Lynnette lives in Los Alamos, N.M., with her husband, Bill. She grew up in Las Cruces and earned a bachelor of arts in English at New Mexico State University. She's the mother of three grown daughters, Sonje, Shije and Erika, and grandmother of twins, Rebecca and Rachel Beal.

Lynnette lived in Las Vegas, Nev., for eight years. As a freelance journalist, she wrote a 20-part series for the Las Vegas Sun. She worked full time writing publicity for the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino.

When she moved back to New Mexico, she worked as a newspaper editor for four years, earning several awards from Associated Press of New Mexico and New Mexico Managing Editors. Since late 1992, she has been freelancing and working on fiction. Her magazine articles have appeared in Reader's Digest, Runner's World, Writer's Digest, New Mexico Magazine, and others. She writes a monthly column for the Santa Fe New Mexican and is a regular contributor to Mystery News.

In Los Alamos, she is actively involved in the Arts Council, Kiwanis, and White Rock Baptist Church. She's a member of American Association of University Women, Sisters in Crime - Rocky Mountain Chapter, Southwest Writers Workshop, and Mystery Writers of America.