I'm thrilled to introduce Linda Katmarian, author of Dreaming of Laughing Hawk, and a member of the Write, Edit, Publish community. Meet Linda!
Thanks for the opportunity to share a blog post with your readers. I am a first-time, self-published author. When I finally quit my full time career as a technical writer, I chained myself to my desk and finished my novel, Dreaming of Laughing Hawk. (You can find a brief bio at the end of this article.) Before I get to your interview questions, I would like to invite you and your readers to give my novel a try. I think you will find it a book you can inhabit. As a reader, I want to be able to be able to fully experience a story so as a writer I strive to give that to my readers. Following is a brief synopsis of DREAMING OF LAUGHING HAWK.
In 1964 Elizabeth Leigh is looking forward to college,
escape from her unhappy home, and the fulfillment of her dreams. Adventure.
Love. Her place in the sun. On a restless afternoon, she leaves school early
and discovers her mother is packing to run off with a lover, abandoning
Elizabeth and her stepfather. Worse, she learns her mother has squandered the
college money her grandfather left her.
A fortuitous invitation from her cousin Melina to come to
Los Angeles rescues her from an uncertain future. In Los Angeles, Elizabeth
finds security in the embrace of her aunt’s family and is introduced to the man
who soon becomes her fiancé, Collin Greenslade, an ambitious, up-and-coming
real estate developer. Life could not be more perfect.
When her cousin’s boyfriend, a civil rights activist, has
his Thunderbird vandalized in Mississippi, he enlists his roommate, Mark
Laughing Hawk, to tow his car back home. Melina insists that she and Elizabeth should come along
for the ride, but what starts as a fun romp across the country becomes a
journey of the soul that complicates love and endangers lives.
Q: You say your goal is to pursue creativity in
all its forms, and your blog posts show that to be true. Do you have a favorite
art or do you follow whatever muse wherever it may lead? And if given
proficiency in any of the arts, which would you chose?
A: Well, I probably feel
most comfortable about my skills as a writer, but I also have taken up
watercolor painting. They are both very challenging in their own ways. I am
first and foremost a writer. I just wish I was a more disciplined writer. I
find it very easy to be distracted by painting, gardening, cooking, home
remodel projects, and any number of other creative interests.
Q: What is the most exciting thing to have
happened to you because of your creativity and, if fame and success were yours,
how would it change you and your plans?
A: Hmm. A most exciting event due to my
creativity? . . . that’s hard to say. Well, I gave birth to two wonderful
daughters. That’s certainly creative and it’s exciting to see them be
successful in their lives. Self-publishing my novel Dreaming of Laughing Hawk
was a creative milestone. If fame and
success were mine, it wouldn’t change anything. I would still be wondering about
the next story or idea for a painting.
Q: Blogging has changed. I even read a blog
that asks the question: have authors ruined blogging? What is your opinion of
the direction and subject of current blogs? What do you enjoy, in regards to
blogs, whether reading or writing one?
A: It seems everybody has
a blog these days. We are inundated by so much information in the form of blogs
that no one could possibly have the time to read them all. To be a successful
blogger you have to offer something unique and useful to the reader but the
crowd is so huge that it’s hard to stand out. I try to primarily offer short
stories (flash fiction) on my blog. My goal is to entertain. I don’t claim to
be a wildly successful blogger, but I try to stick mainly to storytelling. If I
want to offer up a recipe or a gardening tip, I tuck that away on my main
website: www.lindakatmarian.com. Storytelling
is the focus of my blog, Scheherazade’s
Journal. The kind of blogs I follow reflect my eclectic interests in
literature and self-publishing, film, cooking, gardening, travel, politics, and
watercolor painting. And I’m a lover of all things French—in love with the
country, the cuisine, the language and the way of life. If I didn’t live in
California, then I would want to live in France.
Q: If you could visit any time period, would you
go back or forward and why?
A: Lately, I’ve been obsessed with Philippa
Gregory’s historical novels of 15th century England. I am happy to inhabit that
time period. I have no idea why. (Some unresolved issues from a past life?) There
is just something about that historical period that intrigues me—the extreme
fragility of life, the difficult challenges of survival.
Q: If you were one of the characters in your
book, which one would you be and why?
A: I am all of my characters, good and bad, but
I suppose I would prefer to be Hawk. He’s romantic and cynical, courageous,
humorous, free-wheeling, dark and dangerous.
Q: What entices you to buy a book—the cover, the
blurb, the writing, or the author?
A: The writing—a story that paints a world I can inhabit with
believable, fully-developed characters.
I am an impatient reader, more so now than when I was younger. I cannot
tolerate boring dialog or implausible plotting—or a lot of typos and clumsy
language.
Author Linda Katmarian grew
up in the Midwest and graduated with a Master’s Degree in French literature
from Illinois State University. She has studied under Sol Stein, prolific
author and former owner of Stein & Day publishing company in New York, and
Louella Nelson, an experienced romance writer and teacher of fiction writing. In
2012, after a long career as a technical writer, Linda committed herself to
writing fiction full time. She lives in Southern California. Dreaming of Laughing Hawk is
her debut novel.
Find Linda Here:
Author page: http://amazon.com/author/lindakatmarian
Website: http://www.lindakatmarian.com
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/lkatmarian
Buy her Book Here:
Link to print book:
http://www.amazon.com/Dreaming-Laughing-Hawk-Linda-Katmarian/dp/0988297205/
If you're curious about where the question on blogging came from - the Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh posted the question on a recent blog. Follow the link if you want to get in on the discussion. Are Authors Killing Blogging?
10 comments:
Great interview. There sure are tons of blogs out there.
Congratulations, Linda! I certainly blog to entertain.
I have this book on my Kindle. MUST read it soon.
Greetings humans, Yolanda and Linda,
What an informative interview. I also wish human Linda the very best with her endeavours. I think humans in general are killing blogging! :) If you write and you press "pawblish", you are an author. I think more dogs should do blogs. I'm sure you will agree. Arf! and thanks again for this.
Pawsitive wishes,
Penny :)
Intriguing title and congratulations Linda! I hear you on not having time to read all the blogs. I tend towards a rather eclectic blend of blogs. My Monday Musings is my stuff and it's just about living or something that catches my interest. I do highlight authors with a focus on the common denominator of writing the other two days. I'm just getting back into the groove after being off for a few months. One of those must need things for sanity. I tend to shy away from blogs that are too...here's my book.
I've seen some of Linda's watercolor paintings...she's very talented!
Hi Yolanda! Hi Linda!
I was so chuffed to see you had invited Linda, Yolanda. Beautiful!
LInda, you know i read and loved your book. I think I even reviewed it. I loved the story, the cover and the fact that it was so well edited. It is so hard to promote your book as many people are sick of blog tours. We must think of something better, as you rightly say, there's far too many blogs to read, and now I think they've become promo machines like Facebook and Twitter. But...you have to tell people about your book somehow!! Even when you have a publisher, you still have to market yourself.
Denise :)
Good advice and the writing is what sets books apart.
Thank you all for your comments. I'm afraid I got a little side-tracked with some medical issues so didn't get a chance to see you comments until now. Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
Yes, you are right about marketing. I guess I'm going to have to set myself down one of these days and come up with the recipe for the magic sauce.
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