Biography
Linda O. Johnston’s first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the year. Since then, Linda has published more short stories, plus 29 romance and mystery novels, including the Alpha Force paranormal romance miniseries for Harlequin Nocturne. She also has an upcoming Harlequin Romantic Suspense in the works: UNDERCOVER SOLDIER, a July 2012 release.
Linda’s Pet Rescue Mysteries, a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime, feature Lauren Vancouver, a determined pet rescuer who runs a no-kill shelter. Of course, in this cozy mystery series, “no-kill” refers to the animals, not people! Her most recent Pet Rescue Mystery is THE MORE THE TERRIER, and next will beHOUNDS ABOUND, an April 2012 release.
Interview by Marianne Donley
BWG: You've written short stories for Ellery Queen Magazine, two mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime, big historical romances for Dorchester, and contemporary and paranormal romances for Harlequin, all very different genres, why?
Linda: Actually, my first published novels for Dorchester were time travel romances, so they’re historical, contemporary and paranormal combined! I love being eclectic, letting my mind go wild and creating situations for my poor protagonists to have to overcome. There are a couple of things that nearly all my stories have in common, though: they contain suspense and/or mysteries, and they contain romance. That’s because I love mysteries, so my protagonists must resolve something suspenseful that can even, sometimes, be dangerous. Plus, I’m an incurable romantic--not that I want to be cured.
BWG: How has the business changed since you first published?
Linda: Back in the day, no one would have thought about digital publishing, or that going with small press publishers or self-publishing would ever be recognized as reliable and professional ways to publish. Today, I’m delighted for those who are successful, no matter how they got there. I’m still most comfortable with traditional publishers, though.
BWG: Tell us about your next book.
Linda: My next book will be HOUNDS ABOUND, the third Pet Rescue Mystery for Berkley Prime Crime, to be published in April 2012. Its background will be a special needs facility for pets where hard-to-adopt animals are taken in--seniors and disabled. Of course they’re all loved and treated well there. Some are even provided with special prosthetics to help them move. But the founder’s ex-husband becomes a murder victim so of course my protagonist, Lauren Vancouver, has to help figure out whodunit to save the facility and its owner.
As always in my Pet Rescue Mysteries, “no-kill” means pets, not people. Every animal is saved, but it’s a cozy mystery so a person has to get killed!
My next book will be my first Harlequin Romantic Suspense story, UNDERCOVER SOLDIER, to be published in July 2012.
BWG: What are you currently working on and when can we read it?
Linda: Right now, I’m working on the fourth Pet Rescue Mystery, tentatively titled OODLES OF POODLES. It’s set in the film industry, since Lauren and I both live in L.A. I don’t have a publication date for it yet, but it should be available in late 2012 or early 2013.
BWG: Do you have a website, blog, or twitter where fans might read more about you and your books?
Linda: I do have a website: www.LindaOJohnston.com. I blog each Wednesday on Killer Hobbies. I also blog on the sixth of each month on A Slice of Orange, the blog for the Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America (OCC/RWA). I also guest blog a lot for promotion, and I sometimes blog about writing on Writers in the Storm, the blog of some wonderful writers who are also members of OCC/RWA. So far, I haven’t gotten up the nerve to tweet on Twitter.
BWG: Do you teach writing classes? If so where and when?
Linda: Yes, I teach writing classes periodically. In fact, I recently taught an online class called Kiss Me or Kill Me: Writing Cozy Mysteries 101 for Romance Writers. It was actually a soup-to-nuts course of the basics of cozy mystery writing, not necessarily only for romance writers, but it was presented by OCC so romance was definitely part of it. It ran from February 13, 2012 through March 11. I had a great time with it and hope to present it again sometime, either for OCC or elsewhere. Anyone who is interested in taking the class in the future can contact me, and I’ll keep them informed.
I’ve also taught at a variety of places such as The Learning Tree and extension courses at local colleges. Plus, I’ve done a lot of speaking engagements and been on panels for libraries and writing organizations.
BWG: When you're not working as a lawyer or author what do you read for fun? Contract Law? Mysteries? How to build a time machine? What‘s on your To-Be-Read pile?
Linda: Believe it or not, reading contracts can be fun!
I’ve become such a writing nut that I always seem to be reading something in the genre in which I’m currently writing. For example, I spent a lot of my reading time a couple of months ago on cozy mysteries, so the online class I’m teaching wouldn’t only contain stuff about my own writing.
BWG: Tell us about volunteering with Pet Orphans.
Linda: I’m delighted to say that I’m a dog adoption counselor. I volunteer at Pet Orphans of Southern California for a few hours every week. When people come there looking for a dog to join their family, they first fill out a preliminary form which I review with them. Then, I take them to see the available pups who meet their criteria. If they find one or several they’re interested in, I take the dogs they choose to meet, one at a time, into a patio area so the people and pets can get to know each other better. It’s so very gratifying to check the Pet Orphans website and see that a match I’ve helped to put together has happened, and the dog has a new, loving forever home!
BWG: Would Kendra Ballantyne or Lauren Vancouver ever agree to do a reality TV show? Maybe for a good cause? What about you? Would you like to star or be the host of a reality TV show?
Linda: Kendra and Lauren love animals, so either or both might agree to do a reality show on pets. I expect that Lauren’s more likely to, since her good friend, veterinarian Dr. Carlie Stellan, has a show called Pet Fitness on the Longevity Vision Channel on cable TV. Besides, Lauren will do nearly anything to help get needy pets the right new home. I don’t really see myself involved with a reality show... although if it helps to save disadvantaged animals, why not?
BWG: You write paranormal romances for Harlequin Nocturne but how happy would you be to find a shape-shifting wolf or cougar in your backyard? Or maybe aliens? If a space ship landed in your backyard and the aliens on board offered to take you for a ride, would you go?
Linda: I’d love to meet a real shapeshifter, especially a wolf, and most especially a member of a real covert U.S. military force like my fictional Alpha Force. Maybe a cougar, too, but as you may have figured I identify much more with canines than felines.
Regarding aliens, I’m a bit leery about blasting off into outer space. I’d love to meet an alien, but I’d rather do it on Earth. Then again, I might be an alien. My husband sometimes dreams of aliens landing near our house, shining bright lights at him, and when he wakes up the light comes from me, reading in the middle of the night.