Welcome, Linda Holmes

1: Thank you so much for being here, Linda. First up is the obligatory question. When did you first begin writing?

Thank you for having me. When did I first begin writing? The first time I wrote and shared what I wrote was in middle school, back in the Dark Ages. I created this rather naïve story about a young Hawaiian girl, you know the one with the leis who greets all incoming planes, named Katana Li and her deliciously handsome, fire dancer boyfriend, Tyrano. It was awful, but all my girlfriends were drooling for the next chapter, and they kept at me long enough that I ended up writing three sequels to the original.

2: What inspired you to write?

My Grandmother was a wonderful storyteller. From the time I was old enough to understand language, she told me these wonderful stories that absolutely held me spellbound. I hoped to one day walk in her footsteps and enchant others with my stories.



3: What do you like the most and least about writing?
I love being able to create my own worlds, my own dynamics, my own realities. What I like least is trying to remember the rules drilled into me by the nuns are not the rules followed by today’s publishing world. The strict adherence to grammar drilled into me by Mother Mary John is not what my editor wants me to use when constructing my stories for submission.


4: What do you for fun and relaxation when not writing?

I’m a voracious reader. I’m reading the current, and sadly, no doubt the last Jesse Stone Novel by Robert B. Parker. I also spent two years creating Designer Barbie Dolls with my daughter, Kat Holmes, that we gave away to elderly women with no family living in Nursing Homes at Christmas. We made over 200 dolls and gave every last one of them away. It was amazing watching these beautifully wrinkled faces burst into smiling, joyous angels. It was a wonderful experience. I also knit, sew, and even tried oil painting once. You don’t want to know what my mountains looked like.

5: Which authors do you like to read?
I already mentioned Robert B. Parker. I loved his Spenser series, especially the character Hawk; you gotta love a professional hit man with a moral compass that’s also eye candy, his Jesse Stone and his Sunny Randall Series. I’m sorely going to miss him. I adore Charlaine Harris, J.D. Robb, Alyssa Day, Lynsay Sands, Anne N. Reisser who really needs to come back to writing..., Glenn Kleier, Christine Feehan, Mary Janice Davidson, Yasmine Galenorn, Margaret Mitchell, and of course you knew I was going to toss my daughter, Kat Holmes, in there too. However, now that I have found the incredible world of e-books, my list is expanding to include N.J. Walters, and yourself…My God, the list is long…really long.



6: What’s the one thing you’d most like people to know about you?

I’ve always held writers in the highest regard. They are my absolute favorite celebrities, and now that I’m one of them, it’s just mind blowing. I will always work very hard with my editor to the reader the best storytelling I can give. I owe nothing less to the storytellers who paved the way before me, nor the ones who will travel the path after me.

7: Tell me about your current novel, where I can find it and your website/blog.
Actually I have two current stories. The first is the first in my Christmas Miracles series called Santa is a Lady. Five days before Christmas Santa is arrested. Angie Brightwell’s best friend, owner of Sweets & Treats, needs a replacement Santa immediately, but all the Professional Santa Clauses are already working. Beck begs Angie to please don the red suit and fill in for the last days.
Cameron Drayton, a retired Colonel with the Army Corps of Engineers, has finally gained custody of his half Iraqi two year old daughter, and he wants to give her the perfect American Christmas, but the Fates have so much more in store for Angie, Cam and his delightful daughter. Christmas is, after all, a time for magic and miracles. This will be available on Dec. 1st from Muse It Up Publishing. www.museituppublishing.com
My second book coming out in March 2011 is a Time Travel also available from Muse It Up Publishing but under their Muse It Hot Banner: The Pendulum Swing.
This story is about Joanna Moore-Reed, her husband Jason Reed and their daughter Mandi. Theirs is not a happy marriage, but Joanna post car accident, claims she’s not Joanna and damned if she doesn’t act totally UN-Joanna-like. Jason is drawn to the new Joanna, but a bump on her head changed her into this delightful Joanna, will another bump revert her back to the vicious, mean-spirited Joanna she’s been? Or could there be another reason for Joanna’s change in personality? Why does Joanna insist everyone call her Siri? And what is with her sudden abhorrence for the designer rags and high society that had been her life’s blood pre-bump on head?
With a twinkle in her eye, a belly in her dance, and a joy in her spirit, how long can Jason keep his guard up when every other member of their household is falling under the spell of the new Siri

My blog is http://linsownblog.blogspot.com .

8: Do you have any tips for aspiring authors?

Write, write, write. Never give up on your dream. I began working with an editor and agent ten years ago. For too many reasons, those efforts failed, but here I am, about to have TWO manuscripts published within months of each other! If your deepest dream is to write, then never give it up.
Other than that, check the requirements for the publisher you want to send your work to. Submission requirements vary from publisher to publisher so you have to check each one you want to submit to.



9: Do you base your characters on real-life people?

Every character I create has some aspects of real people I know to them. Cam, for instance, the hero in Santa is a Lady is loosely based on my brother who is a retired Lt. Colonel with the Army Corps of Engineers who spent a great deal of time in Iraq rebuilding their infrastructure. I gave Cam my brother’s stature, his buzz cut and his deep blue eyes. Of course now that I’m admitting he’s the model, he’s going to try to convince me he should get royalties. :>)
Even when I create a fantasy character, such as an elf, it’ll have some aspects that I see, know of, or sense in real people.



10: Where do you get your ideas and what inspired you to write this book?

Life is where I get my ideas. Santa is a Lady came about when a career Santa in my area was arrested last year for having child porn on his computer less than a week before Christmas. That arrest made me wonder what a store owner would do at crunch time to engage another Santa…and what havoc would come out of Santa being a lady?

My Other book has more to do with my love of Ancient history and paranormal themes like Time Travel. Time Travel themes allow me to visit the past and play with it to my heart’s content.



11: What are you currently working on?

I’ve just finished the sequel to Santa is a Lady and my publisher and editor are nudging me to dig into my dusty manuscripts from ten years ago, polish them up and submit, submit, submit. I’m also researching the material for the final story in the Christmas Miracles trilogy



12. Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you?

I’m a mom of another talented author, Kat Holmes who published Voice in the Night, and her new Gods at Work Series, Book One Working Under Covers available now with four more stories coming down the pike over the next few months. I’m lucky enough to read her stories in progress and can promise the world is going to love her new series, and her stand alone The Lighthouse due out on Jan 1, 2011