NEWSLETTER – SPRING 2009

Writing News: A New Book: In May 2009, look for SUMMER AT THE LAKE, released by Harlequin Superromance. Rick Cooper is a burned-out, saxophone-playing New York cop who wants a new career. He meets his match in a feisty young widow who asks for his professional help in finding the man who hurt her daughter. Add in a beautiful mountain lake, a therapeutic German Shepherd, a flute, a piano, and lots of family…

A personal comment about SUMMER AT THE LAKE– I’m proud of all the books I write, but the ones I enjoy creating most are the ones that teach me the most. In SUMMER AT THE LAKE, I learned a lot about therapy animals. Many of us know that therapy animals are used with hospital patients and with the elderly to brighten their day. Quincy, the German Shepherd in this book, is a therapy dog that helps children handle the trauma of abuse. When kids are afraid of talking to people (parents, counselors), they can still talk to someone “safe.” No one really knows what makes certain animals so empathetic and others not – even within the same species - but we’re lucky that the special ones love to share their gifts with us.

Contest: The contest celebrating the release of SUMMER AT THE LAKE is now closed. Click here to read about the contest winners!

Website News:
FAQ’S – There’s a new link on my website with my answers to Frequently Asked Questions writers get from readers. If you’re curious about where we get our ideas or how we get paid, check it out!

Writing Tips for Family Stories – As loyal readers know, I usually incorporate family members of the hero or heroine into my novels. Before the publication of my first book, I had written many stories about my own family. Talk about characters! Don’t we all have them? Recently, I’ve been speaking to groups in the Houston area about how to write family stories. If you’re interested in trying this, check out the Writing Family Stories link on my website.

Family Visits: Speaking of family stories, Mike and I don’t allow winter to stop our visits to the kids and grandkids. In February, we flew north to our youngest branch of the family and enjoyed our two-year-old granddaughter so much, I wanted to pack her in my suitcase and bring her back to Texas. Her parents said, no. Absolutely no. Ah, well, we’ll just have to visit again this summer . We’re heading to Florida in April to spread the love to our oldest branch. Here we have an eleven and a six-year-old to keep us busy. So far, my sons and daughters-in-law haven’t put up a stop sign, so these grandparents intend to keep right on visiting.

My best wishes to all of you. I hope you have some family fun this summer. As always, thanks for stopping by.

Linda

Click here to read about my contest winners!