I'm Thrilled to Introduce you to Linda Rohrbough this Week!
She's giving away a copy of her The Prophetess One: At Risk to one person who comments and leaves an email address.
How long have you known that you were a writer? Did you receive a clear “call?” Or have you just loved writing all your life?For me it’s like I can’t stop writing. My first indicator was I won a national award for a short story I wrote in seventh grade. Every time I’ve gotten interested in something, I ended up writing about it. For example, I was an English major in college, but then I realized I couldn’t make a living as an English major without teaching, which I thought I’d hate. So I went into computer science. And I ended up writing about computers.
What is the genre you write in? Would you explain what it is?
I like suspense. Plot driven books with strong characters and smart villains. In a suspense the reader often knows who the villain is, even if the hero doesn’t, and the story is about how the good guy overcomes the obstacles the villain sets up. This is opposed to a mystery, where the game is to keep the reader guessing about “who done it.”
How do you spend your writing days? Do you set goals to reach a certain number of words per day? Can you give us a general idea of how long it takes you to write a novel?
I spend my writing days feeling guilty because I get caught up in the work and I end up in my chair not moving for hours at a time. I’m working to remember to set my writing timer for 50 minutes, get up and doing some stretches for 10 minutes, then going back at it for another 50. Four to six sessions a day like that would be my perfect writing day. What actually happens is I start my day with a list of unfinished tasks from the day before, most of which have to do with promotion of some new project that’s out. So I do those first and forget to set my timer. Then I answer requests I get via e-mail, then I carve out time to write. I am constantly working on changing that around, so writing is first, but there are things that come up almost every day that interrupt my perfect writing day. And yet I still manage to get the work done if I stay with it.
I’m a fast writer, but I get hung up on what I want to do next or distracted by the volume of requests for speaking or other stuff that comes across my desk. So it usually takes me about six months to actually finish a project. If I could just crank through without interruption I could probably do it in under a month. But that’s never happened, no matter how much planning I do. However, persistence is my motto. I just stay with it and eventually it gets done.
Tell us about your new book. What is the spiritual message in it? What can readers expect to get from reading it? How and where can readers buy your book?
"This is fast-paced, thrilling, edge-of-the-seat reading.
The Prophetess One: At Risk had me flipping the pages and holding my breath." - Debbie Macomber, #1 New York Times bestseller.
It’s a very different kind of war.
Why would God choose a pregnant computer programmer to fight it?
All Anna McClintock wants is a peaceful stretch of beach she can walk to with her new husband, Jack, and her soon-to-be-born child. Jack is finishing his engineering degree this semester and the two plan to leave his Kansas home to build their new lives together.
But when Anna finds herself in jail for the murder of a preschool child she tried to save, she realizes she is alone, except for God. She has to rely on new-found spiritual gifts as well as her wits and skills in order to save herself, her unborn son, and her marriage.
And she has another decision to make. This one affects the entire nation.
Real events form the background for
The Prophetess One: At Risk
I put on my journalist hat when I saw strange events after my husband’s nephew, Daniel Rohrbough, was a casualty in the Columbine shooting. For example, as family at the Columbine memorial service, I noticed General Colin Powell was on the platform in full military dress between musicians Amy Grant and Phil Driscoll. But he was never mentioned or introduced, and he never spoke.
I also discovered the shooters bragged theirs would be the first of many such events and I now believe they low-level formatted the hard disk drives of their computers so no record of their Internet activity could be uncovered. And the officials investigating Columbine looked unsuccessfully for months for third-party involvement in the year-long planning of the shooting.
As I investigated other shootings, I uncovered much more information that led her to believe this sort of thing could be prevented on a grass roots level. The theme of my book is men are important in the lives of children.
My book is available through standard retail channels, but probably the easiest way to get it is at Amazon.com. And it’s available as a Kindle book.
Do you ever feel like giving up? Most people don’t understand the stress, the work, and the joy of being a writer. How tenuous becoming a writer is. Do you care to share how it feels, what discouraging/encouraging times you’ve gone through?
Oh yes, I’ve wondered a number of times if I was barking up the wrong tree. Because this is hard and lonely. And the successes can be very few and far between, especially in the beginning stages when you’re “pre-published.” Every time I thought wow, I may have to go out and get a real job, something happened to keep me writing. Most recently I was thinking I may have to retool to do something else as my agents hadn’t sold anything for two years. So I started taking a class and in the first week, my agents sold two projects. And this was during August. I don’t know if you know much about the publishing business, but August is traditionally a very slow time, so that looked to me like a God thing.
Who’s inspired you the most?
I’ve been inspired by a number of writers. I loved O’Henry short stories and I read every Zane Grey novel my grandmother ordered from her book club. I love Frank Peretti and was privileged to interview him for a newspaper I worked for in Dallas when he was on book tour with The Oath. I’ve been personally mentored and inspired by New York Times best-selling author Debbie Macomber, best-selling, award-winning author Jodi Thomas, and western writer and award-winning author Dusty Richards.
Would you explain how you “chose” (or were chosen by) a publisher? Do you just
go “inny, minny, miny, moe?”
I went with the publisher who loved the book. Which ended up being a small house in St. Charles, Missouri. They said they couldn’t put the book down and they are still trying to figure out why a New York house didn’t buy it. Gotta say, I love hearing that.
Now, that you’re published, can you sit back and relax from the success you’ve
experienced?
I laughed when I read THAT question. I know you’re asking for the benefit of readers because any author whose ever been published will tell you the work just begins when you sign a contract. But I wouldn’t trade it. I’ve always been someone who likes to be busy.
Do you mind telling us some of your likes and dislikes? Hobbies, interests? Where would you like to travel if you could?
I have a travel list and I like science and nature. So my list includes US destinations such as Yellowstone National Park, Niagra Falls, and Alaska. Then Europe including London and Paris. I heard somewhere that the quality of the light is different in Paris, that it’s rose-colored. I want to find out for myself. I do have favorite places I go back to again and again. I love Colorado, New Mexico, Tucson, and any part of California.
I am interested in art and dabble in painting. I’m a technology junkie so I have lots of automation at my house. For example, I have rope lighting over my kitchen cabinets that’s controlled by a motion sensor. This is especially handy when I am half-asleep looking for a drink of water in the middle of the night.
You recently had a book published. How and where can readers buy your books?
The Prophetess One: At Risk is available through standard retail channels. However, the easiest place to buy it is on Amazon.com and it is also available for the Kindle Reader.
Would you give us your blog or webpage so everyone can check it out? Anything else you’d like to share? Promotional information?
I post regular updates on my website and on Facebook for my books, my app and any special media appearances (like I did a PBS Television interview in Denver the last time I was there). My website is
http://www.lindarohrbough.com/ and Facebook is
www.Facebook.com/LindaRohrboughAuthor.
I also have an iPhone App for writers available on iTunes called “Pitch Your Book.”
Bio:
Linda Rohrbough has been writing since 1989, and has more than 5,000 articles and seven books to her credit along with awards for fiction and non-fiction. New York Times #1 bestselling author Debbie Macomber said about Linda’s new novel: "This is fast-paced, thrilling, edge-of-the-seat reading. The Prophetess One: At Risk had me flipping the pages and holding my breath." An iPhone App of her popular three-step formula workshop for writers, “Pitch Your Book,” is available in the Apple iTunes store. Visit her website: http://www.lindarohrbough.com/.
Thank you, Linda, for joining us this week! Folks, a comment and email address will put you in the running for a chance at winning Linda's book!
Blessings!
