother afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, and Tyler, a prescient surfer-
dude spirit who sporadically visits her to give cryptic advice.
What was the inspiration for the book?
Would you believe I channeled the whole thing from a famous dead writer? (I only wish it could have been that
easy!)
Actually, as far back as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated with the possibility of contacting the dead. My
father got me interested when I was a teenager, and after that I read everything I could find. One of those
books was Reunions by Raymond Moody, in which he talks about his research on visionary encounters with
departed loved ones. I also love mysteries, and I’ve had some experience as a grief therapist for hospice, so I
put all that together for this book.
How did you decide on the title?
Well there is the obvious reference to going over the edge at the Grand Canyon. But beyond that, I think the
story is “edgy” in the way it juxtaposes high tech and New Age, and raises questions about reality vs. illusion.
What kind of research did you do for Too Near the Edge?
Research is my background. I’ve been doing it for years. Actually I’m kind of obsessive about it. So I researched
all the details, mostly through extensive web searches, and sometimes going through books at the library. I love
doing research, so my challenge was to stop the research and get back to writing when I had enough
information.
Are the places in Boulder you write about real?
Absolutely. I love Boulder and I had great fun describing some of my favorite places like Eben Fine Park,
Chautauqua, and the Pearl Street Mall, as well as some favorite restaurants, like the Rio Grande. I’m especially
proud that readers and reviewers have said that reading my descriptions feels like a visit to Boulder.
Who is your protagonist, Cleo, patterned after?
Well, she’s me to some extent—or who I would have liked to have been if I’d been born when she was and had
her guts. She has my sense of humor and slightly peculiar view of the world.
Why do you think your main character, Cleo Sims, is appealing?
Well I like her because she’s like me only better. She cares about people and wants to help them, and she sets
high standards for herself and her work. She struggles with the conflict between maintaining her professional
reputation and doing what she feels is right.
What is your favorite quality about yourself?
Curiosity. I love to learn new things and to find answers to my questions. Cleo is very curious, too.
What is your background?
Somehow my curiosity has led me back to school many times. I have four university degrees, including a Ph.D.
in communication, and I’ve spent time as a university researcher and instructor. I’m also a social worker and
have worked in hospitals, hospice, and as a long-term-care ombudsman. My husband, Allan Press, and I have
studied and taught stress-management techniques for over 25 years. We created a computerized stress
assessment, the Preventive Measures Computerized Stress Inventory, which has been used nationally and
internationally by hospitals, wellness centers, physicians, military installations, employee assistance programs,
universities, psychologists and consultants since 1984 to help people examine their sources and symptoms of
stress.
There’s more but you may be nodding off at this point.
Have you published any other books?
Two—both nonfiction.
Stress? Find Your Balance, co-authored with Allan Press and now in its 4th edition (2006).
How to Deal With Your Parents When They Still Treat You Like A Child. Published by Berkley (1992).
What led you to switch from nonfiction to fiction?
Fiction is more fun. You can make everything up. And, while I love research, I also love making up characters
and stories. And it was a new challenge. I wanted to see if I could write a novel that readers would like.
Why mystery fiction?
It’s my favorite genre to read and I’ve read a lot of it over the years.
Where did Tyler come from and why is he a surfer?
Strangely, Tyler seems to have popped into my head fully formed much as he appeared to Cleo. I don’t actually
know where he came from. I’ve never known a surfer or been surfing. But I did get a lot of help on his language
from The Online Slang Dictionary.
Who are your other characters based on?
No one in particular. I made them up, although they do have traits and habits I’ve noticed in people I’ve known.
One of the things I found surprising since the book came out is that some friends and family have asked me if
they are in the book. They’re not. But, even more surprising to me is that some of them want to be. That’s
actually a little scary. What if they didn’t like themselves as characters?
Do your children write?
I’m so glad you asked! My daughter, Laurel Osterkamp is a very talented writer. Her first novel, Following My
Toes, came out last year. You can go to her website www.laurelosterkamp.com to find out more.
My son, Jeffrey Osterkamp, was a journalist for several years but eventually decided to go to law school and
now he practices law. But he has some ideas for books I think he’ll eventually write.
What do you do in your spare time?
When I’m not reading or writing, I love to get outside in the mountains to hike, ski or snowshoe. I also travel to
Minneapolis frequently to spend time with my grandson, Eli, and granddaughter, Pauline.
What is your favorite book and why?
My favorites change from day to day depending on my mood and what I’m reading at the moment. I love to read
fiction and I’m always in the middle of a novel. Recently I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo and the other
two books in that trilogy, as well as The Hunger Games trilogy.
What is your favorite genre and why?
Mysteries. I think I like them because they move toward resolution and at the end all the reader’s questions are
answered. Some of my favorite mystery writers are Sue Grafton, Michael Connelly, Jonathan Kellerman, Lee
Child, and Perri O’Shaughnessy (pen name for Pamela and Mary Perri). I enjoy the stubborn, engaging,
complex main characters those authors have created. I also love books involving time travel. For some reason
the idea of time travel fascinates me. Some of my favorites are Time and Again by Jack Finney, A Shortcut in
Time by Charles Dickinson, and The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser.
Who are your favorite writers?
There are so many! In general, my favorite writers are ones who create characters and settings that draw me
in, keep me involved, and leave me with something to think about. A few who come to mind in addition to those I’
ve already mentioned are J.K. Rowling, Jodi Picoult, Anne Tyler, Marge Piercey, Susan Isaacs, Amy Tan,
Jennifer Weiner and Mitch Albom.
What do you think makes a writer successful?
Most people would probably say a writer is successful if they sell a lot of books. But for me, success as a writer
is being able to write something that readers find entertaining and/or valuable.
What are your goals as a writer?
It would be great to write a novel that becomes a bestseller, is made into a movie, and makes me rich. But my
real goals are to write books that people like to read. And I’ve done that with nonfiction. Stress? Find Your
Balance has sold over 50,000 copies and people have told us it has changed their lives. I’d love it if Too Near
the Edge sold lots of copies, too, but it’s much harder to sell fiction.
What’s in the future?
I’ve just finished the second Cleo and Tyler mystery and I'm working on the third.
Will you visit, or call, a bookclub that is discussing your book?
I would be honored to be asked and would love to do it.
I call it a character-driven mystery with a paranormal twist and a humorous tone. In the story the protagonist,
Cleo Sims, a 37-year-old grief therapist who has accidentally discovered a process through which people can
make contact with dead loved ones, helps a young widow discover who pushed her husband off the edge of the
Grand Canyon. Cleo’s investigation takes her near the edge in the complex worlds of technology, university
research, drugs, alternative medicine, nursing homes, and psychics, while she confronts her own issues with
her police-detective boyfriend, her grandmother afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, and Tyler, a prescient surfer-
dude spirit who sporadically visits her to give cryptic advice.
What was the inspiration for the book?
Would you believe I channeled the whole thing from a famous dead writer? (I only wish it could have been that
easy!)
Actually, as far back as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated with the possibility of contacting the dead. My
father got me interested when I was a teenager, and after that I read everything I could find. One of those
books was Reunions by Raymond Moody, in which he talks about his research on visionary encounters with
departed loved ones. I also love mysteries, and I’ve had some experience as a grief therapist for hospice, so I
put all that together for this book.
How did you decide on the title?
Well there is the obvious reference to going over the edge at the Grand Canyon. But beyond that, I think the
story is “edgy” in the way it juxtaposes high tech and New Age, and raises questions about reality vs. illusion.
What kind of research did you do for Too Near the Edge?
Research is my background. I’ve been doing it for years. Actually I’m kind of obsessive about it. So I researched
all the details, mostly through extensive web searches, and sometimes going through books at the library. I love
doing research, so my challenge was to stop the research and get back to writing when I had enough
information.
Are the places in Boulder you write about real?
Absolutely. I love Boulder and I had great fun describing some of my favorite places like Eben Fine Park,
Chautauqua, and the Pearl Street Mall, as well as some favorite restaurants, like the Rio Grande. I’m especially
proud that readers and reviewers have said that reading my descriptions feels like a visit to Boulder.
Who is your protagonist, Cleo, patterned after?
Well, she’s me to some extent—or who I would have liked to have been if I’d been born when she was and had
her guts. She has my sense of humor and slightly peculiar view of the world.
Why do you think your main character, Cleo Sims, is appealing?
Well I like her because she’s like me only better. She cares about people and wants to help them, and she sets
high standards for herself and her work. She struggles with the conflict between maintaining her professional
reputation and doing what she feels is right.
What is your favorite quality about yourself?
Curiosity. I love to learn new things and to find answers to my questions. Cleo is very curious, too.
What is your background?
Somehow my curiosity has led me back to school many times. I have four university degrees, including a Ph.D.
in communication, and I’ve spent time as a university researcher and instructor. I’m also a social worker and
have worked in hospitals, hospice, and as a long-term-care ombudsman. My husband, Allan Press, and I have
studied and taught stress-management techniques for over 25 years. We created a computerized stress
assessment, the Preventive Measures Computerized Stress Inventory, which has been used nationally and
internationally by hospitals, wellness centers, physicians, military installations, employee assistance programs,
universities, psychologists and consultants since 1984 to help people examine their sources and symptoms of
stress.
There’s more but you may be nodding off at this point.
Have you published any other books?
Two—both nonfiction.
Stress? Find Your Balance, co-authored with Allan Press and now in its 4th edition (2006).
How to Deal With Your Parents When They Still Treat You Like A Child. Published by Berkley (1992).
What led you to switch from nonfiction to fiction?
Fiction is more fun. You can make everything up. And, while I love research, I also love making up characters
and stories. And it was a new challenge. I wanted to see if I could write a novel that readers would like.
Why mystery fiction?
It’s my favorite genre to read and I’ve read a lot of it over the years.
Where did Tyler come from and why is he a surfer?
Strangely, Tyler seems to have popped into my head fully formed much as he appeared to Cleo. I don’t actually
know where he came from. I’ve never known a surfer or been surfing. But I did get a lot of help on his language
from The Online Slang Dictionary.
Who are your other characters based on?
No one in particular. I made them up, although they do have traits and habits I’ve noticed in people I’ve known.
One of the things I found surprising since the book came out is that some friends and family have asked me if
they are in the book. They’re not. But, even more surprising to me is that some of them want to be. That’s
actually a little scary. What if they didn’t like themselves as characters?
Do your children write?
I’m so glad you asked! My daughter, Laurel Osterkamp is a very talented writer. Her first novel, Following My
Toes, came out last year. You can go to her website www.laurelosterkamp.com to find out more.
My son, Jeffrey Osterkamp, was a journalist for several years but eventually decided to go to law school and
now he practices law. But he has some ideas for books I think he’ll eventually write.
What do you do in your spare time?
When I’m not reading or writing, I love to get outside in the mountains to hike, ski or snowshoe. I also travel to
Minneapolis frequently to spend time with my grandson, Eli, and granddaughter, Pauline.
What is your favorite book and why?
My favorites change from day to day depending on my mood and what I’m reading at the moment. I love to read
fiction and I’m always in the middle of a novel. Recently I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo and the other
two books in that trilogy, as well as The Hunger Games trilogy.
What is your favorite genre and why?
Mysteries. I think I like them because they move toward resolution and at the end all the reader’s questions are
answered. Some of my favorite mystery writers are Sue Grafton, Michael Connelly, Jonathan Kellerman, Lee
Child, and Perri O’Shaughnessy (pen name for Pamela and Mary Perri). I enjoy the stubborn, engaging,
complex main characters those authors have created. I also love books involving time travel. For some reason
the idea of time travel fascinates me. Some of my favorites are Time and Again by Jack Finney, A Shortcut in
Time by Charles Dickinson, and The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser.
Who are your favorite writers?
There are so many! In general, my favorite writers are ones who create characters and settings that draw me
in, keep me involved, and leave me with something to think about. A few who come to mind in addition to those I’
ve already mentioned are J.K. Rowling, Jodi Picoult, Anne Tyler, Marge Piercey, Susan Isaacs, Amy Tan,
Jennifer Weiner and Mitch Albom.
What do you think makes a writer successful?
Most people would probably say a writer is successful if they sell a lot of books. But for me, success as a writer
is being able to write something that readers find entertaining and/or valuable.
What are your goals as a writer?
It would be great to write a novel that becomes a bestseller, is made into a movie, and makes me rich. But my
real goals are to write books that people like to read. And I’ve done that with nonfiction. Stress? Find Your
Balance has sold over 50,000 copies and people have told us it has changed their lives. I’d love it if Too Near
the Edge sold lots of copies, too, but it’s much harder to sell fiction.
What’s in the future?
I’ve just finished the second Cleo and Tyler mystery and I'm working on the third.
Will you visit, or call, a bookclub that is discussing your book?
I would be honored to be asked and would love to do it.
