BLOGWORDS – Thursday 12 June 2025 – CHAT THURSDAY

BLOGWORDS – Thursday 12 June 2025 – CHAT THURSDAY – LINDA K. RODANTE

CHAT THURSDAY – LINDA K. RODANTE

Please give a warm feathered welcome to author and friend, Linda Rodante.

rem: Hullo Linda, and welcome. Tell us three random things about yourself.

LINDA: I moved from Florida to Tennessee about nine years ago to get away from the heat and to be closer to my son and his family. I love the seasons in Tennessee and the cold weather!

I like to write in the middle of the night while listening to praise and worship music.

I worked for five years as director of a pregnancy center and for eight years with an anti-trafficking group in the Clearwater-Tampa Bay area in Florida.

rem: I totally understand getting awa from the heat!! What is your favorite quotation and why?

LINDA: That would be from the Bible. 2^nd Corinthians 3:18. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” As Christians, we all try to be more like Jesus, and yet this verse tells us we are changed when we behold his glory. When we see Jesus, when we see him as he truly is (in the Word), then we are changed. Not by trying so hard in our own strength, but through seeing and knowing him.

rem: Yes ma’an!! When reading, what makes or breaks a story for you? Your fiction pet peeve?

LINDA: My first thought is the writing. Today people talk about marketing so much, but leave out the necessity of a well-written story, about having learned how to plot, write well-developed characters, how to use grammar and word pictures, action verbs and correct POV, etc. It’s just as important to learn the craft of writing as you would learn any other craft or career choice. A fiction pet peeve, though, is when I see the same plot or character traits from book to book. For instance, I have read in too many books about a character pushing her hair behind her ear or a character’s stomach growling. It would be funny if it weren’t tiresome. Find original character traits, please. And I say that knowing I have a couple of those in one or two of my own books! 😊 Plots can be repetitive, too. I mean, how many second-chance romances can there be in real life? We are overwhelmed by them in Christian fiction these days.

rem: We can’t underestimate the importance of a quality, well written story. What are you reading right now?

LINDA: John Grisham’s Camino Winds. And I almost hate to say that, as I’ve only read two other books of his in my lifetime. But my husband likes his books (as do thousands of others), so I am reading this one. What you didn’t ask, but I’d like to say is that I am looking forward to Roseanna M. White’s new book, The Collector of Burned Books. It will be out July 15^th. 😊

rem: You’re not alone in not having read more than a couple of John Grisham’s books; I have only read a couple, myself. Tell us a little about your writing journey.

LINDA: Oh wow. Like so many others, I started writing when I was young, about twelve, but ended up putting it aside when I started college, then I married, had children—all those life things that are wonderful but get in the way sometimes. I also got saved, gave my heart to the Lord, in my late twenties! After both sons graduated college, I started writing again, was blessed to attend a number of Christian writing conferences rem: which is where we met 😊 where I took writing classes, met agents and editors, and was going the whole traditionally to-be-published route. I wrote three books in a series at an agent's encouragement, but kept being told they were good, only not what the publishing house was looking for right then. While working at Trinity College in New Port Richey, Florida, I decided to write a fiction book based at a Christian college. That book is titled Looking for Justice and is actually the 4^th in my romantic suspense series. At the encouragement of a new agent, I published it as an Indie author on Amazon. Then I published those first three books one at a time. 😊 Then kept writing.

rem: And you’ve taken off by storm, too! What genre(s) do you write and why?

LINDA: I write Christian romantic suspense and Christian romantic mysteries. I write Christian because a world without God does not speak to me (or my readers), and I love a good romance and good mystery, so it all just falls into place.

rem: I love how you weave the faith elements into your storyline, seamless and natural. Tell us a little about your latest book? What is your current project?

LINDA: Again, wow. You’ve asked the hard question. I am working – in my brain – on that. I have an idea, which is usually how I start, and then I start writing. I am what is called a pantzer, meaning I write by the “seat of my pants.” I don’t outline. rem: me either! Neither do I know how the story is going to unfold from beginning to end, although I might have an idea of the ending. In one of my books, I did not know a major character was going to die! The story or the characters tend to write the book itself.

rem: Yup! Pantzer writing is like taking dictation from the characters LOL What is YOUR favorite part about the book or why do you love this book? Why should we read it?

LINDA: In Looking for Justice, my favorite part is that the male protagonist was injured in the Afghanistan war. How he relates to the female protagonist and her “inside” injuries makes him a wonderful hero. Again, not something I planned, but something that developed as the story unfolded. I do pray, as I’m sure most Christian authors do, for God to lead and reveal himself in my writing, for him to bless the reader.

rem: I love how your characters interact. What is one take-away from your book(s) that you hope readers identify with?

LINDA: I want it to be a good read for them, with a mystery to solve, and characters to relate to, but as I said above, I hope they take away a feeling that God spoke to them somewhere during the book.

rem: You have done a great job of balancing that. One more and then we’ll close. Do you have a life Scripture?

LINDA: 😊 That would be 2^nd Cor 3:18, as I said at the beginning, but also Ephesians 3:8, “Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” What an honor to be able to share God’s goodness, the riches of Christ, his sacrifice and resurrection to those that don’t know him.

rem: An honor, yes, absolutely, and humbling. Anything you’d like to add?

LINDA: I’ve said a lot, hopefully not too much! 😊 My favorite series is The Spiritual Warfare Series because of the reality of spiritual warfare and prayer. But I love my newest, too, The Waterfall Mysteries, because it is more mystery than suspense, although I can’t help but incorporate suspense in it. And I would love followers on Bookbub. I’m trying to get to 1000 there.

Thank you, Robin, for this interview, and may God richly bless you and your own writing!

rem: Linda, thank you so much for chatting with us on my blog today!

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Linda-K.-Rodante/author/B0CCC7ZMNC?ref

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Besides being an author, I am married with two grown sons, a precious daughter-in-law and six grandchildren whom I love!

In between raising a family, I worked in the banking industry, then became a center director for a pregnancy center. I spent eight years with an anti-trafficking group in the Tampa Bay area, and eight years at Trinity College of Florida. These last three influenced my thinking greatly and influence my writing as well.

I love sweet tea, and the beaches, the swamps, and the forests of my native Florida. I now reside in Tennessee near my grandchildren, and love the coolness, the mountains and seasonal changes of Tennessee, especially the fall leaf change!

I started writing when I was twelve then put it all away when I married. At 27, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior. Years later, I started writing again, but now I had God’s help and purpose!

I write Christian romantic suspense. My books wrap sweet romance in real-life issues women face today. Some of these are hard situations that find their answer in God's love, power and forgiveness. Each book includes mystery and suspense and a dose of laughter. I desire is not only to entertain, but also to encourage others in their walk with God.

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