Debut Author - Linda Trout

I'm very excited to be hosting fabulous debut author for The Wild Rose Press, Linda Trout. Welcome Linda! Its a pleasure to have you here :) Please tell us a bit about yourself and your new release, GRAVE SECRETS. The floor is yours...

Thank you so much for having me on Novel Natterings, LaVerne. I love your site!

I’d like to introduce myself to your readers. I grew up in a small farming town in Oklahoma. I recently left the ‘fascinating’ {Did you catch the sarcasm there?} world of oil and gas accounting to pursue my passion of writing full time. GRAVE SECRETS is my debut novel and I’m actually loving getting out and introducing people to my story. No one is exempt. I’ll ask the lady at the post office, tag agency, utility company (wherever) if they read, hand them a book mark, then launch into promoting my book. I’m actually getting kinda brazen about it. The thing is, there are romance readers everywhere! Which is a good thing for us. LOL

This morning a friend sent me a quote…or he might have made it up, I’m not sure, but I’d like to share it.

“The only person you have to be better than today, is the person you were yesterday.”

Too true. As writers, that’s what we have to do – make each story, each book, better than the last. If we don’t we’re sliding backwards and that isn’t what we want to do. We have to continually strive to improve our craft as much as we possibly can.

The friend I mentioned above bought my book at my debut book signing last Saturday.

I later got a note telling me he’d read it in one afternoon. Wow. That’s one fast reader! He said it had just enough sex in it to keep him interested. Didn’t say anything about the plot, the characters, the suspense or the surprise ending. Just the sex. (And there isn’t that much of it!) Guess it’s a guy thing. LOL  At any rate, I hope he at least passed it on to his girlfriend so she could read it, too.

I’m not sure what his expectations were regarding my book, and I don’t think I disappointed him. But what about the next book? Will the writing be up to par? Will it have ‘just enough sex’ to hold his attention? I’ll have to finish writing the book and sell it before I’ll know, now won’t I?

Here’s an excerpt that I’m sure my friend enjoyed.

Sara’s sobs, the first he’d heard from her, broke through his stupor. Was this the reason behind those dark circles under her eyes? The logical side of his brain said to back out of the room and get the hell out of the house. He didn’t need another mental case in his life, didn’t need the responsibility, and later the guilt, when he failed them.

Instead, he gathered her in his arms, then pressed her head against his shoulder. She cried so hard, her entire body shook, and her keening touched him in places he’d thought long dead. He had the feeling this was the first time she’d truly cried since they’d dug up her husband’s body. No wonder there were so many tears.

His shirt was soaked. He didn’t care. He forgot about his mom, about how Sara could already be headed down the same road and simply held her close. When the tears had abated and she’d blown her nose on the handkerchief he’d offered, he kissed the top of her head, whispering it would be all right. She looked up at him, parting her lips. Remnants of tears still trailed down her cheeks. Without thinking, he lowered his head and gently pressed his lips to hers to comfort her.

Sara had been clinging to his shirt, but now moved her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. She opened for him, inviting. Am I out of my mind? He couldn’t get involved with a client. Or a suspect. Sara Adams fell into both categories.

He chuckled to himself. He was about to make the biggest mistake of his life, but right now he didn’t care. When she whimpered he scooped her into his arms, her weight a turn-on by itself, and strode across the hall to the nearest bed he could find.

Thank you again for letting me visit Novel Natterings. I’ve enjoyed myself immensely!

Oh, and I’ll be giving away a free digital copy of my book at the end of my blog tour to one lucky commenter. So comment often! Drop by my website for a listing of the other location on my tour.  http://www.lindatrout.com

Buy Links:

The Wild Rose Press:

Print: http://tinyurl.com/d4cxc7h

Digital: http://tinyurl.com/cann8jz

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Grave-Secrets-Linda-Trout/dp/1612173071/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342970187&sr=8-1&keywords=grave+secrets+by+linda+trout

I like to think my writing improves with each word I write. The more I write, the better I get. I hope. But how do you know? For that matter, how do you know your first book is any good? Well, for starters, it wouldn’t have sold, but beyond that you want to know how the reading public will perceive it.

Good question Linda. Perfect to ask our commenters. Have any of you felt the urge to contact an author after reading a book of theirs and if so - what was it that made you act? I'd love to know :)
Thank you for visiting Linda and all the very best for sales and the rest of your tour!