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Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Linda Wood Rondeau {Writer Wednesday}

Before I introduce this weeks interview, I have a WINNER from last week's giveaway offered by the lovely Janet Sketchley.

Mary Preston

Congrats Mary! Contact me via the contact from to the left and we'll arrange to get you a copy of Secrets and Lies!

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A little bit about Linda...

Winner of the 2012 Selah Award for best first novel The Other Side of Darkness, LINDA WOOD RONDEAU, writes blended contemporary fiction that speaks to the heart and offers hope to those with damaged lives. After a long career in human services, Linda now resides in Jacksonville, Florida. Another release, A Christmas Prayer, (aka A Father’s Prayer) was a finalist for both the 2014 Selah and Carol Awards.


Other books include: It Really IS a Wonderful Life, Joy Comes to Dinsmore Street, Days of Vines and Roses and her non-fiction book, I Prayed for Patience God Gave Me Children, also part of a compilation (Uplifting Devotionals).A sequel Joy Comes to Dinsmore Street, (Snow on Eagle Mountain) is expected to be released soon.

Rondeau’s Jolly Angel, is also part of a compilation, Blue Heaven Romances.

How to contact Linda...


Author Interview| Linda Wood Rondeau 

You and Writing

Who is one of your favorite authors and why?
...There are so many to choose from. Like my taste in music, I enjoy any story that is well written, and can be as content reading a science fiction as a historical epic. As for contemporary writers, I have enjoyed reading Sue Monk Kidd. Her stories speak to the heart and deal with the hurts people carry with them into their present lives. I write, to show hope. That our worst past, with God’s help, becomes our best future.

What is one book or resource you would recommend to other writers? Why?
...I highly recommend Browne and King’s book: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. It is comprehensive on the elements of good fiction writing.

Share a writing-related milestone with us?
...For years, I felt frustrated as a writer. Although I had published many shorter works and had an agent for several years, the constant up and down of hopeful connections leading to ultimate rejection wore me down. Then, eleven years to the date, I felt God’s unquestionable call to give my writing talent over to him, my agent called with my first book length publishing contract: The Other Side of Darkness. The original title was Dawn’s Hope. The publisher wanted to change the title based on a line in the book where Zach is seeking God’s guidance. He hears God’s voice telling him to take His hand and follow. “Where, Lord?” Zach asks. To which God answers, To the other side of darkness.

...The amazing thing is that, unknown to my publisher, this was the very same call I received eleven years before. When God called me to write, I sat down and wrote a poem:

SONG OF PEACE

Praise the Lord most when
you cannot sing
Though broken, you are
beautiful

Praise the Lord when Hope
seems foolish
There is light on the other
side of darkness

Praise the Lord and believe
His goodness

Look at His creations and
give Him praise
for the stars shine
brightest in the night

Though defeat seems imminent
Praise Him still
Praise Him though sorrow
seems endless
The vast Horizon meets the
sky undefined yet limitless

Your Deliverer hears
He will lift you High above
the troublesome sea

This is the Song of Peace

Copyright ©2000 Linda Rondeau

...How great is God to affirm our call beyond any shadow of doubt.

--> Your Writing

Tell us a little bit about your book.
...I had never pictured myself as a Christmas novelist. It Really IS a Wonderful Life, the story of an Iraq war widow who finds new life and purpose when she joins a theater group in production for the play It’s A Wonderful Life, was originally a women’s fiction set during the Christmas season, and titled Tomorrow Will Find Me. Though it garnered interest, it had difficulty finding a home. I rewrote the book as a romance and I saw the improvement. Then my agent suggested I make it a Christmas story. The title jumped out at me. Both Jamey and Dorie need to learn that sometimes we serve God best in our own backyards. The characters’ in Midville, the setting for the book, parallel those in the movie. I drew from my Community Theater experience and knew when I typed, THE END, it would resonate.

...While writing, A Christmas Prayer, a story about a journalist and a Country singer who have differing agendas for the autistic child they both love, I drew not only from my social work experience, but from being the primary caretaker for my then 12-year-old autistic grandson for a period of six months.

...Joy Comes to Dinsmore Street was birthed when I reconnected with a dear cousin after decades apart. We’d been close, but life got in the way. We reminisced about the fun times we had at her home and at our grandparents’ house. I wondered what other events might separate two women who loved each other as sisters. The story takes place on the eve of Christmas 2000, just before the New Millennium. When a long-lost cousin pays a visit after a forty-year disappearance, old hurts resurface but bring healing.


What is one take-away from your book that you hope readers identify with?
...As in all my books, I hope the reader will learn that our worst past, with God’s help becomes our best future.

You

Favorite writing snack: ...Chocolate. Did I mention chocolate? I love chocolate.

Book you’re working on right now:
...I am working on three books at this time. I recently signed a two-book contract with Elk Lake Publishing for Red Sky Promise, a romance set in the Adirondacks, where my hero finds healing from child neglect and sexual molestation; as well as Fiddler’s Fling, also a romance featuring a heroine who had spurned her musical gift in order to please a demanding fiancé. In addition to these two fictional works, I am compiling a Bible Study, based on my newspaper articles, Who Put the Vinegar in the Salt.

If you could go anywhere in the world for one month (for free) where would it be and why? 
...No brainer. The British Isles. I have always been fascinated with English History. 
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Thank you so much for joining us on the blog today, Linda! I love that you shared Song of Peace with us! I love how he confirms us in ways that speak to our hearts specifically! And I'm 100% with you on the chocolate ;)

***Readers, make sure to comment for a chance to win a copy of one of these books! Comment about which sounds the most interesting to you or leave a comment for Linda! I'll announce the winner next Tuesday.***

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