Linda Shenton Matchett Interview

Q: Let me start with asking you to tell us a little bit about yourself.
A. While I was growing up, my dad worked for IBM, which among employees stands for “I’ve Been Moved” and the phrase definitely applied to us! I’ve been married to my best friend/high school sweetheart for 35 years. We love the outdoors, so do a lot of hiking, kayaking, snow shoeing, etc. I’ve had a lot of interesting jobs: crisis counselor at an abused women’s shelter, human resources professional, youth center director, and Bed and Breakfast owner. I’m now the dining/catering manager at a boarding school.

Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
A. I’ve been writing since I was in elementary school. My parents must have seen some spark of imagination because they gave me a writing tablet and package of pencils for my 7th birthday and told me they knew I could fill it. I still have it!

Q: Could you give us the highlights of your professional writing career including how you got your first writing break?
A. I wrote non-fiction (employee newsletters, training manuals, etc.) during my corporate career, but my first “real” writing break came as a freelance magazine writer. My husband and I had moved to New Hampshire to run a B&B. A few months after that I was at a Chamber of Commerce mingle and met the editor of a regional magazine who indicated she was looking for writers. I submitted a couple of pieces, and she accepted me as a stringer. Not long after that I found two other regional travel and lifestyle magazines who regularly took my articles. My fiction career took much longer. I made my first manuscript submission in 2006. It was rejected (for good reason!), and after many conferences, workshops, etc. I indie published with three other authors in 2016. The following year I published two manuscripts through a traditional publisher. In 2018, I published both traditionally and independently.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release Murder of Convenience?
A: The story is set during WWII. Geneva Alexander has a degenerative eye disease which will eventually lead to blindness. Her parents decide to arrange a marriage for her so she is taken care of, but her fiancé ends up dead, and she’s the main suspect. She has to prove her innocence before she loses her vision.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for Murder of Convenience?
A: I decided to do a series about five friends who join different organizations that support the war effort. I had just seen a documentary about Bob Hope and his affiliation with the United Services Organization (USO). I had a friend who was struggling with some vision issues (fortunately correctable by surgery) but her situation got me to thinking about what it would be like to have to deal with potential blindness, so I decided to explore that within the story. I love mail-order bride stories, so put a twist on that with creating an “arranged marriage” plot line.

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?
A: In our weakness, God is strong.

Q: What inspires you to write?
A. Writing rejuvenates me, so I am happiest when I am at my desk plugging away at the keyboard. I get my story ideas from all kinds of places: newspaper or magazine articles, books, movies I’ve seen, TV shows, overheard conversations, and the Bible (I’m working on a series that is modern retellings of biblical stories). I especially love writing about women who have overcome situations that strengthens their faith.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?
A. I’m working on book four of my Wartime Brides series. It is a retelling of the story of Rebekkah and Isaac set in Maryland during 1943. It explores how conscientious objectors served during WWII.

Q: When you’re not writing what do you like to do?
A. I’m a voracious reader, so if I’m not outdoors, I’m curled up on the couch with a book.