Cooking Up A Romance

 Today’s guest in My Writing Corner, Linda Griffin,  touched me with the answer to the first question I asked her. She is  a native of San Diego and is a retired librarian for the San Diego Public Library. (I remember one of my first stops when I moved to San Diego many, many years ago was a visit to the library there.) 

Linda has now retired so she can spend more time on her writing, but she already has an impressive background and history. Her stories have been published in numerous journals including Eclectica, Thema Literary Review, The Binnacle, and The Nassau Review. Her latest book, Love, Death and the Art of Cooking is her fourth romantic suspense novel from The Wild Rose Press. It was released in August. In addition to the three R’s—reading, writing, and research—she says she enjoys movies, Scrabble, and travel.

Tell us about your road to publication.

My passion for the printed word began with my first Dick and Jane reader, and as soon as I figured out that somebody had to create those words, I wanted to be a “book maker.” I wrote my first story at the age of 6 and had my first publication in college. My first novel was published in 1994, but the publisher soon folded. I never stopped writing, but it wasn’t until I retired that I became a frequent contributor to literary journals. I had two manuscripts rejected by The Wild Rose Press before they accepted Seventeen Days, and both were later revised and accepted. I couldn’t be happier with my experience with this publisher.

What do you find is the most challenging part of being an author?

 

The biggest challenge is when the level of creativity in the universe is low, and my characters won’t talk to me. When they do, it’s often during the night, which is a different kind of challenge! Editing is a challenge too, but to me an enjoyable one. I love the whole process of working with my wonderful editor, Nan Swanson. Then there’s promotion, which is hard for most authors, because writing is a solitary pursuit, and it can be hard to put ourselves out there.

 

What advice do you have for beginning writers?

 

Read! Read widely for background and more comprehensively in the genre you want to write. Reading a lot of different writers will help you develop your own unique style. Keep trying—you never know when a story will find the right home. In his memoir, My Second Twenty Years, Richard P. Brickner says that a novel is as large as an ocean to its author, but a mere drink of water to a reader. Use that idea to keep criticism and indifference in perspective and just enjoy the swim!  

What is your latest book and how did you come up with the idea to write it?

 

Love, Death, and the Art of Cooking is a romantic suspense novel about a man who loves to cook. Although I don’t share his ability—my best kitchen skill is dishwashing—I love reading and writing about food and cooking, so I’ve wanted to write a story like this for a long time. The idea for the suspense plot came from a “what if” question that arose out of a completely different story. As often happens with me, putting two different ideas together started the words flowing.

Let’s get a blurb:

She wants to be friends, and he wants so much more. Software engineer Reid Lucas loves to cook and has a history of falling in love with married women. When he leaves his complicated past in Chicago for a job in California, he runs into trouble and must call a virtual stranger to bail him out of jail. Alyssa Knight, a tough street cop waiting for a church annulment from her passive-aggressive husband, is the roommate of the woman Reid calls for help, and she reluctantly provides bail for him. He falls for her immediately, and cooking for her is an act of love. She just wants to be friends, but they keep ending up in bed together. When his boss is murdered, Reid is a suspect—or is he the intended target?

 

What’s your next project? 

 

The next one is called Bridges. It’s set in 1963 and has a more old-fashioned tone and a classic romance trope—a reluctant heiress who has to marry to keep her inheritance. Unlike my romantic suspense novels, this one is a sweet, slow-burning romance with no murder--the only body is at the grandfather’s funeral! It will be my fifth from The Wild Rose Press.

That sounds like a wonderful story idea, one I know I want to read! Here are Linda’s  social and buy links if you would like to reach out to her.

Social links:  

Website: https://www.lindagriffinauthor.com/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lindagriffin.author/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LindaGriffinA 

 

Purchase links:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09827RTP2/ 

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/love-death-and-the-art-of-cooking-linda-griffin/113974960 8 

https://books.apple.com/us/book/love-death-and-the-art-of-cooking/id1574123800 

 

Some of the recipes Reid uses can be found here:

 

https://www.pinterest.com/lgriffin08392487/love-death-and-the-art-of-cooking/

 

Thank you Linda for being my guest today.  Are there any questions or comments for her?

A Bundle of Romance

Libraries are one of those secret addictions I have had since childhood when my mother first introduced me to them. Every week I'd visit the town library and check out one or two books. No matter what city I lived in since then--from Denver to Los Angeles/Burbank to San Diego and Seattle-- I have always had a library card wherever I lived. 

Today's guest in My Writing Corner, Linda Griffin, got my immediate attention when she told me about her profession as a librarian. I have had the good fortune to feature two of her other books, Love, Death and the Art of Cooking and Bridges.  Now she brings us a collection of four novellas called Reluctant Hearts.  Let's turn it over to Linda to learn a little bit more about her and hear about her latest book. 

I was born and raised in San Diego, California and I would never want to live anywhere else. I retired from the San Diego Public Library, where I had the pleasure of managing the Central Library’s fiction collection, in order to spend more time on my writing. Although I also enjoy reading biography, memoir, and history, fiction remains my first love. In addition to the three R’s—reading, writing, and research—I enjoy Scrabble, movies, and travel.

My earliest ambition was to be a “book maker” and I wrote my first story, “Judy and the Fairies,” with a plot stolen from a comic book, at the age of six. My stories, in every length from short shorts to novellas, have been published in numerous journals, including Eclectica, Thema Literary Journal, and Avalon Literary Review, and most recently, Willow Review. 

Reluctant Hearts, a one-volume collection of four contemporary romance novellas, is my sixth book from the Wild Rose Press. 

Four stories, four couples. None of them are ready to love again. Can they overcome their personal challenges to find unexpected romance?

The original title of “No Regrets” was “The Reluctant Heart,” so when I decided to put the four stories together, I entitled it Reluctant Hearts. I chose “No Regrets” as the new title for the first novella when I realized that my story “Regrets Only,” which was published in The Binnacle in Spring 2015, could have been a prequel. The story can be downloaded from my website: Regrets Only .

No Regrets

Darien Francis has a small business, Errands on Call, and Richard Li is a bank guard with a small daughter he rarely sees. They meet when he saves her during a bank robbery and become friends, but she’s afraid to love again after a previous relationship ended badly.

Excerpt: 

      “Well, you are too good to be true, aren’t you?” She grinned, and then she sobered, and their eyes met. They stopped walking. The dogs tugged at the leashes and strayed from the path, sniffing at everything they could reach. Richard tossed the remains of his lunch in a trash container and put his arms around her. The sounds of traffic grew distant, muted. Manning walked in a circle, wrapping the leash around their legs. They both laughed, and they kissed quickly and then not so quickly. “In a public place,” she said in mock disapproval. 

The inspiration for this story was a TV show bank robbery. I noticed that the bank guard might have been able to stop it if he’d acted quickly enough. Maybe he was distracted…by a woman? 

Probation 

Shane Kenniston is working in a factory after his life was upended by a false accusation. Beth Parker is a recent widow who had a crush on Shane when he was her sister’s youth orchestra leader. They meet again when Beth moves into the same apartment building, but neither is ready for the complications of their relationship.  

Excerpt: 

       “So, you don’t smoke, you don’t drink, and you don’t do Halloween? What do you do?”

“Whatever you’ll let me do, I guess,” he said. He hadn’t used that old line since college.

She was surprised, but she didn’t seem upset. She gazed at him speculatively for a few seconds and then leaned towards him. He didn’t want to take anything for granted, so he waited for her to kiss him first, but he responded without hesitation. She tasted of beer and cherry-flavored lip gloss. “Oh, gosh,” she said. “Wait till I tell Patty I kissed Mr. Kenniston.”

A scene in the movie, “Social Contract,” made me reflect that a man who slept with a woman who claimed to be 24 would have his life implode if she turned out to be 15. It was a story I had no interest in writing, though, until I read a newspaper article about registered sex offenders not being allowed to give out candy at Halloween. The character of Shane was partly based on the leader of the San Diego Youth Symphony, which holds public rehearsals in Balboa Park.

The Shape of Life

Contractor David Early and lab tech Kate Howard meet in the Laundromat, but her life is consumed by the needs of her disabled child, and David isn’t ready for the responsibility. 

Excerpt:

Kate,” he said, into a pause that had unexpectedly lengthened into a silence, and she turned toward him, smiling a little.Without knowing he was going to, he kissed her.

She was warm and willing, and then she murmured, “David,” half in protest, and pulled away. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s not you. You’re a very nice guy.”

“It’s all right.”

“I can’t do this right now. My life is complicated enough.”

“I wasn’t trying to complicate your life.”

“No, I know.” 

“It’s all right,” he said again. He took her hand. “Relax. There’s no cost or obligation.”

The inspiration here was nothing more than a meditation on the shape of life, but the history really begins with my childhood, when “Karen,” by Marie Killilea, who founded the Cerebral Palsy Association, was my favorite book. 

House Hunters 

Realtor Frank Ellison meets speech therapist Kayla Barnes at an open house, and Kayla’s roommate Gia draws Frank into their circle. Unfortunately Frank’s mistaken first impression of Kayla derails any chance of romance, and Kayla has given up dating after a broken engagement. 

Excerpt: 

       Her shape had never bothered him before. But right now, it was distracting him to know she had that lovely, decidedly female body under her jeans and sweater. He turned his head toward her, and she looked up at him, and he leaned in to kiss her.

       “Don’t,” she said, but she kissed him back. The gesture was more friendly than passionate, but her lips were soft and sweet all the same. He knew it wasn’t supposed to be happening, but he couldn’t remember why, and he liked it—more than he liked the Canaletto.

I’m a fan of the TV show, “House Hunters,” so a romance that began with an open house was a natural for me. I also enjoyed poking a little fun at the show itself. Kayla’s job was borrowed from a Wheel of Fortune contestant.

Sounds like a good read! Thank you, Linda, for being my guest today. Following are Linda's buy links and her social contact information.

Buy links:

Amazon 

Barnes & Noble 

Apple 

Bookshop 

Indiebound

Walmart 

Contact: 

Website 

Facebook 

Twitter

Instagram

Any comments or questions for Linda?

A Challenging Mystery

Reading and writing have always been a major part of my life. Having spent summers as a teen, walking to the library every week to get at least one or two books, I always enjoy hearing about others who are also "infected" by the reading bug. Today' guest in My Writing Corner certainly fills that order.

My guest today is Linda Griffin, so let's hear directly from her about her own "love affair" with the written word. Linda, please tells us about yourself:

Growing up in San Diego, California, I developed a passion for the printed word with my very first Dick and Jane reader. I read it aloud to everybody in the house, including two captive kittens, one under each arm, and then I read it backwards! As soon as I figured out that somebody must create those words, I knew I wanted to be a “book maker” when I grew up. 

I didn’t wait, though; I wrote my first story, “Judy and the Fairies,” when I was six and never stopped. My love of books also led me to an MLS degree from UCLA and a career as a reference and collection development librarian at the San Diego Public Library, including twenty-two years managing the Central Library’s fiction collection. Retirement allowed me to put writing front and center. I’ve had twenty-three stories published in literary journals, and The Axe is my seventh book from the Wild Rose Press.

I should say that I never imagined they would want to publish this story, since they are primarily feel-good romance publishers. I entered the first 500 words in the Hooked On a Book Competition, and it won second place. One of the judges, Morena Stamm of The Wild Rose Press, asked to see the complete manuscript. Next thing I knew it was under contract! 

What a great story! How about a blurb for your latest book,  The Axe:

Sweethearts Eric Leidheldt and Desiree Chauveau are spending a weekend at his uncle's cabin when they encounter two strangers cutting wood. Eric is knocked unconscious, and Desi is viciously attacked. The following day two police officers come to their apartment to arrest Desi. Her assailants are dead, murdered with an axe, and her fingerprints are on it. She confesses—but is she really guilty? Eric is determined to stand by her, but the physical and emotional effects of the attack severely challenge their relationship.

Want to know more? I do!  Let's talk to the characters, starting with Desiree:

What draws you to Eric?    

Are you kidding? Have you seen his eyes? No, seriously, he’s a really nice guy. He’s very smart too, and not just brainy, but down-to-earth common-sense kind of smart. The most important thing though is that he lets me be me. I never feel like he’s competing with me or condescending to me. He came from a fancy, rich family, and I was just a kicked around foster kid, so you’d think he’d be all superior and stuck up, but he’s not. We’re more alike than we’re different. In the beginning, he made me feel safe…but now nothing makes me feel safe.

Tell us how you came to be in your current dilemma.   

We just wanted to have a nice weekend, and Eric’s uncle has this great cabin in the woods over near Nickels, in the back country. There was somebody cutting wood on the property without permission, and Eric told me to go on up to the cabin while he talked to them, but of course I didn’t. I was afraid he’d start a fight. And those bastards…They deserved it…I don’t want to talk about it. 

Why do you turn to Eric for help?  

Honestly, I tried not to. He’s too good a guy to be dragged down with me, and I know he can’t really understand what I’m going through. But damn it, he wants to help, and he tries so hard, and for some strange reason he loves me. He still loves me. He’s all I have.  

And now, let's hear from Eric:

What draws you to Desi?  

You mean aside from how pretty she is? From the first time I saw her I couldn’t get enough of that smile. She had a rough start in life, and I admire the way she overcame it. I love her sense of humor and even her stubborn streak. She isn’t like anybody else I ever met. I never believed in fated love or any of that nonsense, but when I met Desi I knew I was done for. She’s the person I want to share the rest of my life with. 

Why do you agree to help her?  

I can’t imagine not wanting to help her. I love her. We’re a great team. Even if we have to fight or wait a long time to be together, I don’t think we can give up on that. She thinks this has changed her, but I know everything I love about her is still there. 

What is your biggest fear?  

That what happened to her will come between us and destroy our relationship. I can deal with anything else. 

I still want more! How about an excerpt: 

“Lunchtime?” Desi asked. They were coming up the hill toward the cabin after a leisurely hike to the spring-swollen river, comfortably hand in hand. It was a beautiful blue-sky day, promising a whole weekend of Southern California sunshine.

“Definitely,” Eric said, smiling at her. He smiled a lot these days. She was not the sort of girl he had always thought he would marry—she was simply the girl he was going to marry. She was only twenty-three and appeared younger, maybe because of the way she wore her long dark hair in a single braid. She wore stone-washed jeans, a red sleeveless blouse, and scuffed red sneakers, and her lightly tanned skin was like honey. 

Ahead of them rose a murmur of voices and the familiar thunk of an axe. “It sounds like it’s on the property,” he said, frowning. Plenty of fallen branches lay around his uncle’s cabin, and nobody would object to other area residents cutting them up for firewood, but none of the locals would do so without first asking permission. 

“There’s a truck up there,” Desi said, pointing. The pickup was barely visible through the trees. 

“Go on up to the cabin,” he said. “I’m going to tell them to ask next time.”

She didn’t let go of his hand. “Don’t start a fight,” she said.

“I never start fights,” he said. “I’ll be polite.” 

She stayed close as they climbed toward the truck. Desi never followed instructions unless she wanted to. She just ignored them. 

The pickup was a very old, battered Dodge with California plates. Beyond it were two bearded men in plaid flannel shirts. The one with the axe was about forty, broad-shouldered, and dark-haired. The other one was tall, scruffy, a little younger, and had red hair. They both turned toward the approaching couple. The red-haired one stared at Desi in a way Eric didn’t like, but the other man smiled genially and said, “Howdy, folks. Pretty day, ain’t it?”

And then he swung the axe. 

I don't know about you, but I'm hooked! You'll have to buy the book to get the whole story! Here are the buy links for The Axe and social contact information for  Linda:

Buy links:

Amazon 

Apple 

Barnes & Noble 

Social Contacts: 

Website 

Facebook 

Twitter

Instagram 

Thank you, Linda, for being my guest today. Any questions or comments for Linda?