I wrote a number of novels before my first book was published by Eakin Press in 2000. That book, Born On The Island, jumpstarted my career and became part of the centennial events commemorating the Great Storm of 1900 that devastated the island and claimed thousands of lives.
Historical fiction did not come naturally to me and to date BOI is my only novel of this kind. Nevertheless the novel has been my most successful book and still, after twenty-four years, I get requests from book clubs and civic groups to talk about it.
I soon found the genre I was destined to write, mystery and suspense novels. I loved such books growing up and never outgrew my fondness for a good whodunnit.
In any case, there weren’t many books where I grew up. Libraries tended to be a single shelf in the classrooms and living rooms of my youth. The first multi-story library where I was given free rein was at East Central State in Ada, Oklahoma. I was an English major, preparing to become a teacher, and even though reading books was a requirement, I chafed at not being allowed to read all the fiction I wanted. That fabulous day arrived in 1972 in Pasadena, Texas where I took my brand-new teaching certificate and got a job teaching English on Houston’s east side (setting of my new novel MacArthur High.) But that wasn’t the fabulous part. In fact, my job interfered with free reading even more than school had. As always, reading had to be fitted around required duties.
Just a few blocks from my apartment was a large city public library. I remember the day I ran across several feet of shelf space devoted to the novels of Larry McMurtry. There were three copies of Moving On. He must be important, I thought, grabbing a copy. Today I’m reading (or rather listening on Audible) a new biography of my literary hero by Tracy Daugherty, released since Larry’s recent death. It’s wonderful to see how events in my life mirrored his. We both came from tiny towns with few books and transplanted ourselves to Houston where there were more possibilities for the serious reader. I went to hear Larry speak every chance I got and he was kind enough to answer a fan letter. I made a pilgrimage to Archer City to witness for myself some of Larry’s collection, a series of buildings housing thousands of volumes of rare and collectible books and materials.
I myself do not choose to collect physical volumes. I’ve moved too much for that and books are heavy. Also, now in my 7th decade, it’s just more comfortable to read books on my Kindle or listen to actors with soothing voices read to me as I drift off each night.
I still spend the better part of my days tapping away on my laptop. I never run out of story ideas and my life, for better or worse, has been filled with characters. One of my series is the Elinor & Dot Library Mysteries, which pays tribute to small town libraries and the valiant women who run them. Three of these novels are now collected in one volume. In The Widow’s Peak Book Club, librarian Elinor Woodward helps organize a new book club. Each month will feature a current mystery or one by a grand old dame of the genre. And you know the rest, members begin disappearing…
Write me: linda@lindalindabingham.com