Welcome! Please introduce yourself and tell us about your latest release.
Hello. It’s an honor to be here, Molly. Thank you so much for the invitation. I’m Linda Kage. Born and raised in the
THE TOMBOY
Pilot B.J. Gilmore is Tommy Creek, Texas’s tough tomboy who loves to fly planes and gamble and doesn’t give a whip what anyone thinks or says about her…until Grady Rawlings steps into her life.
PLUS THE WIDOWER
Heir to an oil dynasty, Grady has inner demons to battle. Ever since his wife and unborn child died two and a half years ago, he’s developed a deep-seated hatred for sympathy and can’t handle anyone feeling sorry for him or treating him like some pitiful widower.
EQUALS TROUBLE IN TEXAS
Grady hires B.J,'s plane service to fly him to
Have you ever had an idea for a story which scared you after you began writing it?
Like scary scared? Hell, no. I don’t do scary. You just tell me about a horror movie, and I have nightmares for a week. But emotionally scared? Sure. I made one of my heroes an alcoholic, which I learned even before my critique partners would look at the manuscript was a huge NO-NO. But this guy was my favorite hero, so I stuck with the story despite how much nasty feedback I might possibly get. And now…Hot Commodity will be released in November from Champagne Books! So, I’m pretty much scared how that will go over.
Have you incorporated actual events from your own life into your books?
Occasionally, but not very often, and when I do it’s so skewed, only the most minute details are factual. I find it’s more fun to make stuff up.
How much research do you do? Do you research first and then write, or do you write first, then research as needed?
I research the big stuff before writing. Like before writing The Trouble with Tomboys, I knew the heroine would be a pilot, so I did preliminary pilot research. But after I got into the story, I needed certain details to see if some things were even possible, so I had to return to the researching table and look up a few more specific things. But, honestly, I don’t research quite as much as I should, so I’m sure my stories are riddled with errors.
Is there any message you want readers to take from reading your work?
I write stories about people and relationships and how their actions spawn reactions. So, I’m all about hoping readers go away with a smile because the characters touched them emotionally. Sappy? Probably. But that’s still my answer and I’m sticking to it!
Are you a plotter or a pantser? And have you ever had a story take on a life of its own?
I start as a plotter. I think I have a set idea in my head, and this is how the characters are going to respond to everything. Then I start writing my fictional people and they suddenly start deciding, no I’m going to do this instead. So, I end up pantsing just as much as I plot. Makes me wonder why I even bother plotting because the story always takes on its own life, but I keep doing it anyway.
How long did it take for you to be published?
Short answer : ten years. Long answer : I sent off my first submission to a publisher back in 1998 when I was in high school. Thank goodness it was rejected because it was sooooo bad. I finally sold my first story to The Wild Rose Press in 2008 for my young adult romance, The Stillburrow Crush.
If you could go back and tell yourself anything when you first began your writing career, what would you say?
Be patient; you’ll get there. Everything doesn’t have to happen NOW. You have the rest of your life to slowly get better and do better.
Laptop or pen and ink? What are your ‘must-haves’ when writing?
Laptop, but I’ll settle for a cocktail napkin and crayon if that’s all I have on hand when an idea strikes. I don’t really have a lot of ‘must-haves’, though it is harder to concentrate when a bunch of people are around, and especially when they keep asking me questions and I have the perfect piece of dialogue I want to jot down before I forget what I wanted to say. So, maybe a bit of peace and quiet is a must-have.
Who are your favorite authors? Who would you say influenced you the most?
Sandra Brown was the first adult romance author I read. But I quickly moved on to Nora Roberts, LaVyrle Spencer, Linda Howard, Judith McNaught, Julie Garwood, Jill Gregory, and more. These days, I still love the greats along with some more wonderful writers like : Catherine Anderson, Lara Adrian, Julia Quinn, Lisa Kleypas, Suzanne Enoch, Suzanne Brockmann, Anne Stuart, Roxanne St. Claire, Elizabeth Hoyt, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Sabrina Jeffries, J. R. Ward, and so much more, though I should probably stop before we run out of computer space!
What would your readers be surprised to learn about you?
I’m sorta tall, probably about five feet, ten or eleven inches in height. It always startles me when I read about these people/celebrities with such huge impressionable, outgoing personalities only to meet them in person and literally hover above them. I’m just the opposite though: introvert with huge, tall body.
For Fun:
Favorite ‘Summer Food’ (ie: Veggies, fruit, or fair food)
I’m fruit all the way. Strawberries, peaches, cherries, kiwi…pretty much anything but bananas.
Mountains or Beach?
There aren’t a lot of beaches in
Favorite amusement park ride?
I haven’t been on too many, but to date, my favorite is the Orient Express, which is at Worlds of Fun in
Favorite drink?
Dr. Pepper
Thank you for being here today! Please tell us where we can find your books.
“THE TROUBLE WITH TOMBOYS” EXCERPT
He lowered his face, thinking she might not recognize him if he kept walking by.
“There you are,” she called.
Damn.
He glanced up and fell to a pause. She’d moved closer to him, was only about five feet away. A pair of big brown eyes hit him full in the chest. She blinked as if startled to see him dressed in his business gear. Her gaze ran down his suit, missing nothing as it slid over his jacket and slacks. The blatant female appreciation in her stare made his throat constrict. He itched to tug at his tie and breathe again, but refused to show her any sign of weakness.
She licked her lips before meeting his eyes. A strange sensation rushed up the back of his spine and neck as he watched the dart of her tongue. The feeling tickled the base of his skull, but he wasn’t sure what it was. Could’ve been his own awareness of her, he guessed, but it’d been so long since he’d felt anything—toward anyone—he dismissed the idea as soon as it came.
Grateful she’d moved away from his door, he nodded his hello and pulled a key card from his pocket as he stepped around her and approached his room. Hopefully, she’d realize he wanted to be left alone.
No such luck.
She turned as he passed her, falling into step with him. “I was fixing to head downstairs and find myself some vittles. You hungry?”
“I’ve already eaten.” He unlocked his room to emphasize how much he wanted to be alone.
She set her hands on her hips. “Well, you look like you could do with an extra meal here and there. Why don’t you come along? Keep me company.”
He shook his head. “I’m not hungry.”
Sighing, B.J. tugged his briefcase out of his hand and tossed it into the opened door of his room. He frowned but didn’t react. If his head didn’t hurt so bad, if he hadn’t been thrown off track by the incident at the end of the meeting with Weatherly, if he could only see Amy smile again when he closed his eyes, he probably could’ve come up with a suitable comment to scare her off. Something scathing and dry. But his head went blank, so all he could do was gape at her for her daring.
To further confound him, she hooked her arm through his and started walking them toward the elevators. He could’ve been rude and pulled away. But for some reason, he followed.
“Don’t matter none if you’re not hungry,” she said. “You just sit there. I’ll eat enough for the both of us. I hate going to those fancy, shmancy hotel restaurants by myself.” She grinned at him. “I won’t even make you talk if you don’t want. Hell, I’ve been known to carry on a whole conversation by myself. So you don’t have to worry about a thing. Just having a presence like you around will do me well enough.”
“It’s been a long day,” he said as she stopped to press the elevator button. A last attempt for escape. “I’d like some rest.” He unhooked her arm from his.
She grinned up at him, her brown eyes hopeful and encouraging. “You can sleep the whole way home tomorrow if you like,” she told him. Then her grin faltered, and the gleam in her eyes died. She gave him a serious, probing look. “Just don’t make me eat alone tonight, Rawlings.”
Grady froze as a sensation similar to pity slammed through his windpipe. He knew exactly what it was like to eat alone every night.
OTHER LINKS to FIND me.
Website : http://www.lindakage.com/
Publisher, The Wild Rose Press : http://www.thewildrosepress.com/linda-kage-m-635.html
MySpace : http://www.myspace.com/lindakage
Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/people/Linda-Kage/1415237991
Twitter : http://twitter.com/lindakage
YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/user/LindaKage
Blogger : http://lindakage.blogspot.com/
Goodreads : http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3213942.Linda_Kage
Amazon : http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B003ILJHKM
You'll be able to read it in 17 years and six months! Until then, may I recommend The Foot Book?
10 comments:
Molly, thank you so much for hosting me. I totally love what you did. And Ms. Lydia must've known I was going to briefly desert her this morning. She was up last night at midnight, all clingy and refusing to go back to bed. Ugg. I can't even be mad at her either. Just look at those adorable blue eyes.
Hahahaha...ever have a picture 'talk' to you? I posted that first one and just knew I had to inject her POV!
And no one can resist beautiful baby eyes....she's going to be a heartbreaker when she grows up!
What a precious baby. I love the outfit up top. :)
Great interview ladies.
My husband says that zebra outfit looks like something an 80s stripper would wear. But I love it too! My sister-in-law found it at some baby boutique.
Thank you!
Fascinating interview, great excerpt, and Lydia's just the cutest thing I've seen in eons. Congrats and many sales!
Ms. Lydia is ADORABLE...good thing I'm past getting baby fever I'd be trying for another one:) LOL
I will be picking up your book- I love the cover, and keep seeing it at different places, so it must be a sign.
I didn't know there was a list of "no-no" things like alcoholism. If I was going to guess things that don't go over, I guess that wouldn't be one I would put on the list. I learn new things every day. Congrats on the book being published and for following your instincts on that one!
Ms. Lydia is gorgeous, and your book sounds great, too.
Thanks so much for being here today Linda and Lydia:) I'm looking froward to reading TWT!
Thank you, Gina, Moonsanity and Liz.
Moon: I don' think you really know what others consider to be a no-no until you actually write it; so it's one of those live and learn things.
And Molly, thank you for the interview. Lydia was so wound up and excited about it yesterday, she couldn't sleep last night either!!
It's okay to put alcoholism in the book; just don't give the issue to your hero or any main character:)
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