Celtic Historicals and Inspirational Romances:
An Interview with Linda Windsor, Award Winning Author
By Linda Morelli, GWN Historical Editor
This month I have the
opportunity of presenting Linda Windsor, whom I met recently. She is a delightful person, one whose
conversation about her research and her future releases had me so intrigued, I
just had to ask her to do an interview so that you could also enjoy “meeting”
her as well. Linda also writes as Linda
Covington, and has several historical romances under her belt, including the
Multi-Award Winning Fires of Gleannmara Series, as well as
wonderful contemporary and inspirational romances. Linda’s historical novels are known for her distinctive voice and
flair for incorporating history with romance and adventure, while her
contemporary romantic comedies are guaranteed to warm the heart, lift the
spirit, and tickle the funny bone.
Linda lives with her
husband on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, in a late 18th century home comprised
of three separate buildings (the oldest is dated circa 1798). They restored the home to include such
modern conveniences as plumbing and “walk-in” closets, but kept their large
“walk-in” cooking fireplace. As Linda
notes in her bio, her home an ideal setting for writing about the past.
Now, on to the interview…
LM: Please tell us something about yourself.
Linda W: I've been published since 1990 with
24 historical and hysterical contemporary romances. My first sixteen books
were for Kensington Publisher's Zebra/Pinnacle books and Meteor Kismet. After
much deliberation, I decided to try the inspirational market. I say much
deliberation, because frankly, I considered inspirational romance boring,
unrealistic, and preachy. I discovered that I was as guilty as our romance
critics of making a judgment based on reading a poor and older sampling of this
growing subgenre. Yes, some are all of the above, while others are at the
cutting edge with chemistry, realism, and spiritual issues anyone can identify
with, regardless of religion. I'd like to think my inspirational historical
fiction and contemporary romantic comedies fall into the latter category. The
result is that I've found an outlet for my passion for history in one genre and
my humor in the other--historical and hysterical. <g>
LM: Please tell us why and when you wanted to
write romance novels. Did any authors influence you and, if so, why?
Linda W: I love the romance genre. I was
hooked like most writers in my generation on Kathleen Woodweiss's pioneering
books. My ideal is to be compared to a cross between her and Morgan
Llewelyn with my early Irish Celtic trilogy, The Fires of
Gleannmara, with Woodweiss's romance, LLewelyn's mystical,
lyrical style, and the sweeping plots of both authors.
LM: How long have you
been writing?
Linda W: That all depends on how you add up the years. I wrote my
first two romances in 1976, which would make it 27 years, BUT... I took a
fifteen year sabbatical as a single working mom, so the years of actually
trying to get published are two and years published are 13. Er...does that add
up? I hate math.
LM: Did
you belong to any critique groups when you started? If so, did (or do) you find
them helpful?
Linda W: No, I never had any input on my
work. I can see where it could have helped, but I was a naive writer who didn't
know there were others out there like me, daring to dream.
LM: You belong to RWA and the local chapter, Washington Romance Writers.
Did they help you on the road to getting published and, if so, how?
Linda W: Again, unfortunately, I'd never
heard of RWA. Had I known before my publication what I learned in RWA
afterward, I have no doubt I could have been published in the seventies. I was
almost there in the seventies according to an agent, but a divorce got in my
way. But that's water over the damn.
LM: Could you please tell us how you got that all-important contract for
your first book?
Linda W: I shotgunned the market by picking
ten publishers who published my genre from the Writers Market and
sending out queries to them. I then did the same with ten agents who seemed
likely to represent my genre. Imagine my astonishment months later when two
publishers and an agent responded on the same day, asking to see the
manuscript. I turned the two publishers over to the agent and the result was
the sale of sixteen books over the next five years.
LM: Did you have an agent at that time and, if not, do you have one now?
Linda W: I just covered how I got an agent,
but yes, I do have one now. My first agent actually sold the same two books,
not a word changed, to Zebra, who had turned them down six months earlier with
a form letter. Oddly, when I switched to the inspirational market, the same
thing happened. Multnomah turned down my Fires of Gleannmara series, only to
buy it one year later. The timing wasn't right for the first submission, which
is a valuable lesson to the aspiring writers. The trilogy was turned down the first
time because they'd just published a Scottish Celtic book and didn't want their
authors to compete against each other. It didn't mean the series wasn't
publishable.
LM: Your love of Celtic history is evident in your books. Your plots
incorporate history with romance and adventure, and your characters (especially
the heroines) are multidimensional. How do you go about developing them?
Linda W: I wish I had an answer to that one.
The characters seem to develop on their own. My research shapes them to a
degree, as I create people who actually lived or would have lived in that time
period. I also choose characteristics that will provide conflict, but not to
the point that love can not take the edge off them.
LM: Do you use an
outline when writing and, if so, do your characters ever surprise you?
Linda W: The answers are sometimes...and yes.
My synopsis is as close to an outline as I get, although I do outline in more
detail a few chapters at a time. When those are complete, I lay out the next
few. This method is often the result of character 'surprises." As they
develop, they become stronger and sometimes, what I'd originally had in mind is
no longer in keeping with their personality. Then I usually change the plot to
accommodate the change, but not always. It's a gut sense of when to change and
when to hold the course.
LM: Who has been your favorite hero so far, and why? Favorite heroine?
Favorite couple?
Linda W: Definitely my Gleannmara characters.
Of the six of them, I guess I'd have to pick Maire and Rowan in book one.
Although, I must state, that choosing one over another is like choosing which
of your very different children you prefer.
LM: What is your writing schedule like and, on average, how long does it
take to complete a book? Have you ever suffered from Writer's Block? If
so, what do you do?
Linda W: I try to write at least four hours a
day, five days a week. Deadlines have been known to destroy that schedule. As
for time required per book, that's hard to say. I've written one in six weeks,
although I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. A comfortable time that allows life
away from the keyboard is every six months. Writer's Block for me is usually
the result of the characters taking over, requiring a slight re-writing or
change of point of view. The longer I resist, the longer the 'block"
lasts. The other scenario is that my plot is starting to feel too generic and I
know I can do better. That's when I pull out the paintbrushes and spackling. A
physical task that I've put off for writing allows me to accomplish something
while I'm stumped and to think the problem through. Projects like that work
every time. But then, so does a trip to the ocean<g>.
LM: You've written
under the pen names of Linda Windsor and Linda Covington, and have not only
historical romance novels, but contemporary romantic comedies and several
inspirational romances to your credit. Do you find it easy to switch between
these sub genres?
Linda W:
When I switch genres I usually read a book or two for pleasure to get in
the humor for the time period I'm about to tackle--modern or historical. I
enjoy the change in pace and voice. It's like a prolonged break between books
for me.
LM: What type of promotion do you do for your books?
Linda W: I do the usual bookmarks, maintain a
website, work in concert with my publisher to be certain ARCs go out and ad
opportunities are considered in RT. I'm not really self-promo savvy. Frankly, I
don't have the time.
LM: What do you like most and/or least about writing?
Linda W: Most? I love history and romance.
But I also love the modern wisecracking, snappy dialogue of a humorous
contemporary. Romance and humor are ageless. My least favorite part of writing
is the promotional involvement. I love talking to readers and booksellers,
establishing a good rapport, so I find events where they are present are fun,
even though they are taxing. It's like being on stage--which is something I did
for ten years in an old rock and roll and country band. Fun, but exhausting.
LM:
Your family must be very proud of you being a romance writer. What did
they say when you got the call that you sold your first book?
Linda
W: "That's nice." This was because I had a
real job that paid better money. Later it was, "Oh my God, Linda, they put
your real name on the cover! You are going to get kicked off the church
choir." Turns out that I had many fans in the choir and didn't get kicked
off. Then there was my brother's comment when he found out my books were sold
outside of my hometown. "I saw your book in the Vegas airport. I took
pictures of it on the rack for you." The 'real' job still hangs over my
head, but over all, I think my family has finally realized that my books are
sold beyond the town perimeter and all over the world...and they are proud.
LM:
I had the opportunity of chatting
with you recently and was fascinated by the amount of research you conduct for
your books. How much time do you spend on research before you begin
writing the story?
Linda W: I love research, because the
research is what determines the story I tell. If it's done well enough, I don't
need to make up anything save a fictitious character's name. I average 30-40 books
for historicals--not the whole book, but sections of it. I skim read them, take
notes of key words with page number references on my Alphasmart, then transfer
to the computer and sort them. I wind up with my own INDEX dealing specifically
with those things I want to include in the book. I'd say I spend 3-7 days
skimming for a proposal. Then I do the notes and read more carefully before I
start writing in depth.
LM: Can you
please tell us a little more about your upcoming Celtic trilogy, set in the sixth
century Britain after the Battle of Camulud between Arthur and Modred?
Linda W: The Sons of Albion is in proposal form now, but like my
Irish series, FIRES OF GLEANNMARA, it reveals little known
history of Christianity and the druids, who really got a bad rap in history
thanks to Julius Caesar. That guy didn't have a clue. So the settings of my
books are filled with magic and miracle, which is to say science and
miracle if you will. Good priests and druids combine forces against the bad
priests and druids. My son calls my books Celtic Star Wars<g>. Naturally,
played against this panoramic view of Celtic Ireland and Briton are a
strong romance and adventurous plot involving a royal family that would have
existed at those times.
As for the
little known history... a few tidbits: If you are Irish, you are half-Hebrew.
Did you know many scholars believe Solomon's Temple treasures were buried
beneath the hill of Tara or that the Magi were druidic astrologers?
Their recording of Christ's birth and death paved the way for the melding of
the Celtic druids and Christian priests in the fifth century. Ireland was
the America of the Dark Ages with freedom of religion and an academic tolerance
unsurpassed until the United States replaced it. The marriage of the royal
Milesian Celtic high king Eogan and Hezekiah's daughter in
4th. century B.C. founded a royal bloodline that eventually spread
through the royal houses of all of Europe. This bloodline was often referred to
as the Grail. Arthur and Modred were both of that line and their tiff had
nothing to do with Gwenhyfar and Lancelot. Most of the names of the
Arthurian characters, who were real, were Hebrew. For instance, Galahad
was really Gilead. However, when the tales were retold in the 10-11th.
centuries, anti-Semitism was rampant, so fine Welsh and British names were
assigned and all reference to the Bloodline of the Grail were destroyed by the
British church. The Arthur-Modred conflict was actually the beginning of
church suppression of science.
LM:
What advice do you have for new
romance authors?
Linda W: READ your genre so that you know it
well. Then read a broader spectrum to continually improve. Every genre can
offer a discerning writer inspiration or examples to improve one's style/craft.
Be prepared to run the publishing gauntlet, which means you must be able to
take rejection, glean constructive advice along the way, and keep on writing
and submitting. If you are thin-skinned or discourage easily, this is not the
career for you.
LM:
Where do you see the romance genre
going in the future?
Linda W: I think there will always be a place
for category romance, but the trend I perceive is the genre in general leaning
more toward mainstream fiction. Writers like Nora Roberts, Jennifer Cruise and
others are leading the way.
LM: Is there anything else that you would like your readers to know about?
Linda W: Yes. Don't make the mistake I did in
ruling out a subgenre based on a poor sampling of reading. I was so embarrassed
when I realized that I was doing the same thing I used to fume over when
"literary" types condemned the romance genre in general. Keep
your mind open regarding inspirational fiction. It's growing and improving in
leaps and bounds with the likes of Robin Lee Hatcher, Lori Copeland, and other
former secular romance writers as well as new voices coming aboard. Actually,
that advice goes for any genre...or any kind of judgment in life, I
suppose. There are duds and gems in all kinds of categories. We can't
judge all by a few.
LM: Thank you so much, Linda, for a
great interview and your encouraging words for our future authors.
To learn
more about Linda Windsor’s books or to sign up for her wonderful newsletters,
please visit her website at: http://www.lindawindsor.com/
You can also email her at: linda@lindawindsor.com
Linda
Morelli
GWN
Historical Editor