THE WRITER'S VIEW:LINDA WOOD RONDEAU

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Linda will be awarding one $10 GC to http://www.pelicanbookgroup.com/ to one randomly drawn commenter at every stop during the tour as well as to the host with the most comments.

The Writing View: From There to Here

I look at the ocean-green walls of my office and think that the room is much like an unfinished novel, still in need of layering and final editing but very definitely part of a long process.

A year and a half ago, due to health issues, I crammed what I could in my little Ford Focus and headed south, leaving my wonderful husband of 34 years behind as well as my cat of ten years. My job was to play Daniel Boone and map out a trail for our retirement in Northern Florida. My husband will be finally joining me in a few days. The transition from there to here, in many ways is symbolic in the journey of a book, from inception to reality.

For the first three weeks, I visited family and friends on the trip down, and my office space was whatever bed I had to sleep on. Once I arrived in Jacksonville, I moved into a small one-bedroom apartment, sparsely furnished with pity offerings from my sister-in-law and a few items my husband brought down on his first visit. My writing space became a counter top, cramped but certainly a step an improvement from hunching over on a bed or stopping to write at a McDonalds while I sipped a senior coffee.

Inception takes time before rooting. First there is a vague idea that floats inside your brain, a hope of a new creation, a one-celled concept that begins to grow from a theme to thinly designed characters moving about in your mind.

Eight months later, I moved into a small but sufficient new house with three bedrooms, one I am currently developing into an office. On the next trip down to see the home improvements, my husband brought down my files and a few worn out bookcases. I purchased a card table and voila, an office.

After inception, the author drafts a first-run manuscript—a rough serviceable idea in readable form. From there, the author revises, revises, and revises again and again until the finished product shines, a story now ready for its audience.

I glance around my office once more as I write this. I have pictures ready to be hung once hubby arrives; he’s my professional editor when it comes to anything requiring a hammer and a screwdriver. In the near future, I hope to replace my temporary tables with real office furniture.

I suppose, this transition from there to here is yet another metaphor for my life…one that spells hope for the future, for each new day is one step forward towards something else. I do not know now what I will become, but I know the Author of my Life will fashion me to His purpose and glory.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known” 1 Corinthians 13:12 (KJV). Check out the video of The Other Side of Darkness:


About the Author:Award-winning author, LINDA RONDEAU, writes for the reader who enjoys a little bit of everything. Her stories of redemption and God’s mercies include romance, suspense, the ethereal, and a little bit of history into the mix, always served with a slice of humor. Walk with her unforgettable characters as they journey paths not unlike our own. After a long career in human services, mother of three and wife of one very patient man, Linda now resides in Florida where she is active in her church and community.

Find Linda online at:

website: http://www.lindarondeau.com
Blogs: This Daily Grind
Back in the Daze
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Books-by-Linda-Rondeau/156988217719108
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/lwrondeau
The book is available on amazon.com, books-a-million, barnes & noble, christianbook.com, and wherever ebooks and softcover books are sold.

Haven: a perfect vacation spot filled with mystery and romance except for a killer bent on revenge.

Manhattan prosecutor Samantha Knowlton is stranded in a quirky but intriguing Adirondack town. But she must return to NYC to repair the unraveling case against convicted child killer, Harlan Styles.

Teacher Zack Bordeaux fears he is doomed to a life of mediocrity if he remains in Haven but would be willing to stay if it means a life with Sam.

Landscape artist Jonathan Gladstone feels bound to an estate he both loathes and loves, haunted by the deaths of his wife and son until he falls in love with a spirited attorney and rediscovers his artistic passion.

These three, betrayed and betraying, must find their way from the darkness of broken hope to the light found only in Christ, our surest haven.