I’d like to welcome the fabulous Linday Lovely to the blog for #WriterWednesday!

Things you never want to run out of: Coffee to wake me up each morning, and toilet paper (TP wasn’t on my essentials list until we ran out during the pandemic).

Things you wish you’d never bought: Uncomfortable shoes and all the specialty facial washes, moisturizers, and cosmetics collecting dust under the bathroom sink.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Quiet. No radio, TV noise. My husband and I quickly learned we couldn’t share an office.

Things that hamper your writing: Phone interruptions and the urge to get up and do something constructive (like making cookies or cleaning the bathroom) when I’m having a bad day.

Hardest thing about being a writer: Social media promotion to sell books, though I really enjoy in-person meetings at book clubs, libraries, etc.

Easiest thing about being a writer: Finding ways to “disappear” or humiliate the type of characters who annoy you in real life.

Words that describe you: Determined, optimistic, easily amused.

Words that describe you, but you wish they didn’t: Old, wrinkled, overweight.

Favorite foods: Chocolate, Eggs Benedict, almost any Italian dish.

Things that make you want to gag: Vegetables overcooked until they’re slimy.

Favorite smell: Cookies or cakes baking in the oven. My answers to these questions seem to explain why one of the words I use to describe myself is overweight.

Something that makes you hold your nose: People who douse themselves in perfume.

Something you’re really good at: Cooking.

Something you’re really bad at: Holding my tongue. I tend to say what I think and offer my opinion even when the wiser course is to keep my mouth shut.

Things you always put in your books: Smart women.

Things you never put in your books: I’m tempted to say smart men—but that’s not true! My real answer is I don’t like excessive gore or torture scenes and avoid those.

Favorite books (or genre): Mysteries, thrillers, suspense.

Books you wouldn’t buy: Most celebrity-written bios.

Favorite things to do: Read, go on long walks, play tennis, swim.

Things you’d run through a fire or eat bugs to get out of doing: Attend an opera or a rave. Hate huge crowds and loud noise.

Best thing you’ve ever done: Married my husband, my best friend. Approaching our 50th.

Biggest mistake: Years ago, my husband and I bought a franchise that we quickly discovered was a huge mistake. But we gained skills that we’ve been very thankful for—so the mistake eventually yielded a happy ending.

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Oil painting, playing with food recipes.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: Some of those “let’s see what happens if I add this” recipes.

About Linda:

Linda Lovely’s A Killer App is her eleventh published novel. A journalism major in college, Lovely spent decades handling corporate PR, including penning hundreds of feature articles for business, trade and travel magazines. Today, her focus is fiction. Her mysteries, historical suspense and contemporary thrillers share one common element—smart, independent heroines. A member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime, she also serves as secretary for Mystery Writers of America’s Southeast regional chapter. For many years, Lovely helped organize the Writers’ Police Academy.