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The "duckling" who thought she'd never be pretty has become a swan who still doesn't know she's beautiful ...

She was raised in a small town environment in Arizona. She was a member of an average, middle-class American family which lived day-by day enjoying each other and their comfortable home and their place in the community. In the privacy of that life Lynda Carter was a pretty, out-going and charming youngster who found her happiest moments when she was entertaining those whom she loved.

She had her own friends and was a good student, but it was more her nature to shy away from school plays and Christmas programs. She scurried from these as if she were a frightened little duckling. As much as she enjoyed entertaining (and perhaps in her own youthful way being the center of attention in her family's close circle) she was more likely, when out in public to withdraw bashfully than to step forward eagerly.

It's taken a long time, many years of learning, of almost forcing herself to step into the limelight, but today that same timid duckling is a beautiful swan. In the eyes of many Hollywood observers Lynda is one of the most attractive women to surface in years. She has a certain distinct quality about her appearance. You notice her the moment she enters a room, and yet, despite this charisma she is not overpowering, not intimidating. In short, she is a real person, a young woman in her 20's whose roots remain attached to that simple Arizona life she continues to cherish.

"I'm very proud of Phoenix and that surrounding area because it's a beautiful place and life there is so different from what it is here," Lynda says with a smile that brightens her eyes. "And when I'm at home, I'm really at home just all the time because my family's there and all my really good friends are there.

"I have good friends here in Los Angeles, too. But, I think we all always maintain a special attachment to the people we grew up with and have known all our lives.

"I think one of the best things that happened to me is that the career I've now got started began slowly and graduated step-by-step. It's only been in the past year or so that everything's happened all at once, but because of the slower pace earlier I'd like to think that I'm in control. I mean, I've strived not to get so wrapped up in the career that I don't have time for other things, and yet at the same time have the energy to pursue an ever-growing career."

Lynda pauses a moment, contemplating her next statement. "Actually, I've become two different people in a sense. I either do nothing and hibernate, don't answer the phone or the door, stay in my room and read and watch TV, or I'll be totally out there doing eighty thousand things all at once! Sometimes in the middle of doing all those things I come back for, like, two days and go back to my hibernation bit. Somebody will call and say, "What's wrong, are you ill?' I think they call it a 'temperamental actress,"' she laughs quizzically.

"Actually, I'm not, I don't think, or at least that's not my intent. It's just that I am a little bit of everything, and what you are or who you are depends on the mood you're in. Working on the show, for example. Work gives me so much joy, and I can arrive on the set really, really excited or maybe really tired but I always have got this kind of joy in the pit of my stomach because when the adrenalin is flowing I want everything, everything now. This very minute. I am impatient.

"That's who I am today, unlike when everything started happening to me. I can't wait for tomorrow because I don't know what's going to surface but I'm going to be there waiting for it.

"On the other hand, I love what's happening to me today. It's like, the last couple of years have been really busy for me, and yet I'm getting even busier. There are periods of time when I am not actually working but doing other things because I have so many other avenues in the entertainment industry to develop and put together: a club act and to continue writing music, to develop that aspect of myself and recording and performing and …"

Lynda's momentum of excitement is suddenly like the snowball she referred to earlier, and we interrupt her long enough to discover that she's an accomplished singer who is in the process of recording her first album. Still, acting comes first.

"I want to be an actress," she says firmly. "I am really totally committed to being an actress. Singing and music and entertaining is icing on the cake and I love, it and I get a tremendous amount of joy and it is a totally different thing. It's like writing a story and writing a novel. Even though they're both examples of writing, they are totally different, your own expression, and that's what music is.

"I refuse to try and do something that I'm not prepared for, and I think, in retrospect, the reason it took me as much time as it did to really commit myself to a career in this profession is because I wasn't sure of myself. I didn't necessarily have this thing where I had to be the best before putting myself up for rejection. It's just that I had to blossom to the point where I had grasp of the reality of my abilities and limitations so I wouldn't stumble and fall flat on my face.

"At least I knew that when I had my opportunity that I had prepared myself as best I could. The fact it's all more or less come together and is now continuing to grow is the benefit of that preparation. And likewise, as I continue to study acting, singing and dancing I'll be better prepared for the next growth process, which is a very good and positive feeling inside me.

"I'll probably always need that time to regroup, but that's really a whole different area. I'll just say that everyone needs time alone to recharge the creative battery. Then you can go out and do your thing to the best of your ability."

Lynda's philosophy has worked for her beautifully. She's come a long way from her youth in Phoenix, and there's little doubt that the discipline she practices today will only take her a long way in the future.