You've found the home on the net for romance writer, LaVerne Clark. Thanks for visiting! :)

I write suspense and light fantasy/paranormal set in the beautiful country of New Zealand. A land of myths and magic, Aotearoa (Maori for Long White Cloud) has always been a storytelling nation and it is my pleasure to share mine with you.

Make yourself your drink of choice, stay a while and feel free to leave comments. I love to meet new friends.



Heartpounding suspense and fantasy Downunder



Friday, August 10, 2012

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:
Amazon:

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!

30 comments:

  1. Hi ladies. I have to be honest and say before I became a writer I was a voracious reader of everything, but it never ever occurred to me to write a review or make any kind of comment. Now, I review books(even if it's only a short few sentences). If I can, I email the author first, and send it to them.

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    1. Nancy, I think a lot of authors started out as simply readers. I know I did.

      I'm sure the authors whose books you review, appreciate your reviews as well as the heads up beforehand.

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Linda, your except was just enough to make me curious about these characters back stories. Now, I guess I have to read the book, just to satisfy my curiosity. Great post!

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    1. Sandra, glad my excerpt peaked your interest. I suppose you know where to find the book, right? ;-)

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  3. "Just enough sex"? I can't wait to read it to find out what that means.
    Keep writing, I promise just as with anything you do the more you do it the better you get.

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    1. Hi, Jolene! Great to see you on here. I have to admit, the guys comment took me by surprise. But it does give me 'ammo' to push the book to other men who might not consider reading a romance.

      I'll keep writing. Have to. I have that story we plotted in June to write. LOL

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  4. I never wrote to authors about their books until after I was published and getting my own reader mail. It made me realize how a quick note could brighten someone's day. Now I tend to blog, Facebook or Tweet about books I've read, and I try to do a review on Amazon.

    Oh, and I only do positive stuff. If a book disappoints me, I may talk about it in general terms, but I'd never write an author to complain or diss it online by title/author. Having received negative mail, I know firsthand there's nothing productive about it!

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    1. Marilyn, that's good advice about only sending positive reviews/notes. There are enough people out there just waiting to ambush an author and tear them down without fellow authors doing the same thing.

      Thanks for dropping by!

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  5. Congrats fellow Okie! I hope your book does better than fantastic, Linda. I loved the excerpt and your friend sounds like a keeper. :)

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    1. Hey, Calisa,
      First I'd like to say I'm so glad your home wasn't destroyed by the fires! Unfortunately, so many others across the state weren't as lucky.

      Last Saturday was the first time I'd met this man. He went to school with my younger sister and he had friended me on Facebook. Odd, how some connections come about. But yeah, I think he's a keeper.

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  6. I forgot- yes I contact authors after reading their books, and sometimes during! Always with positive and sometimes with questions if something left me feeling confused. :)

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    1. I've never contacted an author after I've read their book unless I'm already friends with them on FB. Now that I'm on 'the other side of the fence', that will change.

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  7. "since they dug up her husband's body" - what a hook, great excerpt Linda, a real teaser. Great to hear from another Rose.
    Since realising how important reviews can be to a writer I've suddenly started trying to post one now and then if I've really been captivated by the story. Never thought of doing it before though

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    1. I'm with you, Anne. I'd never thought of contacting an author before, and there are a TON of books that have captivated me to the point I didn't want the story to end.

      So? My excerpt got ya' hooked, huh? Good. hehe

      Thanks for visiting my blog tour. I love hearing from other Roses!

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  8. Hi Linda, I can identify with your fascinating job in the world of oil and gas accounting. I work in accounting in the fascinating world of long distance trucking. :o)

    Your excerpt left me wanting to know more, which is always a good thing. Hope you have lots and lots of sales.

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    1. Hi, there, Katherine!
      Accounting is accounting. Well, almost but not quite. There are always some major differences between industries. I didn't do the balance sheet stuff, and it might have been easier if I had. I dealt more with the owner royalty payments. Yuk.

      Glad the excerpt pulled you into the story. Lots of sales would be good...REAL good. Har

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  9. Still laughing at the "just enough sex" comment. My guy friends all want to know how much sex is in my writing. The Perves. Lol

    You hooked me with your excerpt, Linda. Another one for the TBR pile.

    As for writing to authors, I never did before I became one, but now I do. Often in the middle of the book just to thank them for the entertainment. And i only leave good reviews but I still hate writing them.

    Congrats and happy sales to you, Linda

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    1. If he knew how much chatter there was about his comment, I'm sure he'd laugh his head off. Yeah, it's a man thing.

      Isn't it funny how we see things differently now that we're on the writing side of a book instead of just the reading side? I'll be doing more reviews and notes to the authors.

      Thanks for stopping by, Mackenzie!

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  10. Great article, Linda. I can hardly wait to have a copy of your book in my hot little hands.

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    1. Thank you, Jackie. I'll be more than glad to place a copy in your hands Saturday. SO looking forward to our party! ♥

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  11. Hi Linda, I enjoyed reading about you and you book.

    It looks really interesting, I'll definitely grab a copy :)

    Can't believe you got a man to read it! Love his comment....I'm curious tho, how much sex did you put in there? lol!

    Good luck with sales and your writing career :)

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    1. Hi Kelly,
      I couldn't believe a man wanted a copy, either. But I actually sold copies to 3 guys at the signing. I assume they shared with their wives/girlfriends, but they had me sign it to them (the guys).

      Honestly, there isn't that much actual sex in there, and what I have is downright tame compared to some. I do have a lot of sexual references, though, so maybe that's what he meant. And isn't that what it's all about? Sensuality? That and the imagination. :)

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  12. I'm so ready to read this puppy, Linda!
    But how sad that the place where you started plotting the book burned down last weekend. Each time I look at that book, I'll remember the retreat that year.
    I wrote one letter to one author before I started writing for publication.

    The book was, "And Ladies of the Club," by Helen Hoover Santmyer, and was 1344 pages long. As I read, I started thinking I knew those characters, and they were from C-Town!
    I had to write to the author to find out.
    That was about 1983 or 1984, and Mrs. Santmyer was born in 1895. When I finally heard back from her, the letter was written by an aid in the nursing home where she lived because she was too feeble to write.
    She wasn't from Oklahoma, much less C-Town. :(
    BTW: She claimed this book took her 50 years to write. In comparison, you're pretty fast.
    *wink*

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    1. Susan,
      I'm ready for you to read it from beginning to end! Thank you so much for helping me along the way with the story.

      Yes, I was sorry to hear about the lodge burning down, along with so many other homes in the area. But very good memories from there!

      That's interesting about Mrs. Santmyer and how long it took her to write the book. Sometimes we only have one book in us...or life gets in the way to that we only have time to get one book out. And it sounds like she wrote about your home town, whether she knew it or not. :)

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  13. Wow - what an awesome turnout for Linda! Thank you ladies :) I admit to never having contacted another author before I became one either. For some reason, I thought they must get thousands of letters a week and it would annoy them. Now, I make sure to give reviews but like someone said above, I will only post it if I actually enjoyed the book. We know how hard it is to get those precious words down!

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    1. LaVerne,
      Thank you SO MUCH for having me on your site! I've had a great time. And this was a good turnout.

      As you could probably tell, some of the ladies are my Smart Women writing sisters who helped me plot this book ages ago. We're having my First Book party this Saturday to celebrate the release. As with any 'birthday', there WILL be cake...with my book cover on it. How cool is that? hehe

      I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by and left a comment. You helped make my day!
      Linda Trout

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  14. Great interview, Linda! I agree that the sex was like Momma Bear's Porridge--just right! But I loved your suspense even more. Congratulations!

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    1. Hey ladyvet1!
      You've already read it. Cool! Glad you liked it and that I did well with the suspense. That's what I was going for.

      Thanks for letting me know!!

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  15. Linda:

    I've read GRAVE SECRETS now twice! Loved it each time. My mom bought a copy and loved it too. She's going to see if she can set up a book signing for you at our local library.

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    1. I'm so glad you and your mom both liked my story. I'd LOVE to do a signing at your library! Just let me know when and I'll be there. (Btw, for those that don't know, Ms Scary Mondays lives in my area. Check out her book, by the same name, on Amazon. It's a real Thriller Fest. IMO)

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