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South Valley Riverton Journal

Local Author Prepares For A Busy New Year

Mar 13, 2015 01:59PM ● By Shawna Meyer

Christina Dymock is a bestselling author who has lived in both Riverton and Herriman. She writes cookbooks and books of fiction, and she has six kids.

Bestselling author and Riverton native Christina Dymock splits her time between cooking, writing and being a mother and wife. Dymock is the author of six cookbooks, as well as over a dozen works of fiction, and she is the mother of six children, who range in age from 6 to 13.

Dymock grew up in Riverton and graduated from Bingham High School. After high school, she attended the University of Utah and graduated with a degree in mass communications with an emphasis in public relations.

After college, Dymock married her husband Craig, and the two moved to Herriman to start their family. The couple never officially dated in high school, but they did know each other at Bingham. However, their relationship began after Craig returned from his LDS mission and has lasted 15 years.

The Dymock family lived in Herriman for seven years before moving to a small town in Utah County called Genola, which is where they live currently.

Dymock was a proofreader at an advertising agency for a few years. Then she was hired as an adjunct professor at Salt Lake Community College in the marketing department, where she taught for four years.

“When my third child was born, I had a difficult pregnancy. I couldn’t continue to teach while I was pregnant. While I was down in bed with [my son], I started writing,” Dymock said.

She started out by writing articles for Women’s Health magazine and stories for Chicken Soup for the Soul publications. She also wrote pieces for the Deseret News.

“I did a little bit of everything starting out,” Dymock said.

During this time, Dymock’s grandmother Lucy was taking care of her ill grandfather. While homebound with him, Lucy began writing books when she was 77. She would have Dymock proofread for her.

“I thought, ‘If she can start doing this at that age, then why haven’t I thought of doing this?’ She just inspired me to try something new,” Dymock said.

Although Dymock’s grandmother Lucy passed away in 2013, she continues to pay homage to her by publishing her fiction novels under the name Lucy McConnell.

“My mom says that I used to write stories all the time when I was little. I don’t remember that as much, and I wonder if it’s just because it’s always been a part of me,” Dymock said.

Cooking has also always been a major part of Dymock’s life—with six kids it kind of has to be. Her mother fostered her love of cooking, and she says she enjoys it because it allows her to work and create with her hands in a way that writing doesn’t.

“The cookbooks work really well into family life. . . As long as I’m feeding them, I may as well be working on a recipe for the cookbooks, so the cooking works really well into being a mom,” Dymock said. “It’s finding time to write the fiction that’s the hard part.”

With writing, cooking, testing new recipes and caring for kids, Dymock doesn’t have a lot of time to spare. Luckily, her husband wholeheartedly supports her career, and she says that he works hard to make sure that she never “loses herself in being a mom.”

If she were to advise other busy women trying to balance having a career and having a family, then Dymock would tell them to throw out the idea that their life is ever going to have balance.

“I would say that if you put your kids first, then everything else will kind of fall into place, as long as you keep what’s important in mind. When something happens, if it doesn’t affect what’s most important, then it becomes manageable,” she said.

For 2015, Dymock is planning to publish two more cookbooks. One is called the “Healthy Family Slow Cooker Cookbook,” which will be full of sugar-free and gluten-free recipes for families with dietary restrictions. The other’s theme hasn’t been decided on yet.

She is also hoping to do a follow-up to her “Christmas in Snow Valley” romance series, which will be titled “A Summer in Snow Valley.” She also has another Christmas-themed romance planned, and she hopes to start working on a new bride-themed series as well.