Linda Dominique Grosvenor, Prolific Author, Interviewed

Today, Norm Goldman, Editor of Bookpleasures.com is honored to have as our guest mega-selling author Linda Dominique Grosvenor.

Linda has authored seven novelsincluding the award-winning Like Boogie On Tuesday, the HAMPTONS and Fever. She is currently anticipating the release of her long awaited seventh novel SPANISH LULLABY that will have a limited edition promo soundtrack.                 

In addition, Linda has her own television talk show and she is also a regular guest on several radio talk shows.

Good day Linda and thank you for agreeing to participate in our interview.

Norm:

Linda, please tell our readers a little bit about your personal and professional background.

Linda:

In a nutshell writing is my entire life. I live and breathe it. When I’m not actually sitting down to write a book, I’m thinking about plot lines, character names and interesting angles for a story.

I’m a psychology major with a creative writing minor with a specialty in family and marriage counseling. I find that the whole psychology aspect lends well to the character development in my books especially since I’m always analyzing behavior. I started out writing books quite accidentally though.

I was writing an article I intended to send to a magazine and it grew into a short story and from there a full fledged novel. While I like to entertain when I write, I also enjoy putting interesting truths in a story, be it a person, a particular place or a thing. I’m currently geering up to write a series of relationship books for both married and single men and women. My love of psychology and wanting to help my readers is what led me to start my advice column at AskPrincessDominique.com. From there it launched The Princess Dominique Show.

Norm:

Many writers want to be published, but not everyone is cut out for a writer's life. What are some signs that perhaps someone is not cut out to be a writer and should try to do something else for a living?

Linda:

I’d have to say if you are writing to get rich, quit your job and live a life of leisure—you’re probably not cut out for the writer game. Fact is that the best writers are those who endure the pitfalls of publishing, marketing and the potential to get lost in the overall onslaught of books released every month, and do so only because the love the craft itself, not because they’re looking to get rich.

These dedicated souls would write and tell wonderful stories even if they never got paid a cent. Their closets and computers are bogged down with interesting manuscripts that may never see the light of day, but they still can’t refrain from wanting to tell an enjoyable story. Lets face it, the majority of writers are midlist and only a rare few ever see seven figures.

I’d also say that if you are easily swayed by what’s selling and find yourself chasing every new genre with the hopes of making it big, you’re probably not cut out to be a writer. True writers enjoy finding their own voice and stick to it, they don’t chase fads and from my experience the best of them will probably remain midlist their entire career, and that’s not an attractive enough lure for someone who’s in it just to make a quick buck.

Norm:

Why did you feel compelled to write novels? What kept you going when you probably, like most authors, received rejection slips?

Linda:

I’ve received rejection slips but I also knew that there was a place for my stories. I write about things that people can relate to ie. family life, infidelity and summer flings. I felt compelled to write novels because there are things that I enjoy in a novel that I hadn’t really found in what I had been reading and I know that if I enjoyed it that others would too. That alone was my driving force. I’m a romantic, but every now and then I love a little mystery thrown in there for good measure too.

Norm:

As you initially self-published, what has been your experience with self publishing? Do you recommend it over traditional publishers?

Linda:

Initially it was a way to get my name out there in front of the masses. I singlehandedly sold 13,000 copies of my debut novel and I think that it definitely taught me a ton of things about the literary business and how it works.

I think that when an author is published traditionally they don’t really learn the business at all, they get a royalty statement every month and try to make heads or tails of it. They don’t learn what they could have done to boost their sales and increase their royalty payout for that quarter or the inexpensive or free ways they could have boosted their book’s visibility. That’s why I teach an online book promotion course—to share with authors what I’ve learned and what works in terms of selling books both self-published and traditional.

Many authors are under the delusion that with a traditional publisher its smooth sailing or that they’re just going to get the John Grisham and Nora Roberts perks or exposure and have their book in supermarket aisles and cardboard displays in the chain bookstores. I almost never happens. It is for that reason that I recommend self-publishing at least once.

Norm:

Can you explain some of your research techniques, and how you found sources for your book?

Linda:

I do lots of research online and offline as well. Whether I’m requesting copies of local papers, travel brochures or just talking to people who have been to a specific place or experienced a certain thing that I’ve woven into my storyline, I like it to be as authentic as possible, so being thorough is part of that process. I was fortunate with The Hamptons, because the glitzy lifestyle of Long Island’s south beach is popular now.

Celebrities have homes there and all of the evening gossip programs are always doing a feature on the Hamptons in particular and telling you who’s got a new multi-million dollar mansion or throwing a lavish party. There’s even a Hampton Magazine that I mysteriously got a free subscription to while I was in the midst of writing the story.

Norm:

What challenges or obstacles did you encounter while writing your books? How did you overcome these challenges?

Linda:

I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’ve run into any challenges or obstacle while writing the book. I normally do all of my research, outline my plot and prepare myself mentally before I sit down and start writing. I can draft a novel in less than three months. One challenge that I think anyone who uses a computer can run into is losing a file or having it corrupted. I’ve started sending myself back up files and emailing myself portions of text so that if I ever have to start from scratch that its not a total loss.

Norm:

How have you used the Internet to boost your writing career?

Linda:

Yes! The Internet has been my saving grace. When I started out writing in 1998 I discovered the power of the Internet. I’ve browsed hundreds of sites where authors are featured, interviews are done and writers are seemingly big news. A website is essential (and we’re not talking a free one here). Every writer needs a presence. Readers expect it. I think if you Google my name you’ll get hundreds of results where I’ve been either featured or interviewed. It is a tedious process, but in the end the exposure is worth it all.

Norm:

How much real-life do you put into your fiction? Is there much “you” in there?

Linda:

Aside from me loving fashion, diamonds and having an insane shoe fetish, no, there’s not much of me in my writing. I do embellish a little bit though. I have my characters doing or saying things I’d never do or say in real life, just to get it out of my system, you know. There definitely has to be some therapeutic value in it for me as a writer too.

Norm:

When writing your novels, do you have a hard time fleshing out characters initially?

Linda:

Fleshing out my characters used to be an issue for me, but lately my characters tend to flesh themselves out. They reveal what they want the readers to know about them. They are desperate for the readers to know their motivation. I have a character in a book I’m writing now who doesn’t want the readers to misconstrue her love for her husband, so she’s making a point to show them how committed she is to the marriage. Things like that I just let take their course otherwise I can get in the way and shift things rather unfavourably.

Norm:

Who are your favorite authors, and why do they inspire you?

Linda:

Sandra Cisneros and Pablo Neruda are among my favorites only because their words are like melodies. When you read their work it sings to you and seduces you into thinking that you’re not reading at all, but rather living and experiencing what their characters or the objects of their desire are experiencing. I think that words should never sit on the page and do nothing. There are some who aren’t a fan of the descriptive prose like writing—but me, I’m all for it, every single day of the week.

Norm:

What is next for Linda Dominique Grosvenor and is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

Linda:

I’m definitely looking forward to The Hamptons being released in paperback and for my seventh novel Spanish Lullaby to see the light of day. I’m excited about all the stories I write but Spanish Lullaby is a little bit more personal for me. It’s a story of love and loss and I’ve already garnered plenty of positive pre-publication feedback. I’m hoping that readers who have never read any of my work will definitely pick up a copy or log on to my WEBSITE

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.