Hi there. Iâm Linda, and Iâm an author. Itâs been a long, straight road since I wrote my first novel during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in 2004. That particular piece of *ahem* literature still hasnât seen the light of day, mostly because of how much Iâve learned about writing since.
To back up a bit, my writing career began when I was four years old. I remember having one of my parents staple a stack of paper together so I could write a book. They encouraged me to just draw pictures, but I wasnât having any of that. I wanted to tell a story. Unfortunately for them I could only spell the words âIâ and âtheâ at the time, so I bothered them unceasingly. Since then, Iâve been writing in my head if not on paper or the keyboard. I canât not do it. Itâs a part of me.
When Herman Anderson leaves home to make a better life for herself, she doesnât expect to meet a tall, dark stranger with whom sheâll fall hopelessly in love.
Charming and mysterious, Stephen Dagmar is a stage magician seeking an assistant. The moment he sets eyes on Herman, he knows sheâs the one. He brings her home to his Victorian mansion where they embark upon an extravagant romance. Yet a shadow hangs over their love. Will the curse on his family end Stephen and Hermanâs happily ever after, before it really begins?
Amidst lace and leather, innocence and debauchery, The Magicianâs Curse begins the Gothic tale of The Great Dagmaru. Magic and romance await.
Official release date: June 27, 2017! Pre-order your Kindle copy today here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0721ZH2KN
Available soon on Kobo, and on June 27th in paperback on Amazon.
An excerpt from Chapter 2:
The moment Stephen stepped out the door, the foyer fell silent again. He didnât have to look at any of the interviewees perched, alert upon burgundy velvet-covered benches against both sides of the room, to know their eyes were on him. They were drawn to him as though he were a human magnet, just as Herman had been. He passed the stairs, turned right, and stepped into the dining room where his agent, Margaret, waited for him to arrive.
âHey,â she said without looking up. She sat poring over the applications that were strewn across the large antique dining room table. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, staring at the top of her dark mane of hair shining in the light of the chandelier above her head. Her long, graceful fingers, poised to turn a page, were an elegant extension of the rest of her lithe body. Finally, she looked up and took in his appearance with icy-green eyes. She was every bit as beautiful as any of the women outside.
âWhatâs the matter with you?â she asked. Being inseparable for five years, both as best friends and then co-workers, made it easy for her to tell when there was something different, however subtle, about him.
âI found her,â Stephen said, his back still to the door.
âWho?â
âShe has a perfect body and long, brown hair and the bluest eyes youâve ever seen. And her lips! Full and beautiful. And the way they move when she speaks ⊠absolutely captivating.â
Margaret narrowed her eyes. âYou hired someone on the train again, didnât you?â It was a statement more than a question.
Stephen nodded.
âOkay,â she said, sitting back in her chair. âTell me more about her.â
âI think sheâs running away from home. She has a job to go to, but she agreed to come and check this one out. Sheâs sweet and innocent and sheâs almost eighteen.â
Margaret crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes even more.
âNo, I didnât audition her the same way I did the others,â he said.
âSo you didnât bang her in the limo on the way here.â
âNo! Sheâs not of age. And anyway, I knew from the second I saw her that sheâs the one.â
Margaret began to say something just as the door opened on the far side of the room to her left, and Nina came in from the kitchen. Both Stephen and Margaret glanced at the slight young woman and then at each other.
âShould I leave the two of you alone?â Margaret asked.
Stephen shook his head almost imperceptibly and walked over to have a quiet word with the girl. After a few seconds she bowed and backed out of the room, and Stephen turned back to his friend.
âWell then,â Margaret said, throwing her hands up and glaring down at the stacks of paper in front of her. âTell them all to go home.â
âNo, I still want to interview them.â
âWhat the hell for?â
âHerman might not take the job.â
Margaret raised her eyebrows. âHerman?â
âYeah.â
âOkay, let me get this straight. Youâre telling me sheâs the one you want but that she might not stay. Iâm confused.â
He stood, silently pleading with his friend to understand what he had only begun to comprehend himself.
âWhat the hell is wrong with you, Stephen? Iâve never seen you undone like this before âŠâ
Margaret put her hand up to her mouth, realization dawning on her face. âOh my God,â she said quietly.
He closed his eyes as he spoke. âIt doesnât matter whether or not sheâll be my assistant, Margaret.â He opened his eyes and swallowed hard. âSheâs the girl Iâm going to marry.â
I started writing The Great Dagmaru in November 2011 for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I’d completed the challenge with 50,000 words twice already, but in 2011 it wasn’t meant to be. My entire family got sick that month and we were in and out of the hospital. Yet I persisted with my novel because I’d fallen in love with these characters in a way I’d never fallen in love with my characters before.
After eighteen months, I finally wrote “The End” and then I went into a strange depression for a couple of weeks. It was a book hangover with a mighty kick – a kick mighty enough to make me continue the story. I’m currently working on Book 3.
I hope to have Book 2 edited and released by early 2018. In the meantime, thanks to the incredible, torturous (I’m not easily satisfied, apparently) work of my lovely cover artist, Belinda, (you can find her here) I finally have the opportunity to present to you the cover of my first book in the series The Great Dagmaru, entitled The Magician’s Curse.
And a new book is released into the world, with a cover by my own favourite artist, Belinda. Head on over to wish Trent all the best with his book, and buy one while you’re there!
Thank you all for joining me today for this celebration of my first book, Seasons of Imagination, being released. I know this was an impromptu gathering, though you canât say I didnât give you hints it was coming up. Sorry about that bump in the red carpet that I just couldnât flatten out. I hope not too many of you twisted your ankle or anything. You just need to be careful..
Be careful! Careful!!! CAREFUL!!!
Sorry!
Of course the person bringing in the cake had to be the one who tripped. Sorry, I do still have some left over hors dâoeuvre from yesterdayâs Cover Reveal, so help yourself. I hope theyâre not stale.
I’m so glad Stephanie decided to use the word “opening” for the word of the week in the Tuesday Use It In A Sentence prompt, because it gives me an opening to write a post about my novelette, All Good Stories, again. I hope she won’t mind that I’m writing more than a sentence. You should check out the prompt on her blog, here: https://stephaniecolpron.wordpress.com/2016/08/23/tuesdayuseitinasentence-opening/ It’s fun!
You’re wondering why I’m itching to write about my novelette? Let me share my exciting news with you.
I received a 4 star review on Amazon and Goodreads! The reviewer got the name of one of my main characters wrong, (his name is Xavier) but it doesn’t matter: it’s obvious she read it. And hey, she got the “X” right. đ
Here it is, as it reads on Amazon:
Fun, short read for any fan of romantic comedy
by K.J. Avila
“All Good Stories is a novelette that follows the relationship between Xander and Jupiter, mostly from Xander’s point of view, but occasionally jumping to Bob – Jupiter’s new friend. Jupiter becomes friends with Bob online and this sends Xander head-first into jealousy. We get peeks at the many characters around them, too, all big personalities that stand out in the short tale. As a result of the colorful cast, shenanigans ensue.
“This is a fun, short read for any fan of romantic comedy. Xander and Jupiter have a really fun dynamic, and are by no means perfect – he’s a bit possessive and paranoid, while she’s too trusting and a little air-headed. Their flaws help flesh out the characters in a way that makes them very real despite the story’s brevity. Since it’s so short, the author doesn’t dedicate a ton of time to setting or descriptions, but that doesn’t take away from the overall story. It’s a character-driven tale that leaves you warm and fuzzy at the end.
“Overall, it’s a nice story sprinkled with humor that leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy once you’re done. I’d love to see it fleshed out into a longer piece, with possibly a little more plot, but that’s just because I’d like to see these characters more. If you’re a rom-com fan, give it a try!”
I was so excited when I read this – my very first review ever!
As a subtitle to this post, I should write, “And What Turns You Off?”
The reason I ask: I’ve been told by the experts that I should be “spamming” my friends on my blog, and on all other social media, in order to entice everyone to buy my new novelette, All Good Stories. I told the experts, but I don’t want to do that to my precious blogland friends! but the experts were insistent. “Choose between your friends and your success!” they said. Chanted, really. It was like a waking nightmare until I thought, why don’t I just ask my friends what they think?
So, friends, let’s start with what convinces you to hit that “Buy It Now” button when you’re considering the purchase of the book.
Initially, for me, the cover has a lot to do with it. We do, in fact, judge a book by its cover. The artwork has to be attractive AND hint at what might be inside. It has to make me ask questions. Like, why the parrot? But it’s not only the front! The back (or the blurb in the case of an ebook) is a crucial part of my decision. It not only has to make me want to read the book, it has to be free of errors and give me a hint, through its voice, of what I can expect on the inside.
Reviews and recommendations come next. Even if they’re not jumping off the page to say “This was the best thing ever!” there has to be some consistency to them. For example, “This made me laugh!” and “I chuckled when I read this!”
But then there are those authors who keep on and on and on. Some of us can ignore it, turning it into white noise. I especially tend to disregard an ad if I’ve already bought the All Good Stories book. Then again, seeing “Buy it today!” or “Pre-order now, only 99 cents!” really seems to get under other people’s skin. There has to be a balance! Am I right?
What do you think? What’s most important to you? And would you spend .99Âą to shut me up? (Please see the link at the top right-hand corner of this page.) đ
It’s been an interesting time to get to this point, and someday I’ll write about it. For now, I’d like to introduce you to my amazing cover, designed by the even more amazing and lovely Belinda Borradaile, to whom I’d like to express my profound thanks. You can find Belindaâs stunning artwork and her amazing writing at https://idiotwriting.wordpress.com/
All Good Stories is a romance novelette that was begun as a project for the A-Z April Challenge in 2014. It was originally written entirely off the cuff and posted on my fiction blog unedited.
As best friends, Xavier and Jupiter have always been supportive of each others’ romantic relationships. But when Jupiter meets Bob online, Xavier can’t help but feel he needs to come to her rescue. There’s just something about Bob. In the process of preventing Bob from wooing Jupiter away, Xavier realizes he’s been in love with her all along. Can he keep her safe and win her heart? And will he ever get to read her manuscript?
Join Xavier, Jupiter, and a quirky cast of characters in this fun romantic comedy novelette with a twist you won’t see coming.
A few kind comments from my beta readers. With sincere appreciation:
“You got a couple of laughs out of me, and seriously, I do not laugh when I’m reading.” ~ Maggie Wilson, Writer/Blogger
“A lot of fun!” ~ Bee Halton, Blogger/Poetess
“A fun, easy read. It had me chuckling many times.” ~ Jeanne Owens, author of Kismet and Tell, and Chronicles of Riss.
Since All Good Stories is less than 50 pages in length, I’ve decided not to print a physical copy. The release date is Wednesday, August 10, 2016. You can pre-order your eBook for just 99Âą at Amazon worldwide for automatic delivery to your device on that day. Please find it here:
As you probably know, my theme for the A to Z Challenge this year is parenting a Deaf child as a hearing mom. I decided on this theme mainly because I hope one day to write a book on the subject. The A to Z seemed an easy way to compile my thoughts into something that could be organized into chapters. I’m not including every aspect of what it is to be Alex’s parent since not everything fits. But most of it is or will be here.
My plan is to market it as much a guide for people who have Deaf children, as for people who have hearing children. I hope to provide insight into behaviours, reading and understanding body language, and generally to teach parents and children how to spot and be compassionate toward those with limited abilities. Hopefully, without coming off as preachy. The book, if I write it, will be entitled, Don’t Talk With Your Hands Full.
I’m not going to ask you if you’d actually buy my book – I’m not here to put you on the spot. But if you saw something like it on the shelf, and hadn’t already read as much as I’ve written, do you think you’d be interested enough to at least read the back cover? Do you know anyone who doesn’t read my blog who might buy it? Basically, do you think it could be a worthwhile endeavour?
I appreciate honest opinions. Don’t be afraid to hurt my feelings; I take criticism well, as long as it’s constructive.
It seems the concert I came all the way to Japan to see was the stuff of inspiration. I started writing a new novel today. Only 1,333 words into it – not quite up to NaNoWriMo standards, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to finish my first draft by Christmas. Thanks, as always, go to this guy for his inspirational lyrics:
Sakurai Atsushi
And the rest of the band for the awesome music:
The Mortal
Some of which you can listen to here:
(I’ll leave the video here for a limited time, so if you’re interested, listen to it soon.)
And so that’s most of my interesting stuff, at least the stuff I’ll disclose before I get back home to Canada. I have loads of fantastic sights to share and stories to tell. It’s been a trip for the books… so to speak.
Have you ever wondered what goes on in the minds and hearts of romance novel heroes and heroines? No? Good, because this book wonât be helpful with that at all.
From the twisted mind of a sometimes writer and lifelong reader, you are certain to have less brain cells than you started with after reading this book.
Captain Stormy is the typical romance hero/villain archetype. He follows the Romance Hero Handbook to the letter, but he is about to figure out that nothing in his guidebook is going to prepare himâŠ
Fun, short read for any fan of romantic comedy
lindaghill.com 