Linda O. Johnston–Mysteries, Romantic Suspense and so much more!
May 24, 2022 by Jann Ryan in category Jann says . . ., Writing tagged as mystery, romantic suspense
Linda O. Johnston, a former lawyer who is now a full-time writer, will have published 57 books as of May 2022, including mysteries and romantic suspense novels. Her new mystery series is Alaska Untamed, starting with Bear Witness, for Crooked Lane, under her first pseudonym: Lark O. Jensen. She also has a new Harlequin Romantic Suspense story being published in May, Guardian K-9 on Call. Most of Linda’s current stories involve dogs.!
Today’s interview is with multi-talented, multi-published author Linda O. Johnston. Let’s see what’s been happening in her life lately.
Jann: I know you published several short stories before your first novel was published—A Glimpse of Forever. Do you remember what it was like to receive the phone call from the publisher?
Linda: Heaven! I’d been writing for a while and was hoping to eventually get a novel published. I loved time travel romance, and that’s what I’d written. And to learn it was actually going to be published? Wow!
Jann: Your career has blossomed. Forty-five plus novels later that include mysteries, romance, romantic suspense and paranormal romance. One thing they all have in common is animals. Is there a reason your books always include animals?
Linda: I include animals as much as possible because I love them, especially dogs. I’ve had dogs most of my life, and my favorites are Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. But to include any kind of dogs or other animals in my stories is really important to me. It’s fun that my new mystery Bear Witness, my first Alaska Untamed mystery, is about Stacie Calder, a naturalist who gives tours in Alaska and points out all sorts of fun wildlife to tourists.
And by the way, Bear Witness and Guardian K-9 On Call, which you mention in the next question, are my 56th and 57th traditionally published novels!
Jann: In August 2021 Harlequin Romantic Suspense published Her Undercover Refuge, the first book in your Shelter of Secrets series. Guardian K-9 on Call, Book Two released on April 26th. What obstacles did you set for your main characters, K-9 Police Officer Maisie Murran and veterinarian Kyle Kornel to overcome? Do they find their HEA?
Linda: In Guardian K-9 On Call, K-9 Police Officer Maisie Murran believes that Dr. Kyle Kornel, a veterinarian who works for the highly secret Chance Animal Shelter, is being framed for murder. Can she help clear him–or is her belief in him based unwisely on her attraction to him?
Kyle has argued with an owner of a local pet shop who is skirting the law regarding which dogs can be sold in the store. When she is found murdered, he becomes the primary suspect. And then there are the dogs in question, who need to be saved.
While doing their respective jobs, Maisie and Kyle work together in all aspects of the case. Closely together. And… well, it is a Harlequin Romantic Suspense book, so I’ll let you guess whether they achieve their HEA!
Jann: Will there be a book 3 in this series?
Linda: Yes, there are likely to be at least three more.
Jann: I see you have another mystery series—Alaska Untamed Mystery. Congratulations!!! The books will be published under your first pseudonym, Lark O. Jensen. What inspired you to create this new series?
Linda: Thank you!
I was on an Alaskan cruise a few years ago, before Covid, and had a particularly enjoyable time on a tour boat on the waters outside Juneau. The people who were actually providing the tour were wonderful, and my writer’s mind, always active, started wondering what it would be like to have a mystery series set in a similar situation. I even started asking some of the boat personnel questions. But no, we didn’t find any bodies onboard or otherwise.
Jann: How did you come up with the name Lark O. Jensen?
Linda: I was asked to take on a pseudonym, though it was fine to let the world know it was me. I pondered all sorts of names, some nothing like my own, but decided to choose something that was at least somewhat familiar. And Lark O. Jensen has at least some similarities to Linda O. Johnston.
Jann: May 10th, Bear Witness, the first book in the series made
its debut. Who is the main character and what challenges will this character have to face?
Linda: Stacie Calder is a born naturalist who has come to Alaska because of the wonderful wildlife there. During the seasons where the weather will allow it, she gives tours on a tour boat in the waters off Juneau, and she brings here wonderful husky Sasha along. She has to put up with some somewhat nasty passengers who come along to research what happens on the boat because they want to start competing companies. One day, one of them disappears—and Sasha’s wonderful sense of smell discovers his body the next day on the shore of an inlet they visited. The authorities determine he was murdered, and Stacie has to get involved with figuring out who the killer is because some of her favorite people, including the captain of her boat, and even herself, are considered suspects.
Jann: You have several other mystery series including Barkery & Biscuits and the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mysteries. What’s happening with them?
Linda: At the moment, nothing is happening with the Barkery & Biscuits or Superstition Mysteries. But the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mysteries are available in e-book form, and the spinoff Pet Rescue Mysteries will soon be available as audio books.
Jann: Do you find yourself returning to certain themes in your stories? What? Why?
Linda: As mentioned before, I like to include animals, particularly dogs. They speak to me, and not only in barks! I consider people who enjoy pets more likeable and think my readers may, too.
Jann: What kind of writer are you? A page a day or a burst writer?
Linda: It varies these days. I mostly write five pages or more a day when I’m in writing mode, which tends to be most of the time—or at least whenever possible. But I’m always thinking and planning and making notes.
Jann: In your books, who is your favorite character and why?
Linda: I love all my protagonists, or I wouldn’t write about them. I really like my new mystery protagonist, Stacie Calder, because of her love of wildlife and willingness to devote her life to studying and teaching people about them. I sometimes wish I could go visit her in Alaska and take one of her tours!
But perhaps my favorite is Kendra, of my Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mysteries. Kendra is a lawyer who lives in the Hollywood Hills with her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Lexie. At the time I wrote the Kendra stories, I was a practicing lawyer, and one of my Cavaliers was named Lexie—and I live in the Hollywood Hills. I’ve never run into dead bodies and had to solve murders, though—except those I write about.
Jann: Do you ever run out of ideas? If so, how did you get past that?
Linda: Never! I’m always thinking and plotting.
Linda, it’s been fun looking back at your career and seeing what it’s like now. Congratulations and good luck on the new series, Alaska Untamed Mystery!! Looking forward to reading another fabulous mystery series.
5 1 Read moreMothers and daughters… theme of my next Paris WW2 book and why I wrote it by Jina Bacarr
May 11, 2022 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, women's fiction, Writing tagged as daughters, historrical, Jina Bacarr, Mothers, women's fiction
On this Mother’s Day past, I was looking for a pretty graphic of flowers or chocolate or a cute puppy
to post but how to personalize it?
Hmm…
I ate all the chocolate during my marathon writing week finishing my manuscript.
I could buy red roses… or pink… I like yellow…. I couldn’t make up my mind.
And if I went puppy shopping, I’d come home with as many cute puppies as my arms could hold.
Back to square one… how to personalize Mother’s Day?
Especially since my next Boldwood Books novel is about Paris WW 2 is about mothers and daughters. How two daughters (Irish-American and German Jewish) — my heroines — and their relationships with their moms are affected by war.
A topic dear to my heart since I lost my mother many years ago. I had such a wonderful relationship with her. We were so close and, growing up, I adored her. When we lived in Kentucky, she was a model on live TV commercials and I used to race home from grade school to watch her on TV modeling fashion from a local dress shop.
I’ll never forget the day I was watching TV with my sitter and we were waiting to see my mom when we had a major thunderstorm. Powerful winds and a drenching downpour. I was around eleven when lightning struck the tall TV tower and it fell on the TV station… the television went black… pouring rain outside. Telephone lines down. Where was Mom? I panicked when she didn’t come home. My dad came rushing home from work to check on us… what, Mom isn’t here?
He grabbed me and we jammed to the TV station in our old blue Dodge, braving the pouring rain and deep puddles. When we got there, we saw….
Firetrucks… police cars… reporters.
Then someone said a woman had been killed when she was struck by falling debris.
I was a kid, but I never felt such panic cut through me, such anguish that something could happen to my beautiful mom. She was always there for me… we baked cookies together, sewed dresses together… I couldn’t grasp the idea of losing her. It pained me more than anything in my young life.
I turned to see my dad’s face so pale, his jaw clenched… he told me to wait with the police officer while he checked to see–
He left the words hanging…
It was the longest time in my life, waiting….
Then the news.
No, it wasn’t Mom. She came racing back with my father in tow, holding her tight around the waist. I ran into her arms and she hugged me tight… I could feel her trembling. She was wearing a red satin shirtwaist dress she was modeling that day and she was in the makeup room waiting for her cue when the tower fell. She was shaken up, but okay.
A woman who worked there lost her life that day and we cried and said prayers for her and her family. I never forgot it.
The pain and anguish of seeing how quickly you can lose someone so dear to you stayed with me. When I thought about what I wanted to write about for this next book. I decided to explore mothers and daughters during wartime… I begin my story back in 1934 when we meet my two heroines and their mothers and see their relationships grow over the years… the joys, frustrations… growing pains… then war is declared…
I hope you’ll come with me on my journey to publication of this unique World War 2 mothers and daughters story!
And for Mother’s Day?
I decided to post this short video of Mom and me when I was ten. Enjoy!!
When Our Confidence In Our Writing Wavers
April 12, 2022 by Denise M. Colby in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as confidence, Denise M. Colby, encouragement, writerslifeHave you ever had your confidence in your writing waver? Years ago I wrote something that really helped me in a very heavy doubt period. As I was discussing confidence in his artwork with my college-age son recently, I went and found this to encourage him to believe in himself. I needed the reminder as well. And I decided to share it with all of you too.
Originally published on denisemcolby.com on June 6, 2017
This morning I was reading in 2 Corinthians and the following verse made me stop and pause, so I wrote it down on my handy 3×5 index card for future reference:
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 2 Corinthians 3:5
I want to be a writer. Notice I said I want to, not I am.
I’ve only been writing things for over twenty years – either marketing copy or fiction stories. No matter which, the reality is I struggle with believing in myself. Having confidence in my writing. My takeaway from this verse is God’s telling me if I believe in him, I need to believe in myself.
After getting the kids off to school, I took a walk and the verse rattled around in my head. But for some reason the key word competence turned into the word confidence (I wonder who put that there?). As I mulled around thoughts about confidence, I knew I needed to come home and look up the word in the dictionary.
I love words. Definitions, synonyms – all of it. I also love seeing connections words have with other words. So here’s what the website http://www.dictionary.com says about
CONFIDENCE: full trust; belief in oneself and one’s powers or abilities; self-confidence; self-reliance; assurance:
And I love the example they gave in a sentence: His lack of confidence defeated him.
Is my lack of confidence in my abilities as a writer defeating me?
I think about my writing and the nudges I have had over the past five years and I know without a doubt God wants me to do this, otherwise doors would’ve closed on me long ago. However I’m not fully doing what he wants me to do because I have not had the confidence to just do it.
I’ve been saying for a while now, I would like to write devotionals. I have this strong innate desire to share hope, encouragement and God’s Word with others. What I haven’t been sure about is the how and what. So I haven’t done it, period.
When I took my walk this am something clicked and I couldn’t wait to get back home because I needed to do this right now. God has confidence in me. He has given me the desire. He’s nudging me to do this. Why have I not done this? Why?
I’m afraid – that’s why. What am I so afraid of? Putting myself out there? Looking like an idiot? Is that confidence then? I know I’m not looking for accolades, not looking for stardom. I just want to write and share my heart. But I’ve been too scared to do that. I have lacked confidence to go for it.
Then I saw the Synonyms for confidence – 1. faith, reliance, dependence.
And the Antonym – 1. mistrust.
Wow!
My lack of confidence is holding me back in my writing
I’m not really trusting God then, am I? If I have faith, I should have confidence in what he’s asking me to do. And I need to depend on Him when I do it.
So here I am today. Writing a devotional and setting up a specific devotional page on my website. Only God knows what will happen. I just need to have the confidence to do it (already the nagging doubts are creeping in). I must rely on God with the rest.
But wait, there’s more. When I grabbed my Bible to write in the verse, I realized I made a mistake (was it really?) and the word was competence not confidence. Oh no! Do I scrap what I just wrote? Does it even relate? See maybe I shouldn’t be doing this after all. I paused for a moment then decided to look it up:
COMPETENCE: having suitable or sufficient skill, knowledge, experience, etc., for some purpose; properly qualified:
And the Synonym: 1. fit, capable, proficient.
No antonym. Interesting. There is no negative/opposite of being competent. You either are or you are not. I may not be the best writer, but I know I am proficient. So what am I waiting for?
Then I looked at 2 Corinthians 3:4 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.
If God has given you skills – you are capable to use them for his glory. You just need to have the confidence through Him to do it.
What abilities (competence) has God given you? Where do you put your confidence? In your own efforts, schedule, skills, voices in your head? Or do you trust God? Do you have the confidence to put yourself out there with whatever it is?
God has given us all skills. We are all competent in something. Being competent does not need to mean you are the best at something.
Being competent means you are proficient. You can get the job done.
We should have confidence in our writing if we are proficient enough
We let our own voices tell us we are not competent because we think we need to be the best or someone does it better than us and we let it affect our confidence which in turn affects what we do.
Everyone’s path is different and God has one he wants you to follow. He has given you these skills for a reason. You just have to have confidence in Him that He is with you every step of the way.
God believes in you and I believe in you too!
Denise M. Colby loves to write encouraging words. You can read other posts by Denise in her archives here on A Slice of Orange
0 0 Read moreThe Titanic sailed today 110 years ago…with a Pig on board by Jina Bacarr
April 11, 2022 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Reading, Titanic, Writing tagged as #Historical, 1912. historical romance, British, Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, countess, Downton Abbey, England, Ireland, Irish, pig, romance', ship of dreams, Southampton, Titanic, Titanic 104
Photos: Dreamstime.com — using RF stock, my interpretation of the ship and female passenger and of course, the little pig.
Downton Abbey is but a memory… but it will be forever in our hearts.
Do you remember that first scene when a messenger on a bicycle brought a telegram to the Crawley family that would forever change their lives?
And ours?
A telegram about two male relatives lost at sea.
On the Titanic.
Hard to believe it’s 110 years ago today the grand ship Titanic left Ireland.
So in honor of the souls who perished that night and those who survived, here is a lesser known story about the Titanic.
And the pig.
According to the New York Herald on April 19, 1912: Five women saved their pet dogs and another woman saved a little pig, which she said was her mascot.
The reporter goes on to say that she didn’t know how the woman cared for her pig aboard the Titanic, but she carried it up the side of the ship [the Carpathia, rescue ship] in a big bag.
How did the pig get into the lifeboat?
Was the little pig traveling first class?
In a word, yes.
More about this intrepid little piggy and the important part it played in the sinking of the Titanic later. First, it seems you can’t get away from pigs and the Titanic.
In the Julian Fellowes’ mini-series Titanic, a passenger in third class isn’t happy about traveling steerage to New York. She tells her husband that her daughter said their Irish Catholic family is like six little pigs packed into that cabin, all trussed and bound for market.
They’re not the only Irish aboard the ship with pigs on their mind.
Ava O’Reilly, the heroine in my historical romance, THE RUNAWAY GIRL nearly doesn’t make it on board the ship because of a pig.
Katie runs away from the grand house where she is in service after she is wrongly accused of stealing a diamond bracelet. The law is after her, but she has one chance to escape.
The Titanic.
Will Ava make it on board the Titanic before she sails? Only by the skin of her teeth.
Does she see the pig during the crossing?
Few passengers did because the cute little pig with the curly tail was the lucky mascot of Miss Edith Russell.
She loved to wind up its tail and it would play a lively musical tune similar to a two-step called Maxixe.
You see, the pig was musical pig.
The reporter on the Carpathia didn’t know the real story behind Miss Russell’s pig. How it was given to her after she survived a horrific motorcar crash. She promised her mother it would never be out of her sight. When she realized the Titanic was sinking and she’d left her mascot in her cabin, she sent the steward to retrieve her lucky pig.
Still, Edith was hesitant to get into a lifeboat. When a seaman tossed her pig into a boat (believing it was a baby wrapped up in a bag), Edith insisted on getting into the boat, too. Its nose was gone and its legs broken, but Edith and her little pig escaped in lifeboat no. 11.
Overcrowded with sixty-eight passengers (nearly one-third were children), Edith realized her little pig could comfort others as it had her. She wound up its tail so it would play music for the children. Most of the little ones stopped crying as the pig’s sparkling musical notes calmed their fears.
Its furry, white-gray body wet with sea spray.
Its cute grin giving them hope they would be saved.
It was the little Titanic pig that could.
Thanks for stopping by!
~Jina
The Runaway Girl
Buy Links:
Amazon:
Audible https://www.amazon.com/dp/B084MM1D4R
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/3A08bcsCeI6LHWRQTmAM30
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-runaway-girl-jina-bacarr/1135653540?ean=9781838893736
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-runaway-girl-1
Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-runaway-girl/id1492269132
PS check out TITANIC AND ME, my story behind the story on the BOLDWOOD BOOKS Blog.
Once upon the ship of dreams… me dressed as a first class lady
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April Check-In
April 5, 2022 by Tracy Reed in category WritingHappy April. One of the reasons I chose this day of the month to post is because my birthday is the 5th of the month. I knew I’d remember the fifth day of the month. However, this month I actually forgot today was my day to post. What’s more shocking, I forgot it was my birthday. I’m not saying I’m old and forgetful. I’m saying I’m on a major deadline focused on one thing, completing my book.
I thought setting up preorders with Amazon would help me stick to my writing goal for the year of three books. I’m on track to meet that goal. However, setting up preorders has been a little stressful. I made a mistake after my last release…I took a break. During that break, I got blocked. I love the story I’m writing. The characters are fun and it’s been exciting watching them grow. What I didn’t expect was I would hit a wall with the story.
I’ve been careful to have one major surprise revealed in each of the books. In part four, the heroine discovered her lover’s secret. In part five, she has to figure out her next move. For all those author who outline this wouldn’t be a problem, because I’m a panster I don’t know where the story is going or if it’s going anywhere until the inspiration or muse hits.
When I decided to write a fifth book in this series, I knew the main plot revolved around the heroine deciding if she wanted to remain married to a man she really didn’t know. If she did, it would open the door to a sea of problems and new characters. So now I’m faced with a few decisions: a) push the release date back a month and risk punishment from KDP; b) make part five VERY long or add a sixth book; c) spin off the other characters into stand alone books; d) new covers again…I never expected the series to go beyond four books so I didn’t really have covers for more than five books…well that’s not exactly true. I have a cover I can’t use because Amazon will probably banish me to the EZone (erotica) and there’s no way Facebook will allow me to run ads.
Four pressing questions all because I set up preorders in order to stick to my publishing goal. So what would you do? Would you push for a fat book five or add a sixth book? Here’s an advantage to a sixth book in the series, additional revenue.
As for the rest of my goals list, here’s the update. Goals achieved are striked out
Get my letters
Triple my income
Triple my mailing list – Signed up for a Book Sweep newsletter promotion later this month…hoping for maximum resultsMaster Facebook ads – This is ongoing, but achieved so far
Update covers – 13 covers in total to update. 8 completed.
Learn how to write a sellable blurb
Use Ingram Spark
Direct distribution – One down
Increase BookBub US Followers to 1000 – 1000 US are needed to qualify for a new release promotion alertIncrease my prices – All of my ebooks are $4.99 except for the preorders I set up before making this change.
Release 3 Books – One down, two to go. I added a short story as part of an anthology. So that gives me a publishing bonus.
How are you doing with your goals so far?
Happy Birthday to me and see you next month.
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