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The settings for all 12 of Dr. Lin Stepp’s books are tucked away against the backdrop of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, her backyard and ours.
By summer’s end, she will have traveled hundreds of miles and greeted numerous neighbors on her quest to share the beauty and intrigue.
Stepp is a native of Tennessee who has just released her first work of fiction, “Foster Girls,” the first in this Southern contemporary romance series based in the hollows, hills and ridges around the majestic Smokies. This psychology instructor at Tusculum College, wife, mother of two and business owner, said she has never strayed far from home and decided back in 1997 to get to know her homeland a little better. She and husband J.L. began day hikes into the Smokies and realized they didn’t know as much as they first thought about the place they love.
Those hikes would continue and so would their education. With interest piqued, Stepp said she began stopping in bookstores for a good read, setting her sights on modern day romance books that were based in these mountains.
She didn’t find one.
One bookstore owner even told her, “We don’t have anything like that. I wish someone would write something.”

Stepping up to the plate

The bell went off in Stepp’s head. She said it had been a dream of hers for years to delve into the fiction world. She is a writer, after all, having written tons of academic papers, newsletters, magazine articles, etc. in her roles as professor and owner of a communications company.
The ideas for the Smoky Mountain Series started sprouting, the author said. She mapped out a plan to write the 12 books set in different parts of the Smoky Mountains so that as readers progressed through the series, they would learn a little about each region.
That provided the link she needed as author and reader, she explained. Stepp said she had no intention of writing a series that would leave her readers frustrated at the end. Thus, each one is a complete read all on its own.
“I don’t like a series where you leave the reader hanging and you have to wait a year before you find out what happened,” Stepp said. “I wrote the books where each one is a satisfying read. I wanted happy books with satisfying endings.”
The first installment, “Foster Girls,” came out earlier this month and is set in Wear’s Valley, at the base of Cove Mountain. The main character is Vivian Delaney, a newcomer to the solitude of the Valley, who immediately encounters some unexpected challenges with her landlord, Scott Jamison. Her first meeting is at the wrong end of a rifle barrel, but the two forge a friendship that will ultimately be tested when a foster child arrives and needs their care. “Foster Girls” combines some of the familiar elements of Wear’s Valley with plenty of suspense and conflict.
The next in the series, entitled “Tell Me About Orchard Hollow” is set in Townsend. Gatlinburg, Greenbrier, Pittman, Maggie Valley and other locales are backdrops for future installments.

Gaining attention

Nationally acclaimed artist Jim Gray has lent his support to the series by allowing the use of his Smokies paintings to be used on the front cover of each book. Dolly Parton has given “Foster Girls” her endorsement as well, saying “Well, I’ve finally come across someone that believes in all the things I do ... love, family, faith, intrigue, mystery, loyalty, romance and a great love for our beloved Smoky Mountains.”
Being a psychologist, Stepp said she loves the aspects of change, and it definitely plays a role in each of her books. Change as it relates to how characters grow and develop and how characters are impacted by the people they meet and the places they come to know.
The author knows that labeling her 12-book series contemporary romance means that most members of the male population will not choose to pick one up. Not all, however are dismissing her efforts.
Stepp was invited to talk to a Sertoma Club in Knoxville recently and when she inquired about the membership, she was told it was about 40 men.
“You know it’s sort of a chick book don’t you?” Stepp said she told the man.
He then told Stepp how he had picked up his wife’s copy of “Foster Girls” and read it in two days. “I loved it,” he told Stepp. “I laughed. I cried. I am going to tell everybody to get one.”

On the road

The summer has been a busy one for Stepp, who has been scheduling book signings and speaking engagements since May. It’s a part of the whole book-writing process that she finds enjoyable and educational. One weekend she’s at the Grainger County Tomato Festival, signing books and watching people throw tomatoes at each other. The next week it may be the local garden club she’s entertaining.
Her schedule right now is to write two books per year, and she is currently on No. 7. Stepp said because she holds down two jobs, it became necessary to put herself on a schedule, and she devotes 20 hours a week to writing. In addition to teaching at the Tusculum campus in Knoxville, she is educational coordinator for Huntington Learning Center.
Stepp hopes those unfamiliar with this area will find her books intriguing and that they give insight into Appalachian life. She said having been born here gives her a distinct edge when it comes to telling this story.
What I know
Natives to the area will hopefully appreciate the frequent mention of local places and faces, Stepp said. In one book, she might lure visitors to Tuckaleechee Caverns with a reference to the Townsend attraction. A camp in “Foster Girls” is actually a tribute to the Smoky Mountain Church Camp Stepp recalls from days gone by. Dollywood is also in one of the books, and the list goes on.
“Things in my life have a place in the book,” she said. “It is all based on fiction, though. I have a big imagination.”
Although she resides in Knoxville, Stepp is very familiar with Blount County. Her parents, Joy and Phil Mathews, reside at Asbury Place in Maryville. She said she is looking forward to her program at the Blount County Public Library on Aug. 17 where she will give a presentation entitled “For the Love of the Smokies.”
As for the timing of her first book in the series, Stepp admits it couldn’t have worked out any better. This is the 75th anniversary of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
When she first began writing the books, she wasn’t aware of the approaching birth date.
“It was a super time to launch a Smokies series. It was a gift,” she said.