10 Things You Didn’t Know About #Author Lauren Linwood @LaurenLinwood #Historical #Romance

Ten Things You Didn’t Know About Lauren Linwood

It’s easier to get to know authors now than in the pre-Internet days. Most authors aim to have a media presence, and readers can find out lots about them via these sources. I share random things on my Write Up My Alley blog (http://laurenlinwood.wordpress.com), and I also have an author Facebook page (http://facebook.com/laurenlinwood) and even tweet (http://twitter.com/LaurenLinwood).

But here are some tidbits about me that you may not have seen before:

1. When I was four, I broke my collarbone while climbing a chinaberry tree. I slipped and hit the picnic table beneath the tree, rolled and hit the bench, then finally came to halt when I plopped face down on the ground. I didn’t get to wear a cast with this type of injury, and I was jealous of people who sported arm & leg casts because people could sign these. Looking back, I’m feeling lucky that I never broke either an arm or a leg!
2. My favorite album is Hootie & the Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View. Not a bad song on it.
3. Every Christmas Eve after church, we sit down to a breakfast supper, which includes this crazy-good sausage/egg/cheese/mushroom casserole, and then we open presents and watch a couple of Christmas movies such as Home Alone, Elf, or Love, Actually. And yes, the next morning we find that Santa has come. He’s really gotten into the gift card spirit the last few years, so stocking time is memorable.
4. My birthday is on Halloween, which was terrific as a kid because I got to go trick-or-treating and score tons of candy while dressed up (usually as a vampire).
5. I thought I was going to be a journalist after I was editor-in-chief of my junior high and high school newspapers. Instead, I became a history teacher (pretty convenient since I write historical romance novels and love to research).
6. My mom wanted me to wear her wedding gown when I got married. The only glitch? She was 92 pounds on her wedding day, and the last time I fit into her gown was in 8^th grade! Getting married at 13 just didn’t seem like an option—even if it was a cool dress.
7. My favorite band is The Eagles. I love their harmonies, especially on Seven Bridges Road. And I would end every school year driving out of the teacher parking lot for the summer blaring Already Gone, sing at the top of my lungs.
8. Even though I don’t believe in reincarnation, I felt right at home when I visited London. I’m worse than horrible with directions, yet I seemed to know which way to turn and where things were located, almost as if I’d lived there before. Eerie, I know.
9. I’ve never played Words with Friends. I think I would like it too much to start playing. I can see it taking over my life like that scary-creepy vine from The Ruins.
10. I sing the same song in the shower every time my editor buys a book from me. And I sound fabulous while doing it! Well, definitely not fabulous, but I’m home alone when I do it and enjoy belting it out.

So there you have it—random Lauren Linwood in a nutshell!

Lily Frontiere returns from a costly European trip to find her mother has accumulated large gambling debts. Things grow worse as her mother’s health deteriorates and she can no longer run Lucky Lil’s, the most famous whorehouse in San Francisco. Though Lilian shielded her only child from house life by sending her away to boarding school, Lily takes over and poses as Madam Lil. Her intelligence and astonishing resemblance to her mother help, but she’s entering a world she knows little about. Lily tries to extract the house from impending financial ruin until a handsome stranger turns up with the deed to Lucky Lil’s in hand.

Gambler Jed Stone journeys to California to track down Simon Morgan, the man responsible for his best friend’s death. Arrested for robbery and murder upon arrival, he is shocked to see his face on a wanted poster. Jed escapes before his hanging, unaware that the man guilty of those crimes is the twin brother he never knew existed. In a case of mistaken identity, Jed acquires Lucky Lil’s in a rigged card game his twin is meant to win.

Jed asks Madam Lil to stay on as he learns the business. Lily clashes with the new owner over ways to make the establishment profitable, yet she is attracted to the charming risk taker at the same time. Jed is fooled by Lily’s charade until he stumbles upon the real Madam Lil and learns the truth behind Lily’s deception. His admiration for Lily blossoms into love.

But Simon Morgan seeks both Lily’s hand and ownership of Lucky Lil’s—and he will go to any means to possess both. Will Jed foil his nemesis while bringing his outlaw brother to justice?

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Genre - Western Historical Romance

Rating – PG

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Website http://www.laurenlinwood.com/

#Author Lorhainne Eckhart & Why She Wrote "The Forgotten Child" @LEckhart #Western #Romance

What is your favorite color?

Green, anything green I love right now, especially the shade of Emerald.

What is your favorite food?

Well I am a foodie, there are so many different foods I love. But anything Italian tops the lst.

What’s your favorite place in the entire world?

Disneyland.   I love it and every year I pack up my kids and we spend a week there. Next to that it’s the Gulf Islands, each one is a jewel, and absolutely unique.

When and why did you begin writing?

For me, I have a need to write. I had always journaled. But never sat down to write a story.  I am and always have been an avid reader. I devour books. And it was in 2003 I had this dream abut  story and I sat down and started writing. I don’t know how long it took me but every morning before my children were awake I would be up two to three hours before them just writing.

How long have you been writing?

I began my writing career in 2003, that’s when I sat down to write my first novel. Now getting published is a different story, I didn’t receive an offer for publication until 2008.

What genre are you most comfortable writing?

It’s a tie really between Western Romance and Romantic Suspense.

What inspired you to write your first book?

I had a dream. Seriously, I did. It was this story and then I had a need to write it. Everyone morning I got up really early before my kids were awake and I wrote the story. It was then titled The Captain’s Lady, the publisher made some changes,but I received the rights back and with the help of my editor I rewrote the book, gave it a brand new title, and I believe now it’s a stronger story.

What made you want to be a writer?

I had always dreamed of being a writer, but it was after my daughter was born that I realized the need to write and it wasn’t long after that I sat down and wrote my first novel, which was later published by a romance publisher.

Did writing this book teach you anything and what was it?

I always do research when I write a book, whether it’s the town, the city,the characters, what they do for a living. I research all of it to get my facts straight. So everytime I write a book I am learning something.

Do you intend to make writing a career?

Well writing is a career for me, and has been for a while. This is my sole income and I have done very well at it.

What is your greatest strength as a writer?

The ability to tell a story.

Have you ever had writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

I have heard people talk of writer’s block. I’ve never had it. Although there are days where I struggle with a scene. But quite often that has more to do with personal demands put on me by outside influences. That’s why it’s important to set very clear boundaries, every morning from this time to this time to this time, I’m writing, so don’t bug me.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Yes, I’ve attached an excerpt of my new release Vanished, published just last week.

How did you come up with the title?

The title for this book was easy, The Forgotten Child. Like most of my titles it just came to m.

Can you tell us about your main character?

Brad and Emily. And this is the first book of the Friessen men and the women the love. Emily ends a loveless marriage and strikes out on her own answering an ad as a live in caregiver and cook to a wealthy goodlooking rancher. Emily moves with her young daughter. But she begins to see signs something is not quite right with Brad’s small son. And she researches the symptoms as the soft signs of autism. Now Emily has an inner strength, she’s honest, she’s loving, but she is no pushover. And she’s not the typical woman Brad would fall for, she’s short , cute but never considered he supermodel type which is exactly the type Brad has always fallen for.

Brad, is a hard man, who’s got a closet full of baggage an skeletons from his first wife, a selfish woman who abandoned his son and walked out on Brad and has continued to enjoy  lifestyle she felt she was entitled too. Brad is the oldest of three brothers, all hard headed alpha cowboys. Who try to organize the lives of the women they love. But it takes a strong, stubborn,smart woman to understand how to handle a man like Brad. Brad has met his match in Emily, and for the first time she shows him what real love is.

Why did you choose to write this particular book?

With all the books I write, the story comes to me, and it’s a need to write the book. This story was important. A man and his little boy with autism, but yet he doesn’t know anything is wrong with is son. His life, he’s just trying to get through the day until he meets Emily and it takes her to show him something this wrong. This is something that happens with autism, and it's not a criticism of parents of special needs children, because they are doing the best they can and sometimes you don’t see what’s right in front of you.