Today, I’m excited to introduce you to Linore Rose Burkard. I read some of her work, then signed up to do an ARC review of her latest novel, Forever, Lately. I thought, why not make a deal? I write a review for Linore, and she does an interview for me. Thanks, Linore, for taking time to answer a few questions about your writing/writing life.
JAN: Hi Linore. How long have you been writing and how did you come to it?
LINORE: I started writing at age nine after reading My Side of the Mountain. The story, inwhich a young boy is able to live by himself in peace on a mountainside, coupled with the ways he learned to survive, thrilled me. I immediately wrote a copycat novel with myself as the protagonist. Unfortunately, I didn’t recognize this as an inkling that I was meant to write; even in college, since I worked full time and wasn’t certain I could ace a creative writing class, I never took one. I majored in English Literature, but didn’t take creative writing out of fear. Only God would turn that girl around to make her a fiction writer!
JAN: What’s your preferred genre?
LINORE: Though I am a multi-genre author, I think my favorite is Regency romance. My contemporary novels seem to center on more serious themes, so there’s no fun like Regency fun. Ever since I stumbled upon Georgette Heyer and Marion Chesney in my twenties, I’ve loved that time period and the sometime madcap humor it supports.
JAN: Ahh. I certainly see humor in Forever, Lately. Tell us, why do you write?
LINORE: I think all (Christian) writers suffer from a mixture of motives along the lines of, ‘I write because I’m called to write, because God has gifted me for it.’ AND, ‘I write because I can’t help it. I can’t stop.’ While there are times in life when we can get more writing done and times when we’re too busy with family, or ministry, or just plain life, a writer will always return to the blank page. I could no more give up writing entirely than give up breathing, and to some degree, I think that’s universal for creatives, whatever their given sphere. (On a less noble vein, I also write because it’s fun. When a work isn’t making me pull my hair out, I’m loving it.)
JAN: How and where do you write?
LINORE: I can write just about anywhere. I wrote my first book mostly in one room, a basement bedroom in our house on Long Island. But I also scribbled scenes while my toddler son crawled across my lap upstairs, or in the car while Mike drove us somewhere we had to go. Since then, I have written each book in different places as my office space has changed with the needs of the family. When my oldest daughter left for college, her room became my office. When she came back, I moved upstairs. Later, I had a room at one end of the house, but then my husband started working from home and he needed it. I’ve worked on books from the sofa, from a temporary desk, on writing retreats, and in someone else’s house in order to escape home distractions. I’ve camped out in a coffee shop for hours and done writing. For me, it isn’t the space that matters most, but simply focusing on the work. I strongly prefer quieter places, but if there’s one advantage of growing up in a family with eight children, it’s that you learn to zone out noise!
JAN: Wow, that’s focus! Are you a plotter or a pantser?
LINORE: I wish with all my heart that I could say I’m a plotter. I do start every book with a good idea of where it’s going and how it must end. Aside from that, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool pantser. I may have a vague idea of what the villain or major obstacles will be, but nothing too concrete. I admire plotters. I think their method is superior in terms of efficiency. But I find that the more I write even without detailed outlining, I waste less time writing unnecessary scenes. I think I’ve grown an inner sense of what’s needed and what isn’t. And it’s not something that can easily be taught. Once, during a stressful week of college, the Lord graciously gave me an outline. I mean that, word for word. It was for a paper that was coming due. And I got enormous praise from my professor for the resulting paper, the easiest one I ever wrote. (He called it “Brilliant” and other wonderful things. He was actually excited by it.) Besides learning how much God cared for me and how he knows everything, that experience taught me that GOD IS AN OUTLINER! Unfortunately, I still can’t write good outlines and stick to them.
JAN: We do what works for us. Do you have any advice for beginning writers?
LINORE: I see many, many first drafts of newer writers who don’t realize that what they’ve got is only a first draft. I wish all writers understood that nearly all books go through edits, and the newer the writer, the more editing is likely needed. Too often, with the ease of self-publishing today, a writer is excited to “finish” a story and they rush to publish it. If you are a newer writer, my advice is to find three people who do NOT love you, and have them read your work and give you feedback. And hire an editor with experience. The retired school teacher, though she taught English, is not equivalent to an experienced book editor. Your book took a lot of work. Now give it the professional touch it deserves with good editing and manuscript preparation.
JAN: Great advice. Thanks so much for spending time with us today, and all the best on your future writing.
Website: http://www.LinoreBurkard.com
Bio: Linore Rose Burkard is a serious watcher of period films. She wrote a trilogy of regency romances“for the Jane Austen Soul,” which opened the genre for the CBA. Now a multi-genre author, including a YA/Suspense Pulse Effex Series written as L.R. Burkard, Linore is also the founder of Lilliput Press, where “little dreams become books.” Raised in NYC, she graduated magna cum laudefrom City University. Now living in Ohio, she juggles family life with homeschooling, editing, novel writing, and publishing. She is Vice President of the Dayton Christian Scribes, and a Regional Director of CAN, Christian Authors Network.
Available for preorder: Linore’s latest time-travel romance, Forever, Lately.
