A little over two years ago, a friend sent me three books by a new-to-me author, Linda Hall.  I picked the first up and couldn’t stray from it for more than minutes at a time.  The accurately detailed settings of Maine and much of New England were the best I had read.  After that moment, Linda Hall’s books became keepers.  For a year now, I have been waiting as patiently as possible for her newest book to arrive.  STEAL AWAY was everything I expected and more!  If you cannot afford to go to coastal Maine but have always dreamed of it, pick up STEAL AWAY.  It is the next best thing! 

Tracy

TF:  Welcome to TRRC’s Inspirational Corner.  It is a pleasure to have you join us as this month’s Author Of The Month.  Can you tell readers a little more about yourself?

LH:  Thank you for inviting me to be Author of the Month. I'm delighted to be here. To introduce myself, I have been writing mystery/suspense fiction for a dozen years now. Before that I worked as a reporter for a daily newspaper. My husband and I live in eastern Canada. We have two grown children, and are expecting our first grandchild in the summer. (!)

I was born in Indiana, and when I was two my parents moved to New Jersey. It was there that my love for the ocean was born. I loved playing in the waves, listening to the surf, and just sitting there wondering what was beyond that wide expanse of blue.

After graduating from high school, I attended Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. I met my Canadian husband there, and in 1971 we married and moved to Canada where I've lived ever since. I'm a dual citizen, so I've got my feel firmly planted on both sides of the border.

We have lived in the west coast of Canada, and in Alberta, and in 1994, both my husband and I missed the ocean, so we moved to New Brunswick. One of the first things we did was buy a sailboat. We have a 28 foot sailboat, named Gypsy Rover II which we basically move aboard during the summer. Our goal is to one day sail it down the east coast and to the Bahamas. That's the dream anyway! I'm sure I'll be able to come up with some great story lines as we travel along the east coast. (Already, I've got an idea for a PI who lives aboard his sail boat and does salvage work for insurance companies.)

TF:  I have been a fan of your books for years.  One thing that sets your books apart is your incredibly realistic details of coastal Maine.  You grew up in New Jersey and now live in New Brunswick, Canada.  Where does your intricate knowledge of Maine’s atmosphere and people come from?

LH:  I grew up in New Jersey, yes, but I grew up with a father who loved Maine. Every single summer of my childhood we would pack our camping gear, throw the tent in the boat, hitch up the boat to car and away we'd go - off to some new adventure in Maine and New England. It was mostly to the lakes in Maine that we went to, where we'd either rent a cabin, or camp. Those summer trips introduced me to the rugged beauty of the state. My love for the ocean came from living in New Jersey, where I would spend as much time as possible at the shore. I live just north of Maine now, about an hour from the border, and travel frequently throughout Maine and New England. New Brunswick and Maine are very similar in topography and even life style. 

TF:  In ISLAND OF REFUGE, Vermont, my home state, was featured pretty prominently as part of the story’s setting.  Again the details of the area and the people were right on the money.  Have you spent much time here in the state?

LH:  Again, this comes through extensive travel and 'soaking up the atmosphere' as I call it. There are times when I just go and sit in a cafe and listen to the people around me talk. I love Vermont. Because it doesn't border the ocean, it has a slightly different 'feel' to it than the other New England states. I'm thinking of setting an entire book there at some point, which would give me an 'excuse' to go and stay there for a while!

TF:  Teri Blake-Addison is the heroine in a new series.  STEAL AWAY is the debut book and another outstanding read.  How many books are currently planned for the Blake-Addison Mystery Series?  What is up next for Teri? 

LH:  Chat Room comes out next fall. I have at least four or five more books planned for Teri, including letting readers in on what really happened to her mother.

TF:  At the end of STEAL AWAY is a reader’s discussion guide.  While all the questions had me thinking, one in particular appealed to me.  “What situation or scene in STEAL AWAY do you most identify with?”  This led me to wonder, what scene in STEAL AWAY had the most impact on you while writing the book? 

LH:  STEAL AWAY was born out of tramping around Grand Manan Island with my husband. We spied an abandoned cabin far in the woods, and in my author's mind, I transported that cabin to an outcropping of land we had just hiked around. I constructed a phony lighthouse next to it, and began from there. But it was the woman living there who captured my attention. I couldn't get her out of my mind. Her story, essentially, is my story. There have been times in my life where I have felt isolated - not the physical isolation that she felt - but emotional isolation. There have been times, when like the woman on the island, I have wondered if there really 'was' a God, after all.

TF:  Will you be doing a book tour for STEAL AWAY?  Where can readers find you this spring?

LH:  I'll be in Toronto for a week in June, plus I'll be here and there during the rest of the months.  The 'official' book launch for STEAL AWAY will be Saturday, June 21 at the Lighthouse Family Resource Center in Fredericton, NB. My complete schedule is on my website, and is being continually updated as events are added to it.

TF:  What advice do you have for aspiring writers?

LH:  Read. That's my absolute best advice. Read. Don't watch television, read. Don't play video games, read. I'm always amazed at people who come to me and say they want to write a novel, and when I ask them what they're reading right now, they say something like, "Well, right now I'm too busy to read, but I plan to on vacation."

I'm too busy to read, too, yet I manage to read two or three novels every week. I'm stirring soup with one hand and holding an opened paperback book in the other one. When I'm waiting at the bank or the post office, I've got a book with me. At night before I fall asleep I read. I can't imagine my life without a novel on the go. 

The next piece of advice is to write. Work on stories. Write in your journal. Write letters to the editor. Write. 

And the final bit of advice is to get the training. Take writing courses. Join writers' groups. Find a critique partner or group. Give yourself some goals and write.

TF:  Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule.  Readers who would like more information about Ms. Hall’s books can go to her website at www.writerhall.com  I anxiously await the 2^nd book, CHAT ROOM this November!