Thank You Thursday - Meet Author Linda McMaken!

So today, instead of my normal Thank You or Book Review, I wanted to highlight an up-and-coming author who happens to be a very dear friend. I met Miss Linda over four years ago (man has it been that long) down in Cincinnati. Thanks to Cait London for putting us together even if she has no idea.

Now Miss Linda has been one of my biggest fans and I've got to say, I'm one of hers, too. She's got a book coming out in August from Desert Breeze Publishing. I'm plucking some tidbits out of her Desert Breeze interview (you can read the full interview here) for this blog. Plus, she added some tidbits she wantes to share as well.

Since I happen to live in the same state as Linda (not the state of disorganization and dementia...I'm there all on my own), I asked her to tell my readers about where she lives.
I am a Midwest girl. Although my family DNA is in the South, and my heart is in the West.

I live with an amazing husband who can fix anything. Seriously, I've never broken anything the man can't fix. We've been married for 28 years and have two awesome daughters. The youngest was just married in August. She is a firefighter/paramedic and her hubby is a firefighter. My older daughter is getting married in December. Whew, it's been a long, but fun year. She is studying to be an EMT and her soon-to-be hubby is an EMT/Firefighter. Well, now I've got someone to put out all those kitchen fires!!! LOL


I have two "pound puppies" Hailey and Diesel. Diesel is featured on my blog very often. He is the source of much amusement. Hailey is now 14 years old and she snores while I write.

Awwww. I want to meet Diesel the wonder dog. He looks like a cutie patootie!

I live in the corn belt of Ohio. We have an awesome Great Lake, Erie; the country’s largest state fair, where butter sculptures are seriously a work of art. We are home to the United States Air Force Museum, which is an amazing place to visit. The Wright-B Flyer lives there as does Air Force One and everything in between. Oh, and we have the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland – Rock on!

HEck yeah, we have the Rock Hall. Where else can you see John Lennon's clothes, Bruce Springsteen's leather jacket, AND see the original lyrics to Jimi Hendrix's songs? OHIO!!!

I also asked her where we can find her on the web.
I have a blog that right now acts as my webpage as well. http://makenwords.blogspot.com/. I’m also at the usual places like Facebook, and Twitter.

Let's get down to some fun questions. I wanted to know who some of her favorite authors were growing up?

I loved John Jakes. I met him at a local library when I was a teenager and fell in love. He was older, cool, and a writer!

Thanks to my mom, I read lots of Louis L’amour, Zane Grey, Max Brand, and great mysteries from Nancy Drew, Mickey Spillane, and Clive Cussler.

Hee hee, I just bought a Nancy Drew. I love good ole Nancy.

For those new to Linda's work, I wanted to know what genre fits your work?

I write romantic comedy. Although I have a thriller I’ve been playing around with and hope to have finished next year.

I’ve also been a freelance magazine writer for a number of years, and I am a scriptwriter for COS Productions. They create booktrailers for writers.

And these are some cool trailers. I've seen them. Heck, they made me want to spend my paycheck book shopping. It's dangerous.

She has a book coming out soon, so I asked her to tell me a little about the book.
The title is Baer Truth. It is scheduled for release in August 2011. I’ll just give you the “short” back cover version.

Abby Clark, a vegetarian, punk rock back-up singer and city-slicker gets kicked off the band tour bus in the middle of nowhere. Wyoming! Stuck with nothing but a talent for cooking and the singing voice of an angel, she manages to disturb a very cranky, cold-hearted bear, um, Baer. Joe Baer, a sexy Wyoming beef rancher. He has a nasty ex-girlfriend, killer blue eyes, a ranch mortgage that’s due, and a past that even he never suspected.

Just when it looks like beef might be what’s for dinner, the “Earl of Country Music” steps into the picture. He’s a sexy country singing legend with a killer smile and connections that could launch a stellar-career for Abby.

Baer Truth, is a contemporary romantic comedy, following the three Baer brothers and their heartwarming family saga in Wyoming ranch land; where the men are always hungry, the women are bossy, tractors are just booby-traps lying in wait for city-girls and true love is just a Baer cave away!

I also asked her to share some other tidbits, since there is always more to a writer than the words on the page.

I am doing a column for RT Book Reviews - I'm pretty excited about that. It is written as my librarian self, but authors can get some good info from if they are trying to get into libraries for promo. Here's the link: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/content/beyond-books-library-marketing-exposed

(Oh, yeah, she's a librarian, too. She gets to live around books. I'm jealous.)
Here's her official bio from Desert Breeze and other pertinent linkys.

And Don't Forget to Check out These Awesome Authors: Megan Slayer, Kealie Shay, Menagerie Authors, Jessica Jarman, Devon Rhodes, Ashley Ladd, Linda McMaken, Marianne Arkins, Anne Rainey, KA Mitchell, Mychael Black, and Jenika Snow!