Sunday, November 1, 2015

FEATURED AUTHOR: LINDSAY MCKENNA



ABOUT THE BOOK 

Lia Cassidy left the Army scarred physically and emotionally after a vicious attack by two fellow soldiers.  She turns to helping others, working at a Delos Home School Charity in Costa Rica that aids abused women and children. But when the deadly drug lord, La Arana, attacks the school, Lia finds herself on the run for her life. The only person she can trust is the ex-SEAL sent to protect her.

Cav Jordan is strong, honorable and gorgeous . . . and intrigued by Lia. He knows she has suffered pain in her past, and he is determined to break through her barriers and earn her trust. But as Cav slowly chips away at the walls Lia has built, ghosts from her past threaten to destroy their fragile relationship.



INTERVIEW WITH LINDSAY MCKENNA


Lindsay, what books do you currently have published?
I have 145 books published so far. Way too many to list here. Those interested can run over to my website and check out all the titles, dates when published at their leisure.

What's your favorite thing about the writing process?

I get to slip into another dimension where there’s actually a happily-ever-after, unlike our world where you don’t see so many.

Right now, I’m offering a free ebook prequel to Nowhere to Hide, titled, “Last Chance“ by Lindsay McKenna. It is available on Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, iTunes/iBooks and Kobo.  Also at my website.

How long is your to-be-read list?
100 books long.  I don’t get much time to sit and read.

Can you share some of your marketing strategies with us?
I use Quote Books, which tell the story about the book I’m presently selling. With Nowhere to Hide, here is the QB. What’s fun about is that it’s actually a free gift to the reader. She can come over to http://delos.lindsaymckenna.com and find any of my first four books.  Below the cover copy is “download” and it will put a PDF document with all ten images and story on the book into any electronic device they have. I also give each of the images (in order) away to blogsites so that they have an ‘exclusive’ image from the quote book that no one else has the day I come to visit. 

And for all things Delos, I had two other quote books designed. One was to educate the reader on who and what Delos charities is. The other is about the family around whom the saga revolves. To down load both of them, go here: Delos Family and here: Delos Charity History.

How long have you been a writer?

I started writing at age 13 and worked at my craft for 22 years by myself (there was no RWA around) and finally broke into print when I was 35 years old. I’m one of the longest working authors from the group that started out in the 1980’s, and there aren’t many of us still writing! But I sure am because I love to tell a good story.

Are you a full-time writer?
Yes, I write full time. I write from 8am to noon every day. My saying I coined is: “A chapter a day keeps the bill collector away.” And it’s true.

If you could only watch one television station for a year, what would it be?
Al-Jazeera because they and the BBC news are the most oriented to true journalism without slant, hype or sensationalism.

How often do you tweet?
Every day.

How do you feel about Facebook?
Love it because so many of my readers are there with me. I love to connect to people who love to read the type of book I write.

For what would you like to be remembered?

That I brought some quiet moments in the storm of a reader’s life. Uplifted them. Books are positive in my world.

What scares you the most?
Missing a deadline!

YouTube is. . .
Wonderful. Unfortunately I have only satellite where I live and they don’t allow downloads or videos from the net.

What five things would you never want to live without?
Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee and coffee.

Who would you want to narrate a film about your life?
Probably one of my friends who truly knew me.

3D movies . . .
Make me dizzy . . . my brain can’t handle it . . .

If you had a swear jar, would it be full?

Indeed. I was in the US Navy. What can you expect? Right?

Are you an introvert or an extrovert?
True introvert.

What's your relationship with your TV remote?

Kill or be killed.

Do you spend more on clothes or food?

Food.

What's your favorite treat for movie night?
Popcorn, no butter and lots of salt

What's the biggest lie you ever told?
That I was a secretary. I was on a plane and the guy next to me asked what I did for a living. I learned a long time ago to never, ever say, “I’m a romance author,” to anyone. Especially a man because they always got the wrong idea. Sad but true. 

What is the most daring thing you've done?
Taught myself how to fly a single engine plane and graduate to become a student pilot at age 17.

What’s one of your favorite quotes?

"A chapter a day keeps the bill collector away."

What would your main character say about you?
Singled-minded.

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to write?

Love scenes are always tricky. How do write a fresh love scene after you’ve written 145 books thus far? It’s a pickle, but I try.


Where is your favorite library, and what do you love about it?

Cottonwood Library, Cottonwood, Arizona. Love the librarians. So helpful. They love books. I love anyone who loves books.


You can be any fictional character for one day. Who would you be?

Wonder Woman.


Who would you invite to a dinner party if you could invite anyone in the world?
The poor, the hungry, those who have so little.


What's your relationship with your cell phone?
I love it.  My husband, however, hates it. He does not like geeky gadgets to save his soul.


How many hours of sleep do you get a night?
7-8 hours.

What is your favorite movie?

Avatar, James Cameron, director.

Do you have a favorite book?
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway.

Do you sweat the small stuff?
Only contract deadlines.

If you had to choose a cliche about life, what would it be?

Nike Ad: JUST DO IT.

How long is your to-do list?

Do I have enough paper to put all of them on a list? Probably not, haha.


LIGHTNING ROUND:

Cake or frosting?
Cake, less calories and less sugar.

Laptop or desktop? Desk top.

T
exting or mailing? emailing.

Indoors or outdoors? Outdoors.

Tea: sweet or unsweet? Unsweet with lemon, please.

Plane, train, or automobile?
Train, love the rocking motion of it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lindsay lives her life as a risk taker, and it shines through the books she loves to write: romance, adventure and suspense. She started writing at age thirteen and continues to hone her writing skills to this day. She sold her first romance novel in 1981. The rest is history.

Since then, Lindsay has published 145 romances, historical, contemporary and paranormal series books and mass-market novels. Usually she writes six books a year, depending upon the demands in other departments of her life.  She became an Indie in 2015, and own hers own publishing company, Blue Turtle. Presently, she is writing her new family saga, the Delos Series.

Since she first rode a horse at the age of three, Lindsay has loved horses and considers herself “horse crazy.” At age thirteen, she rescued a two-year old mustang stallion from the chicken feed factory for $45 dollars and brought him home. She proceeded to tame the sorrel stallion with love and affection. It’s no surprise that later in her life, she had an Arabian horse farm in Ohio for nine years. She and her husband, David, bred, raised, trained and sold Crabbet line (English) Arabians.

When she was sixteen, Lindsay picked night crawlers and sold them to sporting goods stores in order to pay for flying classes. She was the only one at her school of over 650 teenagers to hold a student-pilot’s license at age seventeen! By the time she graduated at age eighteen, she had logged 39 hours of flying time.

She joined the U.S. Navy at age 18, in her father’s footsteps; he was in the Navy during World War II (and had the USS Fletcher, a destroyer, shot out from under him by the Japanese).

After three brutal days of nonstop, eight-hour testing in Navy bootcamp, Lindsay was told that she had the highest mechanical score since the WAVES (women in the navy) had been formed back in 1943! As no mechanical jobs were open to women in 1964, Lindsay was asked to pick another career field. She chose meteorology because it was about nature and had mechanics to it from a science perspective. She became an AG3 (E-4), Aerographer’s Mate third class, by the time she left the military.

From 1980-1983, she was a volunteer firefighter in West Point, Ohio. She also took several types of training from the Ohio Fire Academy in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. She was the only woman on a 20-man volunteer department and did everything they did — very well, she’d like to add!

Because of her background in emergency situations, in 1996, she took training at Yavapai College, Cottonwood, Arizona, to become a registered Emergency Medical Technician in the state of Arizona until 2000.  Her background in knowing what to do in emergency and accident situations is reflected in her books.

Because she went into the military, this experience became the backbone of her writing — she is credited with writing the first military romance novel (Captive of Fate, 1983, Silhouette Special Edition) and has created a thriving sub-genre within the romance field! Her many experiences in the U.S. Navy are backdrop for her understanding of the military in general, and also her very successful Morgan’s Mercenaries, which is an ongoing series in Silhouette. And her latest Shadow Warriors series and Wyoming series for Harlequin. 

Today she lives outside Sedona, Arizona. Her husband, David, a retired civil engineer, helps Lindsay care for the fruit orchard, greenhouse and the many flower planters. They have a golden retriever named Cody.

Lindsay loves to hear from her readers and loves to know what they’d like to see her write next. Please visit her Web site. And be sure to sign up for her free quarterly newsletter. It contains exclusive content found nowhere else on the Net. Plus, giveaways to her subscribers!

Connect with Lindsay: 

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  
Goodreads  |  Goodreads Series  |  Follow the tour






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