By The Book

Please welcome romantic suspense author, Linda Rodante, to By The Book! Linda will be joining a panel discussion at the book festival taking place in Perry, Georgia in January 2024. I cannot wait to meet her in person, but until then she’s shared insights into her writing journey.

Q & A with Linda Rodante

Many authors say that they have always been a writer — making up stories as a child. When did you first become a writer?

I was a reader first, but yes, I remember making up stories starting around twelve. And I actually tried writing then, too. I wrote a 53-page hand-written “book,” that a friend’s father threw away. Like Jo in Little Women, I was devastated.

Was there a special someone, such as a teacher, parent, or other relative, who encouraged you to pursue writing?

My dad more than anyone else. He bought me a typewriter when I was about fourteen.

Why did you choose the Christian romantic suspense genre?

I wrote some books before I became a Christian that were never published. But once I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I immediately felt that secular writing was not something I wanted to do. But Christian fiction was different. I could write about what was important in life (GOD), and also entertain with a good story. I’ve always liked mysteries and romance so that combination was wonderful.

Were there any obstacles you faced in your journey to publication?

Writing conferences are expensive and then often editors will tell you how they look for reasons to throw a story out. After paying for and attending a number of conferences where I heard this, I was very discouraged. I had an agent at the time, and she talked to me about Indie publishing through Amazon. She was helping other authors go from traditional publishing to independent. I decided that was for me and have not regretted it. After publishing my first three books in one year, I found I needed to market them. Learning to market was another uphill climb for me. 

What types of research do you pursue? Books, on-site visits, etc. 

I do most of my research online or with people I know in the field. For instance, I “interviewed” two firefighters for the book FIRE. However, I don’t know any gangsters, so I did a lot of online research for the Spiritual Warfare Series.

What does a typical writing day look like?

Are you structured or informal in your writing schedule? I am not writing full-time, so my writing time is informal. I do try to write almost every day when I am working on a book. If you skip many days, the book will never get done. Often, I write at night after my husband goes to bed.  

How long does it usually take to craft your books? (from outlines/first drafts to final edits).

I’m a pantzer which means I “write by the seat-of-my-pants.” No formal outlines. I get an idea, and I start writing. Many times this idea is about the middle or end of the story, so I have to go back and create the beginning and a history for each of the characters. We pantzers sometimes say the story writes itself or that our characters end up doing things we never planned.

Can you tell us a little about what inspired your latest novel?

PREVAIL mainly started with my desire for one of the characters in another book to have a love interest (I’m trying to not give away too much here 😊). I thought it would be a novella just about this person, but then it morphed into a Christmas romantic suspense story. I love it when I don’t even know what’s going to happen in a book I’m writing! (Prevail released September 23!)

What do you want your readers to take away with them after finishing one of your novels?

Number one is that I want them to be encouraged in their walk with the Lord. I want them to see there are still good people fighting the fight and staying the course, and that God is awesome and does show up for his people—perhaps giving them a desire to get into their Bible. Secondly, I want them to put the book down with regret that it’s over but with a smile and a warm place glowing inside them.

Readers always want to know what is next for an author. Do you have any works in progress you can share about?

I am involved with nine other authors who are putting together a book set. Each author is writing a new Christian romantic suspense novel for this book set. It will be out in June 2024. I’m excited about it because it gives readers a lot of books for a small price (pre-orders are only 99c) and allows them to read some authors whose books they might not have read yet. It can be pre-ordered here: 

https://summersuspicions.weebly.com/fbclid=IwAR2LvG9dkjf4uO0BR7LnxfNC37hzVio7DusmvLTSOdRbwacjaFQAnsBtBiI

*******************

Garrett’s job with the Coastguard is high-paced and harrowing, but his social life resembles an ocean freighter stuck in the doldrums. With Christmas on the horizon, he’s trying to hold to his new faith, but a tragedy in his childhood makes it the one holiday he dreads.

Paramedic Whitney Springfield loves Christmas, and Garrett Lovett might be the best Christmas gift ever—if she could get him to notice her. But it’s evident that silky blond locks trump her red curls where the handsome IronWorks grad is concerned.

When another Christmas tragedy strikes, Garrett and Whitney join forces to catch a killer. In the midst, they may find each other—if the guilt from past mistakes doesn’t keep them apart.

Linda Rodante was born and raised in Florida. She is married with two grown sons, a daughter-in-law, and three grandchildren. At twenty-six, she discovered the miraculous love of Jesus Christ. God blessed her with a passion for the written word—especially mysteries and romantic suspense novels, from Nancy Drew to Agatha Christie, from Dee Henderson to Kristen Heitzman. She speaks about and works against human trafficking. Her author blog is www.lindarodante.com. Her human trafficking and commitment to God blog is at https://lindarodante.wordpress.com/

Tags: Linda Rodante, romantic suspense fiction