A Chat with ‘French Illusions’ Linda Kovic-Skow + Kindle Fire HD Giveaway!

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Linda Kovic-Skow resides in Kirkland, Washington. She earned an Associate Degree in Medical Assisting in 1978 from North Seattle Community College and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Seattle University in 1985. She has been married for 27 years and has two daughters. An enthusiastic traveler, Linda also enjoys boating, gardening and socializing with friends. French Illusions, her debut memoir, is the culmination of a three-year project.

You can visit her website at www.lindakovicskow.com.

———— INTERVIEW ———–

Thank you for this interview, Linda! Can you tell us why you wrote French Illusions?

About four years ago, after my husband and I dropped our youngest daughter off at college, I went through a sort of mid-life crisis. I missed being a mom and I wondered how I would fill the void. Sure I had my part-time bookkeeping business, but it consumed only a few hours a day and it wasn’t interesting any more. Something was missing, but what?

This prompted me to review what I like to call my “mid-life list.” This is similar to a “bucket list,” with an important twist. The idea was to refocus myself and figure out the things I wanted to do with my life in my fifties – while I could still do them. My list was short.

-Learn to play the piano

-Travel to Africa to see the elephants

-Travel to Tahiti and see the island of Bora Bora

-Travel back to France (with my family this time)

-Write a book

At the time, I didn’t own a piano and, with two daughters in college (on the east coast no less!), I couldn’t afford a trip to Africa or Tahiti. I had already traveled back to France in 2001 with my family, so that left me to examine the fifth item on my list more closely. If I did write a book, would it be fiction or non-fiction? What genre would I choose?

The answers to my questions came to me in the shower (which is where many of my ideas seem to materialize, strangely enough). I decided to hunt down my diary from my au pair adventure in France and compose a memoir. It took me three years and countless hours to write French Illusions, but now I can scratch another item off my mid-life list.

Which part of the book was the hardest to write?

I have to admit writing my memoir was a lot more complex than I initially imagined it would be. My diary offered a great outline, but I had to research and fill in hard-to-find data on the Loire Valley, the Loire River and the town of Tours. Internet searches produced most of the information and travel books supplied the rest. From the beginning, difficult questions emerged, such as how to deal with the French sprinkled throughout the book, and whether or not to italicize my thoughts. Oh, and I really struggled with how much detail to include in my own love scenes.

Does your book have an underlying message that readers should know about?

Set in the beautiful Loire Valley, French Illusions, my remarkable true story, will remind readers what it was like to be young, adventurous and filled with dreams. It’s not too late to create your own memories so go out and explore the world. Life’s for living, after all.

Do you have a writing tip you’d like to share?

Descriptions have their place, but I’ve always loved “white space” on a page, so I dialogue a scene whenever possible. A few expressive interjections enhance the conversations and make them more interesting. Emotional cues, scattered throughout a book add depth. “Pulses race” and “guts tighten” when people get excited, frightened or angry.

Would you like to tell us about your home life?

I start my day about 8:30 in the morning with a generous cup of coffee. After I check emails, I attend to book business for a few hours – promotions, research, my blog or twitter. At certain times of the month, I meet with clients or perform tasks associated with my bookkeeping business. Often, in the afternoon, after lunch, I walk the dog, run errands or write. I can’t sit for long or my neck hurts, so I switch back and forth between my desk and a standing computer station. Late in the day, my husband arrives home from work and that signals a break for dinner. After a few more hours writing at the computer, I finally shut things down at around nine o’clock. Ahhh, a glass of wine usually helps me unwind.

What was the first thing you did as far as promoting your book?

After creating a detailed marketing plan, I contracted with Steve Bennett at Authorbytes to construct a modern interactive website which includes widgets linking my twitter account, my blog and my Facebook Fan Page.

What is the most frustrating part of being an author?

There are so many unknowns and so much to learn after you self-publish a book. Constant questions come up and answers are elusive in the beginning, especially if it’s your first attempt. What are the best promotions for authors? How do I get more readers to write reviews? How do I get more followers to my Facebook Fan Page? How can I find the best connections on Twitter? Authors want to write, but we have to understand that promotion is just as important. Fortunately, the internet offers a wealth of information. I google my subject, click on links to blogs or discussions and slowly, over time, I gain knowledge and my frustrations fade.

What is the most rewarding part of being an author?

Once I created my book and put it out there to the world, I hoped, more than anything else, that people would enjoy it. Positive reviews, whether voiced or written, put me over the moon with happiness.

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How do you make sales happen for you?

A lot of hard work! I sponsor a lot of on line parties, festivals and contests. Book sales don’t magically happen, believe me. An author has to work hard to earn her readers. And then she has to work hard to keep them by giving them something they’ll enjoy reading. I try hard to make my books worth a reader’s time.

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