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...

Website: www.lindarondeau.com

Blog: This Daily Grind

Email: lindarondeau@gmail.com   

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writerlindarondeau?ref=ts&fref=ts

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lwrondeau

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/sassybaby/author-linda-wood-rondeau/

Google Plus

Goodreads

Purchase A Christmas Prayer: A Country Singer, a Father's Plea, and a Woman's Heartbreak (Christmas Romance Series)

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.***

Spread the Christmas Joy with Linda Wood Rondeau and Giveaway | Day 6

Joy From Linda Wood Rondeau

There is a reason I do Christmas with a small fiber-optic tree.

I hold my now twelve-year old cat and reflect back to that day when I surrendered my will to a bundle of fur. Six-month-old Duffer, our adopted orange and white kitten loved the excitement of the six-foot tree as I adorned it with my Christmas memories. He batted away, believing the tree was his new toy. I tried to explain to him that these ornaments he had knocked off the bottom limb were very precious to me. My husband laughed. “Do you really think he understands?”

I tossed Duffer his favorite catnip mouse. Diversion had always worked for my two-year-old. When I plugged in the lights, he bounded in, sniffed at the tree, stretched his torso three branches up and batted on the relocated ornaments until one by one, they plopped to the floor.

Like my GPS, I decided to recalculate.

I sat by the tree with a water pistol. Duffer stared me down, stretched his torso as far as he could reach. I aimed and fired.

“I win!” I said as he scooted.

Not for long. He sauntered back in, and stretched to full measure yet again, this time merely blinking when I sprayed him.

“We’re not finished, yet, Cat.”

Next I tried aroma, a cat-deterrent spray that smelled like ammonia, highly recommended by cat trainers everywhere. Unfortunately, the spray was equally offensive to humans. I admired my undisturbed tree amidst coughs and gagging. At least for awhile.

“Get down from there,” I yelled. I’d never screamed at my kitty before. He looked at me with sad eyes as if to say, “Now, how could you possibly talk like that to someone as cute as I am?”

He stayed away for a few hours. When I went back to the living room later that day, Duffer had managed to find another napping place near the top of the tree.

“Duffer!” I yelled. He jumped. Like Jill of the nursery rhyme, the tree came tumbling after.

The next day I bought a three-foot fiber optic and the rest is history.

Christmas is now enjoyed by all.

When I remember Duffer’s first Christmas and his insistence to find his place among the inviting branches, I think of how God woos us, relentless in His pursuit for our Love. So much so, He sent his only Son to show us the way to Him.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Authors Note: Since this writing, Duffer has since passed on. But he still leaves a huge imprint in our hearts.

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Winner of the 2012 Selah Award for best first novel The Other Side of Darkness/Harbourlight, LINDA WOOD RONDEAU, writes stories of God’s mercies. Walk with her unforgettable characters as they journey paths not unlike our own. After a long career in human services, Linda now resides in Jacksonville, Florida.

Linda’s best-selling Adirondack Romance, It Really IS a Wonderful Life, is published by Lighthouse of the Carolinas and is available wherever books are sold. Her next releases were her devotional book, I Prayed for Patience God Gave Me Children and Days of Vines and Roses.

Joy Comes to Dinsmore Street and A Christmas Prayer have been released in time for the Christmas Season. Songs in the Valley/ Helping Hands Press. Will be released in late 2013 or early 2014.

Readers may visit her web site at www.lindarondeau.com or email her at lindarondeau@gmail.com or find her on Facebook, Twitter, PInterest, LinkedIn, Google Plus and Goodreads. 

 I love writing little notes and have an affinity for vintage...well, anything! Today's giveaway features a festive red doily and a fun Christmas-tree decorated note pad both with a vintage feel - perfect for leaving notes for friends or loved ones. 

**Giveaway rules: To enter, comment on each the post (or posts) in the month of December that offer giveaway items you wish to win. One entry per person per giveaway item is permitted. All winners will be drawn in January (after the holiday craziness) and will be notified shortly thereafter.

Linda Wood Rondeau {Writer Wednesday}

Welcome Linda to the blog!

A little bit about Linda...
 
Winner of the 2012 Selah Award for best first novel The Other Side of Darkness/Harbourlight, LINDA WOOD RONDEAU, writes stories of God’s mercies. Walk with her unforgettable characters as they journey paths not unlike our own. After a long career in human services, Linda now resides in Jacksonville, Florida.

Linda’s best-selling Adirondack Romance, It Really IS a Wonderful Life, is published by Lighthouse of the Carolinas and is available wherever books are sold.

These books are also available in ebook format along with her other ebooks by Helping Hands Press: I Prayed for Patience/God Gave Me Children and Days of Vines and Roses. A Christmas novella, Joy Comes to Dinsmore Street, will be released this fall and Songs in the Valley is scheduled for release in 2014 both by Helping Hands Press.

How to connect with Linda...

Check out her website
Her blogs: Full-Flavored Living, Geezer Guys and Gals, This Daily Grind
On Goodreads
Purchase her book on Amazon

Author Interview | Linda Wood Rondeau

You and Writing

Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you start writing? What has kept you writing?
...Like most writers, I've dabbled in the craft all my life. As a young girl, I loved to tell stories and loved to have my friends listen to them. I always knew someday I'd write those stories down for the world. As life happens, I grew up not believing God gave me those dreams and I wrote only as a hobbyist. I worked in human services, using my writing skills in my career, church programs, and for my own entertainment. Then on June 21, 2001 God pulled at me at said, "It's time." I quite the day job to actively pursue what I knew beyond any doubt was God's new direction in my life. I don't recommend that writers do this. For me it was necessary to leave one career in order to begin another. I began publishing short manuscripts and obtained an agent. My first book contract offer came eleven years to the date of when I received God's call. Since then, I've published a few more books with more contracts to come. In 2012, I received the Selah Award for my first novel, God's affirmation of a long journey. I continue to write, though discouragements are part of the journey, because I have more stories to tell. I am still the little girl on the school bus, who longs to tell the stories of God's grace and redemption. 

Your Writing

Do you have a favorite book?
...To date, my favorite book is Days of Vines and Roses. It has a little bit of everything and truly reflects my tagline: Out-of-the-box Christian Fiction. My heroine is a lot like me. When I first starting writing, it became an idol. I became huffed up because I was doing God's work. I think God held the reigns from success until I could learn that my writing was a privilege He gave me. It is not my life, but something I do within my life. He had to teach me to be in Him rather than do for Him. Sylvia, who has wandered from her childhood beliefs, has allowed her writing alter ego to completely possess her. She is as trapped by this malevolence as much as the evil forces within the home. I like this book because it demonstrates, though Satan will push, connive, and thwart whatever we desire for God, greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world.

Writing

Where does your inspiration come from?
...I never know what will awaken a story in me. My first published book, The Other Side of Darkness, was written to give hope and encouragement to those suffering from post traumatic stress. There are dark places in our lives, but God finds us in the darkness and leads us to His Light on the other side of those horrid places. I used a lot of my social work experience in developing my characters and drew from my court experiences as well. The town of Haven was inspired by a visit to Whitehall in the Adirondacks, a quaint small town with much history.

...Days of Vines and Roses was inspired while I was mowing my lawn. I looked at the corruption of my yard by weeds. I knew of a couple who kept a marriage afloat for convenience, not willing to admit that they still loved each other. My son lived in Connecticut at the time I wrote the book and the city of New Haven was my perfect setting. I also spoke with the author of a book on haunted houses of Connecticut. The rest evolved.
...All my books blend history to some degree with the contemporary story. In my soon to be released Christmas novella, I reconnected with a long-lost cousin. We were close as children but life got in the way and we drifted. I thought about what circumstances might come in to play to significantly impair a close relationship.

...It Really IS a Wonderful Life is inspired by my personal history. I met my husband doing Community Theater. I did direct the play It's a Wonderful Life.

...And, of course, my non-fiction book, I Prayed for Patience God Gave Me Children, was inspired, not only by my social work career, but how being a parent myself taught me what it means to be God's child.

You

Do you enjoy hot or cold weather better?
...I do not like the cold, Sam I am, I do not like cold at all! Never did. I was born and raised in central New York State and as a child spent my winters on the forced hot air floor radiators to keep warm. As I aged, my ability to withstand cold continued to worsen. Finally, in 2011, my lungs had it. After suffering from another bout of chronic bronchitis, my husband decided it was time for me to move to warmer climate. Nothing left to hold us to the cold Northern New York, except my husband's job. He was due to retire in eighteen months. So we took the plunge. I moved to Florida ahead of him, played Daniel Boone and blazed a new life for us in Jacksonville. He is now here with me. We don't mind the heat or the heavy rain storms. And love being able to play golf twelve months out of the year. 

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Thank you so much for the interview Linda! I love hearing a little bit about the inspiration behind each of your books. It's not often you get to hear directly from the author about specifics of their books and to me, that's always inspiring. 

If you, my dear readers, are interested in checking out Linda's latest novel, Days of Vines and Roses, here is a little sneak peek:

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When a romance writer and her estranged publisher husband attempt to reconcile, malignant forces and a pending lawsuit seem bent on keeping them apart. After fifteen years of marital disarray, Henry and Sylvia Fitzgibbons (aka Lana Longstreet) independently contemplate divorce, their relationship relegated to Henry’s infrequent visits to the Connecticut estate and their once a week meeting at Chez Phillipe’s in Manhattan. But, not yet. There is the matter of the decaying rose gardens and the thirtieth anniversary party the children are planning. Reluctantly, Henry moves in for the summer, steeled against the hauntings that torment only him. As reconciliation seems possible, the evil forces within begin to target Sylvia as well. Like the strangling vines within the rose beds, Henry and Sylvia have become victims of spiritual neglect. Their only hope remains in surrender to a power greater than the evil determined to destroy them.

 Thanks again Linda!