Interview with Linore Rose Burkard

Linore Rose Burkard has a debut book with Harvest House this month titled Before the Season Ends.

ABOUT Linore: She writes Spirit and Sensibility
for the Jane Austen Soul. In her books you will find fast-paced adventure and falling-in-love. Humor, and all the Regency atmosphere you could want. Feisty heroines who aren't afraid to fall on their knees to pray. Twists and turns when you least expect them. And happy endings made in Heaven

Romance you can share with your mother, daughter, sister, or friend (and don't forget Grandma)


I have an interview with Linore here:

1. If your heroine could write a one paragraph blurb about you, the author of her story, what might she say?
>From the mouth of Ariana Forsythe, from 1813 London:

Linore's been fair with me, I grant, but she is not letting me say enough! First of all, has it been obvious to any of you
readers that I am truly swooning, at heart, for Phillip? Yes, she allowed me to run into his arms, to kiss him impulsively,
but how many times, I ask you? Once, when he came to me repentantly after being bamboozled by the Carlton House set,
and once when he returned to me from Chesterton. I must say, Ms. Burkard, could you not do better? I am in love for the
first time in my life! I have never seen, nor can I imagine, a man more noble in features and character than my betrothed!
He sets my heart aflutter and sometimes confounds me (even me) in my speech! Surely he is a man who deserves a little more
affection, wouldn't you say?

2. What about the hero?

>From the mouth of Phillip Mornay, the Paragon:

Why on earth didn't you send Ariana to me earlier? I could have been spared a near decade of tiresome pursuits and company
as you well know. Was it beyond your capability to write me in younger? I daresay it would have cost you devilish little trouble and yet
you left me wallowing in my cynicism and agnosticism--for what? To what purpose? And pray, do not say it was on account of some
authorial whim or fancy--that won't answer, I assure you.


3. Where is your favorite place to write and why?

My favorite place to write hasn't appeared anywhere but in my imagination. I envision somewhere quiet and totally alone. In real life, I'd be too timid
to venture to such a place. (Say, the middle of the Adirondacks.) The other problem with this favorite place is that, when I stop writing for the day or night, I love
having my family around me. If I go to a truly lonely retreat, I'd get lonely when I'm not working! For me, I believe it's really a matter of WHEN is my favorite time to write. I love writing when everyone is out, or asleep, or just doing their own things. I too often find myself writing in the midst of questions, interruptions, and needs. I believe I am called to these interruptions, as much as to writing, but it does get frustrating, coming up to reality and then plunging back down into my story, over and over. It's a sort of work in its own right.


4. If your heroine lived in the here and now, where would she be this moment and what would she be doing?

Wonderful question! Ariana would be on the Board or Committee in charge of sending out missionaries to foreign countries, or
visiting Africa with care packages for the poor. She'd be an assistant at an orphanage in China, or a medical aide in a makeshift "hospital" somewhere in
India. She's smart enough to survive in the working world, such as being an office manager, say, but her heart is to help the needy and spread the gospel.


5. Let's pretend your hero hasn't met her yet. If he showed up where she was, what would be the first thing he'd say to her and why?

Supposing we go with the scenario of her getting hands-on in a missionary hospital, then, Mr. Mornay would no doubt give her one look
and his face would crumple into a frown. (A handsome frown, that is.) He'd say, "And what is your business here?"
"I am to be your aide, sir!"
"My aide? Who on earth sent you? I should think you would stick to the schoolroom. Teach the little natives English, but leave hosptial to those who shan't swoon at the sight of blood, if you please!"


6. What are you working on now?

My new website, new resources for readers, a "Myths and Mysteries of the Regency" report; and swapping ideas with my editor about
what book I'll do next. (Possibly a third in the Regency Series, to follow the story after The House in Grosvenor Square.)


7. What could be the highest compliment a reader could say upon closing the last page of your book?

The highest compliment would be that the book revealed God to them in a new way, giving them hope for eternal life.


8. What was your favorite scene to write and why?

There's this scene where Mr. Mornay has to call upon Ariana, expecting her to have lost all her regard for him. I laughed out loud when I wrote his reaction to the way
she greets him. It's one of my favorite scenes in the book. Originally, (and in my self-published version) I had her giggling as she moves toward him, because she is amused by his reaction, too, but that giggle was edited out.


9. What was the hardest scene to write and why?

One of the scenes that everyone seems to love, and the one that started the whole book in my mind: the tree scene. The heroine impulsively climbs a tree on a beautiful
day when she is quite alone in a small wooded spot on a posh estate. Then she gets stuck. I must have re-written the actual climbing, the way her dress gets stuck, the way the estate looks to her, at least a dozen times! Maybe two. I don't even know. It was tricky because it's not your average thing to do when you're at a posh estate and you're a newcomer to the scene. I had to make it seem reasonable. Then, I had to get her stuck in a way that was believable. I guess I worked at it long enough, because people mention loving that scene long after they've finished the book.


10. How can readers stay in touch with your new releases, etc? Do you have a Web site or a blog or newsletter url you'd like to share?

I write a montly, illustrated "e-zine," with Regency -related content. I also include my latest announcements, and I encourage readers to sign up for it. I give away monthly free downloads, too, which should be of interest to anyone who likes either the Regency or historical fiction, or history. Anyone can sign up for free by going to my homepage:

Linore's Web Site

Thank you, Cheryl, your questions were delightful!

Linore, thank you for being here today. God's best in your writing endeavors.

Thanks, bloggies for visiting with us today.

Cheryl Wyatt