Looking out the Window: Award-winning Author Linore Burkard Talks about her New Book, Forever Lovely. On pre-order for only $2.99
A Warm Welcome to Linore Burkard
Get a special price of $2.99 on Forever Lovely while it's on pre-order! See below.
Hi Linore, Tell us about your latest book.
Forever Lovely is book two in a time travel romance series (Forever in Time Series) but it can be read as a stand-alone. It takes place three years after the first book, but rather than focus on the same characters, it takes the younger sister of one and gives her a coming-of-age sweet love story of her own. Familiar characters from book one are in it, but the spotlight is on Miss Margaret, the sister of Clarissa Andrews, and so it’s really quite a different sort of fun. And I emphasize the word ‘fun.’ While there are realistic themes of love, loyalty, family, and growth, there’s also comedy. (You can’t take a young lady out of Regency England and bring her to modern-day New York without some good laughs!)
What inspired you to write this particular book?
I had originally planned to do a second book and told my readers I would, but life got in the way. Then I started hearing from readers asking what happened—they wanted to read a sequel. They hoped there would be a sequel, please, let there be a sequel! And that was all the inspiration I needed.
What do you love about this book? And what do you hope readers will tell others about it?
I love the way Margaret grows, not only in awareness of herself but in her perception of how blessed she is with the people in her life. She starts out seeing the negative but gradually learns to see value where she’d been blind to it before. (Don’t we all undergo that journey at some point?) I also love the gentle romance between her and the hero, Stewart Russell, and what coming from two different centuries looks like in real time. Margaret’s innocence (she is from 1819) is unfathomable to Stewart, who says at one point, “Are you sure you’re eighteen? You look all woman but sometimes I feel like I’m speaking to a child.” This doesn’t bother Margaret in the least, for she’s thrilled to be referred to as “all woman.” At another point, he accuses her of acting like a “19th century virgin,” to which she cries, “But I AM a 19th century virgin!” (Which, of course, he cannot believe. You can see how this is fun!)
In three words describe your style of writing.
Frenetic. Procrastinate. Re-start. (I write rhythmically, not daily.)
How do you get to know your characters?
Like you’re doing here with me, I interview them. When I get stumped about motivation or how a certain character should react, I sit down (with myself) and ask them. Sounds silly, doesn’t it? But it works. Characters get quiet sometimes and I need to confront them directly. I would guess it’s a trick of the brain—gets the wheels moving differently or something. And often, that is all we need when we’re stuck. I don’t do long interviews—I only ask what I need to know to fill out the scene, plot, or motivation.
Do you have to juggle writing with a job, family responsibilities or other obligations? How do you balance it?
My family has always come first. I homeschooled my five kids for more than two decades, plus we have a house and property that need attention. I often cooked from scratch while our kids were growing up, and so meal planning and preparing was a big time drain. These days, I make simpler meals, but with my husband retired, I feel busier than ever! I do Spanish lessons daily for fun to improve my fluency, and I love word games, jigsaw puzzles, and reading. We spend a lot of time at church and in church activities, and I’ll drop just about anything to catch Masterpiece Theater historical dramas. I also attend two monthly writers’ groups, one of which I’m president of. (I recommend all writers join a local group. Zoom meetings are good and well, but in-person meetings are the most helpful.) Overall, some seasons in life are more conducive to writing than others, but a writer shouldn’t despair if the kids are keeping her too busy. Nevertheless, I found that cutting out watching TV, for example, or writing while the kids did their schoolwork, helped me get pages written.
Are you a plotter or a pantzer?
I wish I could say I’m a strong plotter, but I’m not. However, I’m not a strict pantzer, either, I generally start a book with the heroine I want to write about, and one good story problem she’ll face. Beginning with the problem, I flesh it out. How did it start? Who is making it worse (or better?). How will she make it worse for herself? How does the hero of the story make it worse before making it better? When writing romance, the end is always a given in some sense—the couple must find a way to each other—but how to get there is where all the character development comes in, the surprises, the fun, the tender moments. And often these things surface along the way, things I have not plotted out.
Does your faith affect your writing? If so, how?
Very much so. I would probably not have published anything if not for the Lord nudging me to get my first book out there all those years ago, even though I could not stay away from writing. Now I look at writing as a gift, but also a ministry, even a responsibility. There are those in the church who might look down their nose at writers of Christian romance as not doing “real” Christian service, but there are millions of women who find messages of hope and healing in our stories. In my contemporary romances, I tend to address wounds of the soul more than in my historicals, but even to supply some segment of the world with a light-hearted, enjoyable escape is worthwhile because the Lord gives me the ability to do it. And we need such things. I am so grateful for the authors who wrote before me and gave the world exactly that.
What are you working on right now?
I’m just getting into the story for a boxset collection of historical romance novellas with 11 other authors, scheduled to come out in 2024. My story, Miss Spencer Meets Her Match, is based on a manuscript I started a whopping twenty-six years ago! I was going through old files and found it. When I read an old manuscript and get mad at myself for not finishing it (because I forgot all about it but am enjoying reading it!), then I know it’s worth finishing. Like all my Regencies, it’s light-hearted fun with a happy ending.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Find authors you love and ask yourself why. What is it about their writing you enjoy? Try to emulate it in your writing. Emulate, not copy. (Read the book, Steal Like an Artist.) Underline passages you love and figure out what makes them wonderful. Is there a technique that could strengthen your work? I love to read Wodehouse for inspiration. He’s a master of metaphor and similes and makes me want to up my game. Read books that are a little too hard for you. And, of course, write, write, write. And get feedback from people who don’t love you. (This is key.)
About Forever Lovely
When Miss Margaret Andrews travels to the future to find her missing sister, she never expected to find true love. In 1819 England, Margaret is a bluestocking with dreams of becoming an inventress, but when the Tallit, a magical time-travel shawl, goes awry she finds herself stranded in 21st Century Manhattan. At a Jane Austen conference, she meets Stewart Russell, a grad student studying early British female writers. Stewart is immediately taken with Margaret and her effortless use of the speech and manners of Jane's day—until she claims to be FROM Jane's day! Worse, due to a mix-up, he is a wanted man and the clock is ticking. Margaret must find a way to get them both back to 1819—before the unthinkable happens.
If you enjoyed the time-travel romance of Outlander, then you'll love Margret and Stewart's story in Forever Lovely.
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Bio:
Linore Rose Burkard is a serious watcher of period films, a Janeite, and hopeless romantic. An award-winning author, she also writes contemporary romance and YA suspense (as L.R. Burkard). A magna cum laude English Lit. graduate of CUNY, Linore now lives with her husband and family in OH where she drops everything for Masterpiece Theatre—or a good steak—(it’s a toss-up). She owns two cats, a Shorkie, and more books and teapots than any single human should possess!
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Comments
Thank you for the kind words about the blog. Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving also.