When the "Prompt" is Wrong: ***WRITE A NEW TRILOGY***

I posted some of this in January 2015 and now we come full circle; this contemporary paranormal Hansen trilogy releases in print on January 26, 2016!

I happen to be one of those odd ducks who refuses to write anything that does not fit her brand; I do not wish to waste either the words or the effort. So when the opportunity arose, I launched into my first contemporary paranormal story. Ever.

I knew enough about the genre to realize that world-building is key. Whatever the rules for the fantastical element, they must be logical and consistent throughout the manuscript(s).

If you know me, then you know that I write the Hansen Series with Norwegian heroes. And the only way I figured I could be true to that brand, was by making the hero a Viking ghost from the year 1070.

“Hollis McKenna walked into the hotel foyer and spotted him across the space, leaning casually against the wall. His eyes flicked back and forth, examining the largely female crowd with unexpected seriousness. She assumed he must be one of the cover models, dressed as he was in costume—though fur and leather were unfortunate choices on this roasting Labor Day weekend in Phoenix.”

And just like that, Sveyn Hansen manifested himself into my life. And into the life of Hollis McKenna, curator for the brand new Natural History wing (which does not exist) at the Arizona Historical Society Museum (which does) in Tempe, Arizona. Boom.

Sveyn was far too compelling to be quiet. He kept explaining what happened to him, and how he really is not a ghost, because he never actually died. And then I realized why he has been drawn to Hollis: to finally get his Happily Ever After.

I bounced my premise and its resolution off several paranormal-reading friends, and every one of them bought into it. And when I explained the major shift in the middle of their relationship, they got goose bumps. Goose bumps.

And now, Sveyn Hansen is set to meet the world.

The release party will be at the museum where the heroine Hollis works. And the collections manager proofed my books to make sure my details were correct. And she got so excited that her intern asked if she could come to the release party, too.

Because of my appearance schedule this coming year, I’m not releasing the ebooks until March 15th so that the print copies get “legs” at the big events I’m attending. So, mark your calendars.

'Cause Sveyn rocks.

HOPE CAN BE A SLIPPERY LITTLE DEVIL

By Linda Lovely

“There is a crack in everything.
That's how the light gets in.” 
― Leonard Cohen, Selected Poems, 1956-1968

This month’s blog theme is hope—a slippery little devil that seems hardest to grasp when we need its restorative powers most. I must admit I’ve all but abandoned hope of finding an amicable solution to a controversy that has me sleeping too little and worrying too much. In this instance, hope eludes me because so many elements are beyond my control.

So what does that say about hope? Let’s pretend my fondest hope is that a leopard will change its spots. Not going to happen. About the only folks who might realistically expect that hope to come to fruition are brave beauticians armed with stun guns and hair dye or, perhaps, geneticists willing to play with DNA in order to alter spots in future generations of leopards.  

This scenario relates directly to both my personal frustration and the turmoil and troubles my heroine encounters in my newest—soon-to-be-released—romantic suspense novel. I think we all need hope. So once it appears a given situation—or at least one aspect of it—is hopeless, I simply transfer my hope elsewhere. I look for a crack in the gloom, a place where a sliver of light can let a new hope take root, a place where there’s a possibility, however slim, that my actions can influence the outcome.

It’s no surprise my fictional heroines react the same way I do when all hope seems lost. They search for those cracks where even a trickle of light shines through. My new suspense novel is set in 1938 Keokuk, Iowa. While I grew up in Keokuk, I’m happy to say the story unfolds long before I was born. Because the book is set during the Great Depression, a number of editors have told me it runs the risk of getting labeled as “depressing” before anyone read page one. That would be a shame since the exact opposite is true. This romantic suspense is uplifting because the heroine doesn’t lose hope for a better tomorrow. She finds ways to live, laugh, and love despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles and dangers she is powerless to change—economic hardships and a few other tiny problems like a police chief determined to frame her for her estranged husband’s death and a faceless foe who wants to kill her and her two-year-old son. Of course, you’ll have to read the book to find out where she finds cracks in the gloom and how she pins her hopes on things she can influence with her own talents and determination.

  

I think this is my best novel, my favorite so far. Will it become one of your favorites, too? I guess I can say I “hope” so, since I’ve already done all I can to make that outcome a reality. The title is LIES. Release date will be early summer.