INTERVIEW WITH LINORE ROSE BURKARD

Linore Rose Burkard and I met a few years ago when she featured a blurb from my first book, Romanian Rhapsody, on a Christmas blog. Today I am pleased to have her as my guest. Her book, The House in Grosvenor Square, tied for second place in this year’s IRCC, the Reader’s Choice award for Christian novelists.


The House in Grosvenor Square is set in Regency London. Tell us a little bit more about that time period and that literary genre.
The regency is a marvelous period with its own distinct style of dress, manners, speech, and social customs, as well as politics, literature, entertainment, and so on. It begins, technically, when George, the Prince of Wales became Regent in 1811, and ends when he became King in 1820. For such a short historical period, it is a favorite era for romance novelists and draws a wide following of fiercely loyal readers who know their stuff.

Regencies aren’t all that common in Christian fiction. Did you run into any unusual problems in marketing your book?
Due to the newness of the genre in the Christian market, I did run into many people who were totally unfamiliar with a “regency.” Readers who would love my book didn’t recognize they they’d love it, as the setting was so new for them. By reminding them that the regency is the period in which Jane Austen’s novels, by and large, take place, it helped them to get a handle on the genre. They started to recognize that they actually LOVE this time period. And there were, actually, lots of fans of the genre who welcomed a Christian regency with open arms, even joy.

What are you currently working on?
I’ve just submitted a contemporary romance to my agent, and now I’m finishing up a regency time-travel which has been on my heart for years.

Regency time travel! What a fascinating idea!What has been your most satisfactory experience as a writer?
Hearing from readers who really “get” what I do, and reading their descriptions of how how they love the books. It’s like a shot in the arm every time. I don’t know of any greater reward than making people happy, particularly when it involves their spiritual lives. I’ve had a lot of feedback regarding people who were spiritually blessed by the books, and that is my greatest joy.

How do you stay inspired as a writer, when the daily grind threatens to wear you down?
I take breaks from writing. There are lots of people who say you should write every day, and I suppose that in small ways, I do. Either blogging or just answering email is writing. But I do take breaks from novel writing, sometimes shockingly long breaks, I mean, months. I used to say that doing the actual writing of a book took the least amount of time of everything I do as an author. And that may still be true. So much time needs to be spent on marketing, networking, blogging, professional email, etc., that doing the actual writing can be a joy, and yet one of the least time-consuming things on my agenda. Some novels take more work than others, however.

As a Christian author, prayer and Bible study is not only vital but rejuvenating, and keeping up with other authors is encouraging. Like anyone, an author needs rest and exercise, but on the flip side we may need more “alone” time than other people. As an author yourself, you probably know what I mean. : )

What can readers expect to see next from you? Where can they find you on the internet?
I’m hoping they’ll see my contemporary romance out by even next summer if possible; and then the time-travel. The time-travel is a blast and my beta readers are crazy about it.

My website has free resources for readers so I hope many of you will stop by, and while you’re there, get on my mailing list. I send out occasional illustrated newsletters, and of course you’ll be informed of new books right away. I also give a free download when you sign up that you’ll get automatically after doing so.

In what ways has your success changed you, both personally and as a writer? Is there any aspect of writing that hasn’t changed much?

I think being published has been very affirming, and it certainly helped me see that writing is a gift that needs to be nurtured and exercised; it isn’t just a weird thing I like to do now and then. It’s a calling, a vocation, a responsibility, and a gift. I thank God for giving me this calling, and I pray He uses my work to bless, encourage and challenge my readers.

Thanks for having me on your blog, Darlene! Just want to mention that my first two books are available for ebook readers through Amazon (Kindle) and on BarnesandNoble.com, if not elsewhere.