I’d like to welcome Linda O’Connor,
author of the Perfectly Series, to my blog today.
RW: Tell us about yourself, your family, where you
live, etc.
LOC:
I live in Ontario, Canada in a house on
the water. I usually sit and write where I can look at the lake. When the
weather is warm, I’ll write outside. I balance writing with my work as a
physician at an Urgent Care Clinic and being a mom to three sons (luckily grown
and capable of throwing together a decent meal, in a pinch).
RW: How
many hours a day do you spend writing?
LOC: I
write for two to three hours on the days I’m also working at the clinic and
about six hours on the other days.
RW: Why
did you decide to write? When did you submit your first manuscript and what
genre was it?
LOC: I’m
a physician, and I started writing because I wanted to find a fun way to
disseminate medical information and to educate and empower readers to take
ownership of their health. Targeting a female audience with romance novels
seemed like a good idea, because women are usually the ones who see a doctor.
(Males typically only go when a girlfriend/partner/spouse/mom encourages them
to do so. :D) I write romantic comedies because I love being in a fun headspace
when I’m writing. I submitted my first manuscript in 2014.
RW: Who
are your favorite authors? Who influenced your writing?
LOC: My
favorite authors are Nora Roberts, Marne Davis Kellogg, Jeffrey Archer, Graeme
Simsion, and Ruth Reichl. I think every author whose books I’ve ever read has
influenced my writing in some way, but the romance authors who hosted workshops
about writing, editing, publishing, and marketing skills have made the most
impact.
RW: Who
are your favorite characters among the books you’ve written?
LOC: My
favorite characters are Chloe Keay in Perfectly Planned (she’s a lot of
fun), Sam O’Brien in Perfectly Honest (he’s really hot), and Patty Kelt
in Perfectly Crazy in Love (she’s sweet and a little bit crazy).
RW: What
makes a good book? A great romance? Is humor important in fiction and why?
LOC: I
read for relaxation, and I love happily-ever-after endings. I don’t enjoy books
that make me cry. Laughter is essential to great health, so humor is a must!
RW: How
much of your personality and life experiences are in your writing?
LOC: One
hundred percent of my personality is in my writing. :D My life experiences are
woven into the stories in some shape or form, often not consciously or exactly
as they happened, but sprinkled with my imagination.
RW: How
do you come up with story ideas? What kind of research do you do for a book?
LOC: News
stories, headlines, snippets of conversations I hear, lyrics of songs, watching
people and putting a story behind their body language or expression—they all
inspire my imagination. I’m a physician and my characters are often doctors.
The patients they see are often inspired by something I want to teach.
RW: Tell
us about your latest book. What motivated the story? Where did the idea come
from? What genre is it? Does it cross over to other genres? If so, what are
they?
LOC: My
latest book is Perfectly Crazy in Love, a Perfectly Series novella. It’s
a fun one! It came from that feeling of finding love—the uncertainty, the
nervous thrill, that wonderful feeling when you realize someone feels the same
way about you that you feel about them. It’s a romantic comedy - my fav.
RW: How
many books have you written, how many have been published?
LOC: I’ve
written twelve books, eight romantic comedies in the Perfectly Series and four
as part of the In the Game Hockey Series. Perfectly Crazy in Love is the
eighth one to be published. The first two books in the Perfectly Series are
published by Soul Mate Publishing and the rest are published by Interlock
Publishing. The hockey romances will be released in 2018.
RW: After
you’ve written your book and it’s been published, do you ever buy it and/or
read it?
LOC: I
always buy it, but I never read it. :D
RW: If
I were a first-time reader of your books, which one would you recommend I start
with and why?
LOC: They
are all stand-alone stories, so it doesn’t really matter. You could start with
the novellas and then read the full-length stories in order. I think it’s fun
to revisit the characters as you read them in order.
RW: Those
are all the questions I have for you. Thank you for speaking to me.
LOC: Thank
you very much for hosting me!! I love meeting other authors and new
readers. :D
Perfectly Crazy in Love
The Plot
Dr. Patty Kelt is trying to get Dr. Ken Marshall’s attention. They’ve
been friends for four years, and it’s time to turn it up a notch. She wants him
to see her as smart, competent, strong, and sexy. So far she’s just managed
crazy.
Ken’s used to solving problems and giving advice. Crazy he could handle.
But dealing with crazy in love? That’s entirely new.
Perfectly Crazy in Love…it’s not as easy as it looks.
An Excerpt:
“What are you wearing?”
Dr. Patty Kelt looked down at her exposed cleavage and grimaced. “Too
much?”
Dr. Sylvie Grant, her best friend and colleague, sat down in the seat
beside her at the busy restaurant. “Did you wear that to work today?”
“No, of course not. Patients have enough trouble focusing on what I say
without a,”—she waved her hand around her chest—“distraction.” She shrugged. “I
changed for the meeting.”
Sylvie’s eyes widened. “You changed into that for our dinner
meeting? Why? Are you heading out afterward?”
“Maybe. Possibly.” She bit her lip. “Hopefully.”
Realization dawned in Sylvie’s eyes. “You know, if you want to go out
with Ken, you should just ask him. Welcome to the twenty-first century,” she
drawled.
Patty winced. Ken Marshall, the other family doctor in Emerson who
delivered babies in addition to running a busy practice, was hot. She’d worked
with him for over four years, and she’d sensed … electricity between them. Well,
it might have been more of a sock-stuck-to-a-blanket static electricity, but
there was something. She was sure of it. Flirty comments, the look in
his eyes, the occasional time he’d touched her arm when he hadn’t needed to—it
was subtle, but the signs pointed toward a more-than-friends interest. Except …
in the four years since they’d known each other, he’d never actually asked her
out on a date. Sure, they’d sat beside each other at meetings, they’d attended
the same hospital functions, she’d even included him in parties she’d hosted,
but they’d never spent one-on-one time together. She wanted to change that.
When he’d started his last relationship and it had hurt to watch him with
another woman, she’d vowed that if the two ever broke up, if the opportunity
arose for her to tell him how she felt, she would.
That chance had come. He was newly single. It was time to find out if
that spark could be fanned into a flame, if the feelings she had for him could
blossom into more. And for that, she needed to ramp things up. “I don’t think
he’s a twenty-first century guy. I’m hoping,” she glanced at the low cut of her
red dress, “this will get his attention.”
“Oh yeah, that’s a lot less brazen.”
Linda O’Connor
Bio
Linda O’Connor started writing a few years ago when she needed a creative
outlet other than subtly rearranging the displays at the local home décor
store. It turns out she loves writing romantic comedies and has a few more
stories to tell. When not writing, she’s a physician at an Urgent Care Clinic
(well, even when she is writing she’s a physician, and it shows up in her
stories :D ). She hangs out at http://www.lindaoconnor.net.
Laugh every day. Love every minute.
Book Links: “Perfectly Crazy in Love” is one of 22 hot romances in the Sultry Nights Boxed
Set.
Publisher: Romance Collections https://www.romancecollections.com/sultry-nights
Contact
Linda O’Connor at:
Website: http://www.lindaoconnor.net
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LindaOConnor98
Amazon
Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Linda-OConnor/e/B00S7CNLEA
Thanks so much for hosting me Rochelle - and spotlighting Perfectly Crazy in Love and the Sultry Nights boxed set!! I'm really excited to be a part of it.
ReplyDeleteThank you for guesting with me!
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