Today I am pleased to have on my Blog and wonderful Author
Linda Watkins
Born in Norwich, Connecticut, Linda
Watkins moved to Michigan when she was four years old. After graduation from
college (Carnegie-Mellon University '70), Ms. Watkins relocated to the San
Francisco Bay Area where she lived most of her adult life. A Senior Clinical
Financial Analyst at Stanford University School of Medicine, Linda was always
writing. At work, she created 'long forms' and business plans; at home, she
wrote whimsical stories, poems and songs for the delight of her friends and
family. In 2006, retired, she moved to Chebeague Island, Maine where she wrote
her first novel, MATEGUAS ISLAND.
Today, she resides in Western
Michigan with her three rescue dogs (Splatter, Spudley and Jasper) and has just
completed the sequel to MATEGUAS, aptly titled, RETURN TO MATEGUAS ISLAND,
which was published in December 2014. She is actively at work on the third
full-length novel in the MATEGUAS ISLAND SERIES that she hopes to have ready
for publication in late 2015.
For more information, please stop by
her personal website, http://www.lindawatkins.biz, or her novel website http://www.mateguasisland.com
You can also follow her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Linda-Watkins-Author/412758982152044
Please sit back and enjoy a great interview with
Linda Watkins
1. What inspired you to write this
book?
a. At the time I started
writing MATEGUAS, I lived on an unconnected island off the coast of Maine.
Access was only by private boat or ferry. I also had recently purchased a new
invention called the iPad. I had a lot of "down time" either on the
ferry or waiting for the next one so I decided use the iPad to try to write a
novel. I'd written songs and poems before, but I always had stories rattling
around in my head and it seemed the right time to attempt to actually put one
down on virtual paper.
2. If you had to co-author a book,
who would be your ideal partner and why?
a. That's a hard one. In my genre,
one of the obvious choices would be Stephen King. I love his early writing (THE
STAND, IT, SALEM'S LOT, THE SHINING) and his collections of short stories. But
I think, if I had to make a choice, I'd pick Shirley Jackson. Her THE HAUNTING
OF HILL HOUSE is, in my opinion, the best haunted house story ever written. I
also loved her very dark WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE. And she was born
in San Francisco and grew up in Burlingame, not far from where I used to live
on the Peninsula.
3. Tell me a little bit about
yourself.
I'm a retired, single lady, living in
a big rambling house with three special needs rescue dogs - Splatter, Spudley
and Jasper. I was born on the East Coast but my family moved to Michigan when I
was very young. After college (Carnegie Mellon, '70), I moved to the San
Francisco Bay area where I lived most of my life. I think I will always
consider the Peninsula 'home'.
I worked at various jobs before
ending up at Stanford University School of Medicine, staying there for twenty
wonderful years working as a Senior Financial Analyst in the Department of
Pediatrics. When I turned 50, I was lucky enough to be able to take early
retirement, sold my home in Belmont for a bundle of money, and moved to the
high desert in Central Oregon. That's where I adopted my three dogs and became
involved in animal rescue. From there, I moved to the aforementioned island in
Maine and then, full circle, back to Michigan where I live now.
4. What do you do for a living?
a. I'm retired so the only
"work" I do is writing and promoting my writing. My dogs - one blind,
one with difficulty walking, and one diabetic - take up a good deal of my time,
too.
5. What part of the world do you live
in?
a. Right now, Michigan. Tomorrow, who
knows? I'm thinking about the southwest - maybe Sedona.
6. How long have you been writing?
a. Novels - only about four years.
Before that, I wrote mostly songs and poems for fun. When I was quite young, my
sister and I used to write comical plays based on popular TV shows of the time.
When we were finished, we'd record them on a big old reel-to-reel tape recorder
my father had. My sister, by the way, is also a writer.
7. What is your writing process like?
Are you a pantster, a plotter, or somewhere in between?
a. I am definitely a pantster. Outlines,
index cards and stuff like that make me cringe! I write in my head late at
night, then sit down at the computer in the morning and regurgitate it. Or I
just sit down and write.
8. When and where do you write?
a. I write directly into the
computer. I used to use the iPad a lot but not anymore. Since I'm a morning
person, I do most of my best work before noon.
9. What sorts of conditions are most
conducive to productivity?
a. I like it quiet. I don't play
music or anything. And I take lots of breaks. I'll stop and play a computer
game or do something around the house or walk the dog, then come back to what
I've written and read it aloud to see how it sounds.
10. What's your favorite aspect of
being a writer?
a. The fun stuff I get to do with my
characters. You can't do those things to people in real life! I get to kill
them off, put them in horrible situations, ruin their lives, make them fall in
love with the wrong people, etc.
11. Your least favorite?
a. Marketing and promoting - I don't
know any author who really enjoys that stuff. It takes up so much time that
could be better used for writing!
12. What are the biggest challenges
you face as a writer?
a. Right now getting the third novel
in the MATEGUAS SERIES written! I've have the prologue, the epilogue, and some
pieces of the middle done, but I'm having trouble with the beginning. It was
the same with RETURN, getting everyone to the island is difficult and not the
fun part of writing a supernatural novel.
13. Who are some of your favorite
writers and why?
a. John Fowles because he wrote my
favorite book of all time, THE MAGUS. Stephen King's early work because I love
his characters, especially the younger ones. One of my favorite books of his is
THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON, a story about a young girl who gets lost in the
Maine woods. Baseball plays a big part in it, too. And, last but certainly not
least, Vladimir Nabokov because he wrote LOLITA!
14. What are your favorite books?
a. My all time favorite book is THE
MAGUS by John Fowles. I don't know how many times I've read it, but each time I
come away with something new. Another favorite is THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN
by Garth Stein. I'm a dog lover so this book has a special place in my heart. A
WALK IN THE WOODS by Bill Bryson is another great and fun read. SHADOWLAND by
Peter Straub - very dark horror. And THE STAND and THE SHINING by Stephen King
- both masterpieces.
15. What writing tools do you use, if
any?
a. If by tools, you mean writing
programs, I don't use any - just the computer and WORD.
16. How long does it typically take
for you to write your first draft?
a. The first draft of MATEGUAS ISLAND
took me two seasons - from April to September. RETURN TO MATEGUAS was done in
pieces. I wrote about two-thirds of it in a couple of months then left it for
six months or so. Then I rewrote the whole thing.
17. Your final draft?
a. It took me about three years to
get to a final draft of MATEGUAS ISLAND that I was happy with. RETURN was
quicker, probably about a year and a half. I was actually working on both of
them at the same time - polishing MATEGUAS while writing RETURN.
18. Who's your favorite character
from one of your books? Why?
a. Gotta be Karen. Many people don't
like her, but I do. She's not your average heroine - she's selfish, bitchy and
sometimes mean. But she grows and learns - and that's why I like her.
19. If you could have one superpower
what would it be?
I'd like to be able to teleport! Not
fly, but be able to just move through space instantaneously from one locale to
another. I'd like to get up in the morning in Michigan and, if it was snowing,
be able to transport myself (and my dogs) to a tropical beach for the day. Or
maybe to the wilds of Australia. No driving to the airport, going through TSA
screening, struggling with luggage, missing connections - none of that. Just
one moment I'm here and the next, I'm there!
ABOUT THE MATEGUAS ISLAND SERIES
What could be more idyllic than to
live on an island off the coast of Maine? That's what Bill Andersen thought
when he moved his family to Mateguas. But Mateguas is more than just pristine
beaches nestled between rocky shores. No, Mateguas is something quite
different....
MATEGUAS ISLAND: On a remote
island, a troubled family is trying to pick up the pieces of their shattered
lives and start over. But unbeknownst to them, the property they have inherited
is steeped in ancient magic - magic that could seek to consume and destroy
them.
An arcane locked box, a strange and
foreboding trail into the woods, a seductive young woman, and tales of a
malevolent Native American spirit are just some of the perils Karen Andersen
must face in order to find a way to save her family.
MATEGUAS ISLAND was the 2014 Gold
Medal Winner in Supernatural Fiction awarded by READERS' FAVORITE INTERNATIONAL
BOOK COMPETITION and the recipient of an Honorable Mention in Fiction from the
2014 HALLOWEEN BOOK FESTIVAL.
MATEGUAS ISLAND is available:
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