Please help me welcome Linda to my blog today. She will be giving a $5 giftcard of the winners choice as a prize to one lucky commentor, so be sure and leave her a comment.

Tell us about yourself.

I’m a native Pennsylvanian who lived most of my life in Southern California. As a child, I was fascinated by the ocean, and I like living near it, even though I don’t swim well. I’m also a book junkie who spent much of my childhood either lost in the pages of a book or in my own daydreams of the books I would write when I grew up. That dream was put aside for a number of years. About 25 years ago, I decided it was time to try to make that childhood dream come true and I’ve been writing ever since.

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be, and why?

The Monterey Peninsula in Central California. There’s something special about that area for me. It’s not just the cooler weather or the natural beauty of the beaches, though they are lovely, but there’s something in the air that seems magical to me. I just feel good there. It’s not as urban as Southern California, and wild deer can be seen roaming the streets of Pacific Grove. We even saw a red fox once out by Asilomar Beach. But alas, it’s very expensive real estate. Of course if I want to dream really big, I’ll say London, which is even more expensive, but oh, to be so close to all that history and research material! That would be wonderful.

Have you had other careers before becoming a writer?

Yes, I’m a librarian by training, with a Master’s degree in Library Science from the University of Texas at Austin. When I first got out of school, I worked for several years as a technical librarian. For a history buff like me, it was surreal to be surrounded by technical books and journals, most of which I didn’t understand. It’s pretty bad when the only books you can read in your own library are the dictionary and encyclopedia! I left the library field to work as a travel agent for a time, and then went back to library work, but in public libraries this time. I enjoy being on the information/reference desk and helping people to find the information and books they needed.

How likely are people you meet to end up in your next book?

Generally, not very likely, at least not in recognizable form, though I have used old boyfriends as models for a couple of villains. However, in Lady Elinor’s Escape, I cast some of my closest women friends as secondary characters, with names only slightly changed to accommodate the Regency period, for instance Belinda rather than Linda.

How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?

I have written and published 3 full-length novels plus about two dozen short stories and novellas under my Lyndi Lamont pseudonym. I call Rogue’s Hostage the book of my heart, but really, I love them all.

What inspired your latest book?

My recent release is a reissue of my Regency romance, Lady Elinor’s Escape. Like a lot of readers, I fell in love with this time period when I read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. I wanted to write a Regency Cinderella story, but needed a twist on it, and came up with the idea of a poor little rich girl with an abusive aunt who finds her Prince Charming in the form of a London barrister who rescues damsels in distress. Stephen helps Elinor escape to her fairy godmother, a French modiste in London, where Elinor hides out disguised as a seamstress. It’s not the typical Regency, since readers get to see how the working class lived for a change.

What is your favorite part of writing?

The most exciting part is when the original idea starts to take shape in my mind, as the characters come to life and start talking to me, though not literally, of course. (The difference between writers and schizophrenics is writers know the voices in their heads aren’t real.) The most satisfying part is when you get to The End.

What are you reading now?

Dan Brown’s Inferno.

Where can readers find your books? Print/Ebook?

Most of my books are available only in ebook format at this time. I’m hoping to get them into print soon using Amazon’s CreateSpace. The ebook are available at Amaon, Barnes and Noble and other retailers. Links are available at my website: http://www.lindamclaughlin.com/bookshelf

What’s next for you?

Presently I have two projects in the works, both Westerns. One is a full length novel set in post-Civil War Texas entitled Touched By Fire. I’m also working on a holiday short story for a Western historical Christmas anthology set in Debra Holland’s fictional town of Sweetwater Springs. I’m honored to be working with Debra and Cynthia on this fun project.

Cynthia, thanks so much for hosting me here at your blog.

Linda

Lady Elinor’s Escape
by Linda McLaughlin
Sweet Regency Romance
Lady Elinor Ashworth always longed for adventure, but when she runs away from her abusive aunt, she finds more than she bargained for. Elinor fears her aunt who is irrational and dangerous, threatening Elinor and anyone she associates with. When she encounters an inquisitive gentleman, she accepts his help, but fearing for his safety, hides her identity by pretending to be a seamstress. She resists his every attempt to draw her out, all the while fighting her attraction to him.
There are too many women in barrister Stephen Chaplin’s life, but he has never been able to turn his back on a damsel in distress. The younger son of a baronet is a rescuer of troubled females, an unusual vocation fueled guilt over his failure to save the woman he loved from her brutal husband. He cannot help falling in love with his secretive seamstress, but to his dismay, the truth of her background reveals Stephen as the ineligible party.
Lady Elinor’s Escape is now available at Amazon, All Romance eBooks, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Smashwords.

Excerpt:

“Excuse me, madam, but I could not help overhearing you say that you must leave for London immediately. Allow me to introduce myself. Stephen Chaplin, Esquire, at your service.”

Elinor turned to face the gentleman who had suddenly appeared. She stared at him through a haze of black, taking advantage of her veil to get a closer look at this tall, dark-haired, seemingly well bred gentleman. He was above average height, with finely chiseled features, and while he could not, strictly speaking, be deemed handsome, there was something in the intense scrutiny of his light brown eyes that drew her to him. By the cut of his bottle green Superfine coat, which emphasized his broad shoulders, but was not so tight as to hamper movement, and his casually tied neckcloth, she surmised he was no society dandy.

“How do you do?” she said politely, extending one black-gloved hand.

“Fine, thank you.”

As he took her hand and bowed over it, Elinor savored the warmth of his touch for a moment. It had been a long time since someone had touched her out of kindness. Suddenly realizing she was clutching his hand, she withdrew hers. He studied her, his gaze seeming to penetrate the veil, and she could only stand like the veriest lump under his scrutiny.

“I beg your pardon, madam, but what did you say your name was?”

“Eli—” Elinor broke off and feigned a cough, panic bubbling up inside. Her name. Dear heavens, she needed a new name. If she told him who she was, he would never agree to take her to Mimi. She stared down at the gentleman’s yellow nankeen trousers and shiny brown boots. “Brown,” she stammered. “Ellie Brown.”

“Mrs. Brown, may I offer my assistance? I’m heading for London myself and would be pleased to convey you as far as Chippenham, where you may pick up another stage coach.”

Relief flooded through her at his offer, but could she trust him? No proper young lady rides in a closed carriage with a gentleman who is not related to her. The words of her governess rang in her ears. “I do not think—”

“Of course, you are cautious,” he interrupted smoothly. “Any genteel lady would hesitate to trust a strange gentleman.”

“But I am not a lady,” she blurted. If Aunt Sarah learned that a ‘lady’ had been here, she would know where to look for her. “I am merely a seamstress.”

“Really,” he drawled, doubt evident in his tone.

Linda’s Bio:

Linda McLaughlin grew up with a love of history fostered by her paternal grandmother and an incurable case of wanderlust inherited from her father. She has traveled extensively within the United States and has visited Mexico, Canada, & Australia. A lifelong dream came true with a trip to England where she was able to combine sightseeing and theater with research for her novels. A native of Pittsburgh, she now lives in Southern California with her husband.

Her first book was Worth The Risk by Lyn O’Farrell, written with Anne Farrell. Now Linda writes historical and Regency romance. She loves transporting her readers into the past where her characters learn that, in the journey of life, love is the sweetest reward.

She also writes sexy to erotic romance under the name Lyndi Lamont.

Website: http://www.lindamclaughlin.com/
Blog: http://flightsafancy.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/linda.mclaughlin.1806
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/lindamclaughlin
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LyndiLamont