Exposing the Heartstone

Today I’d like to welcome debut author Lynda K. Scott to the Writer’s Block. Lynda’s first book, Heartstone has recently been released by Mundania Press.

Welcome Lynda, tell us a little bit about you and how you got into writing
I’ve been writing since the time I could first hold a pencil in my chubby little hand, but my 4th grade teacher, Mrs Moore, gave me the real impetus to create stories to entertain others. She gave my class a writing assignment – to tell a story about entering a magic tunnel, what you find there, what you do, how you get back. I’m not sure what her goal was, other than to see how much we’d learned from our English lessons. Or it may have been a way to encourage us to stretch our imaginations.

I’ve taught creative writing at my local community college and used an assignment similar to Mrs Moore’s to show the students that although you can write about the same subject, your stories will be very different. So thank you, Mrs Moore!

What a wonderful teacher, but you’ve come a long way since those crayons and magic tunnels. Could you please tell us about your book?
Prior to writing Heartstone, I’d only written short science fiction. Oddly enough, all of the short fiction (except the few horror pieces) had romantic elements. So my writer buddies, all experienced and published romance writers, suggested I should try my hand at romance. I’m always up for a challenge and a few months later, Heartstone was born. Then these same friends suggested I enter it in contests for more feedback. I did. Heartstone finaled and won several of the contests it was in. I’ve been writing science fantasy romance ever since.

It’s amazing how good contests can help focus a writer. But before the focus comes the inspiration. Where do you get yours?
Inspiration can come from just about any source. I watched dust motes drifting through a beam of sunlight one day and came up with a scene for a story (not yet contracted). Heartstone itself arose from a series of what if questions. What if a woman didn’t know she was born on another planet? What if she didn’t know that the ‘psychological problems’ she thinks she has are really a manifestation of a rare talent prized by her people? What if she was married at mere months of age after a seer foretold who her destined mate would be?

On another story, a short SF with romantic elements, the entire plot and characters sprang to life after a dream I had about dust bunnies. A news story about a binary star inspired another SF story (also with romantic elements – you can see why my friends suggested I write romance, lol)

I don’t have any one source for inspiration. Everything on God’s green and blue planet inspires me in one fashion or another.

Dreams are wonderful sources of inspiration to be sure. I find movies great inspiration as well. If you were sick in bed what would be your comfort movie?
Okay, don’t laugh. My comfort movie is Zulu, with Stanley Baker and a very young Michael Caine. It’s a story of unmitigated bravery against an overwhelming force where a handful of British soldiers hold a small fort against the Zulu uprising over a period of three days at Rorke’s Drift. It doesn’t glorify violence or death and there are not four letter words or sex (the only woman wears long skirts and is covered up to the neck) but the characters and the characterization are beyond anything else I’ve ever seen. This is the kind of movie where certain lines or scenes are emblazoned on your memory for all time…at least they are if you’ve watched the movie as much as I have, lol.

Sometimes those sweet and innocent movies are the best. Speaking of sweet and innocent where do you do all your romance writing? 
Right now, my writing space is a disaster. I’m in the middle of re-doing my home office to make it a tad more efficient and comfortable. So let me talk about how I hope it will be when I’m done. I have a large V-shaped desk with my desk top and my laptop sitting in the V middle section. I share my office with my kitten, Wookie (you can see her picture on my website) and her bed sits on a small chest in front of the window facing the street. That’s so she can catch any stray sunbeam…you knw how cats are about sunbeams, lol. I also have an easy chair to read in beside a small table with a gorgeous tiffany style lamp I bought years ago, a small TV and Wookie’s unmentionable area (she’s strictly an indoor kitty). The walls are painted lilac and I talked my hubby into putting a series of shelves on two walls to hold my ‘keeper’ books. Those shelves will be next on my list of things to reorganize…which means ‘how can I get more books into this limited space?’ I sometimes wonder if the anchors fastening the shelves to the walls will be able to hold all those books up? I won’t be putting my desk under them. No need to take dangerous risks, right?

Oh, no living dangerously for you? Well then if we asked your friends to name 3 personality traits that do describe you, what would they be? 
Most would get a mischievous gleam in their eye that would worry me if I didn’t know their secrets too, lol. They’d keep the gleam but they’d say honest, smart and loyal. Those are the character traits I prize in my friends so I hope I have them too.

Oh, and speaking of traits, when you’re reading someone else’s books what male traits make the hero a turnoff for you? 
First let me say, I love fictional alpha males but some can get too close to a point that’s almost abusive and that makes me a little uneasy. I’ll also say that even though they might get close to that line, they never actually cross it. If they did, the book would never make it to the library donation box, it’d go straight to the trash.

Trash a book? Yep, that happened with my first book. What happened to the first novel you wrote? 
That would be Heartstone if you’re talking about finished novels. I have a whole bunch of other novels that were never completely finished for one reason or another. Mostly because they even bored me after awhile, lol.

Wow! I’m impressed your first finished romance manuscript was published. I’d like to find something romantic for Mr. Nina’s birthday, any suggestions? 
Well, knowing Mr Nina as well as you do, you’d get something that would make his eyes sparkle. It could be a dinner at his favorite bistro or an evening at the game of his choice. Perhaps it would be a new dress for you that makes his eyes sparkle? Or an evening at home with his feet up, the newspaper at hand, and a cold one on the table beside him. The key is to know him and what he likes, what he thinks is romantic. Knowledge is power <g>

Oh, and I do know him so well! *wink wink* And since you know your characters so well if you could be one of your characters who would you choose and why? 
I’d be Tara Rowen in my third novel (currently uncontracted and looking for a home). She’s a star ship captain, a jill-of-all-trades, who has a break even operation hauling merchandise from one star system to another. I’d love to travel the galaxy, to see new sights and people, to walk on different planets and smell the roses…or the nicturins as they may be called.

Oh, traveling the universe sounds wonderful, but not very relaxing. Which would you choose for a little down time … a hot soak in the tub or a smokin’ BBQ with your friends? 
I can’t have both??? Or maybe start with a smokin’ BBQ with friends and everyone goes into the tub later?

A woman after my own heart, naughty to the core! Okay something on a more serious note. What advice would you give aspirting authors? 
I’d give the same advice my creative writing professor in college gave – Write every day…even if you think it’s garbage put the words down. Keep going until you’re done. Then let it rest for a week. When you go back, you may find it’s a whole lot better than you thought. If not, figure out why. What doesn’t work? Fix it. Make it shine. Once you’ve done that, find a home for it and start writing something new. The more you write, the better you’ll get.

Wow, I think we’ve covered it all, but if we haven’t is there anything else you’d like to share with your readers?
At one time, Heartstone had a prologue. My current publisher decided not to use it but I wanted it available for readers who might be interested in how the story began. It can be found on my website.

Great News! If you buy Heartstone through the Mundania site, you can use the code LSCOTT10 at checkout and receive a 10% discount on your total (Heartstone plus any other book you might want) purchase.

BLURB:
Eric d’Ebrur is out of time. He must find the legendary Heartstone and fulfill the ancient Gar’Ja bond he shares with the Stonebearer. But when he finds her, he discovers that love can be more dangerous than the Gawan threat. Eric can defeat the mind-controlling Gawan but will it cost him the woman he loves?

After terrifying episodes of hypersensitivity, Keriam Norton thinks she’s losing her mind. When handsome shapeshifter Eric d’Ebrur saves her from the monstrous Gawan, she’s sure of it. But insane or not, she’ll find the Heartstone and, if she’s lucky, a love to last a lifetime.

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Well, Lynda finished the interview and she headed over to the pool house with a couple of the cabana boys and a pitcher of margaritas. If you want to keep up with all her happenings visit her blog or friend her on Myspace, Facebook or Twitter. I’m sure i will be able to pull her away from the boys after a nice massage so please leave her a comment. She loves to hear from readers!