Cynthia Tyler.com

Latest Novel: High Dive

What would you do if you lost a high-paying job, your lover, your home, and even your tricked-out status ride all at once? That's exactly what happens to 29-year-old Sara Wing, player in the subprime mortgage lending industry, whose life is turned inside out in the space of forty-eight hours when the Southern California housing bubble bursts and she goes from a power position to pool cleaner.

Along the way Sara meets and is challenged by a cast of characters from Los Angeles' diverse community of haves and have-nots. Her experiences capture the invisible, ever-shifting boundary between hope and despair. Peppered with memorable personalities--gay street artists Ritchie and Henry, ill-tempered bad-asses Puff and Super Dave, and an older, wealthy widow who wants to "take care" of Sara--the novel is at once funny, realistic, and compassionate. There is depth and beauty to this contemporary tale of setbacks, self-discovery, and triumph, as Sara Wing, former moneymaker and current pool peon, begins painting a new life--and what a colorful life it is!

HIGH DIVE: "The author has a comic vision and a compassion for her characters that is hard to resist. The story brings up a lot of ideas about the mysterious ways fate brings people together, and how we effect each other in very significant ways, sometimes without even even knowing it."--Amazon Customer Review 6/​21/​2010

Finding Polaris, October 2010.

"A motley crew of 7 women gather together in an abandoned prison out in the Mojave desert. This is where things get fun. And, I mean funny. I laughed out loud throughout the introduction phase of the course. Tyler does a good job of developing the characters of each of the women. We really get to know their personalities and the author's wit. Then things turn nasty. I won't go into what happens because I don't want to give anything away, but you can feel the tension. This is one of those books you won't want to put down until it's through."
Amazon Vine Voice Review
2/​16/​11

"Told in compelling, straight forward prose, Cynthia Tyler crafts this tale methodically supporting the action with characters that made me laugh as much as it kept me on the edge."
-Amazon Customer Review, 1/​29/​11

Shadow Work, Haworth Press, 2006
"...a wonderful slice of daily life in Southern California in the 21st century, with political bloggers, right-wing Christians, and credit card-addicted lesbians...reads like a long, realistic installment of Dykes to Watch Out For, with all the sharp observation and political acumen, only fewer jokes. And that's high praise."
--Nan Cinnater, Books to Watch Out For

Descanso, Haworth Press, 2005
"Although published by a small press to a niche market, Descanso, Cynthia Tyler’s debut novel, has already been awarded with some rave reviews. With her spot-on characterisation, elegant prose and compelling plot, Tyler is clearly one to watch..."
--Charlotte Cooper, Author of Cherry

"All of Tyler's characters are solidly alive, engaging, assertive, and making their way in this difficult world as well as they can. Wanting to see what happens to them is a large part of what makes this story such good reading." - Diane M. McPherson, MFA, PhD Associate Professor, Writing, and Coordinator of Women's Studies, Ithaca College

"Once again we are shown an example of how important laughter is for keeping one's marbles in the box." -- Hal Campbell, GaySonoma.com

"The novel offers insights about love and healing that are as wide-open and fascinating as its Southern California landscape." -- Mary Vermillion, Author of Death by Discount and Murder by Mascot

Copyright 2012 by Cynthia Tyler. All rights reserved.