Interview: Jodi Linton

Congrats to Jodi Linton! She signed a two-book deal with Entangled Suspense back in May.

Keep connected with her and watch her journey!

Website: http://jodilinton.com

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jodilinton30

Facebook: facebook.com/JodiLintonAuthor

Twitter: twitter.com/JodiLinton1

Tumblr: jodilinton.tumblr.com

Fast Facts:

Coffee

Night

Rivers

Red wine

Liquor

Ice Cream

Laptop

Casual

Ponytail

Shower

Summer

Motorcycle

Our interview with Jodi:

1. When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

I have been seriously writing for five years, but I have always had a love for storytelling since I was a child.

2. What is my writing schedule?

My day job “stay –at-home mom” keeps me pretty busy, so I write mostly at night. Although, I was able to finish this book in two weeks, and then I handed it off to my husband for him to do his first round of nitpicking. No. He was great. I knew one day marrying an English teacher would pay off, and he did a wonderful job, giving me some of the best editorial advice.

3. What do you think makes a good book?

I believe a good book lets you have your cake and eat it too. The setting is as much a part of the book as the characters. The characters leap off the pages, and the VOICE grabs you from the first sentence.

4. Do you have an agent?

Yes. I’m represented by Sharon Belcastro and Ella Marie Shupe of The Belcastro Agency.

5. What were the last three books you read?

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Catch Me a Cowboy by Katie Lane, and For Love or Money by Cathy Perkins.

6. What’s one thing you can’t live without?

Dr Pepper.

About Jodi

Jodi Linton grew up across the street from a cow pasture, where she was more likely to been seen selling Kool-Aid in a Dixie cup at ten cents a pop, or inviting neighbors over to watch one of her plays staged on her father’s Bass boat. Even though she never owned one of the bovines, she’ll admit that the smell of cow manure had a lasting effect, making it easy to spot a cow a mile away.

In 2001, she traded in the rednecks, cowboys, and mesquite trees of her hometown to chase destiny out west. After a few years of mucking it around with the roughnecks, dust storms, and droughts, she decided to dust off her boots and head home. With a History degree in one hand and a marriage license in the other, she followed her husband in 2006 to the Texas heartland, fabulous Austin.

Somewhere down the line, she started writing. Maybe it was the boring job search, or maybe it was the crazy characters dancing inside her head that help put pen to paper. Whatever the case, writing sure beat the heck out of working for a temp agency. The first story was about a boy lookalike Indian Jones who chased after vampires in small town Texas. The second story was a YA contemporary about the Grim Reaper, and well half-way through she decided to shuck them both, partly due to the birth of her son, and mostly because she wasn’t awe struck with the premises.

Taking a break from writing to raise her son, she filled the time by reading, and insistently fell in love with mysteries, especially ones with witty, spunky heroines. Four months later, she had a manuscript about a smart-mouthed deputy and her rotten ex-boyfriend dueling it out in small town Texas.

After settling into the Texas Hill Country with her husband and two kids, she joined the Writer’s League of Texas, and signed with The Belcastro Agency. Today she can be found cozied up to the computer escaping into a quirky world of tall tales, sexy, tight jean wearing cowboys, and a protagonist with a sharp-tongue quick enough to hang any man out to dry.

There’s a good chance she’s brushed paths with a few of her characters, but she’ll never tell, those lips are sealed.

xoxo ~Marisa