About Linda

Some Background about Linda

Linda Gillard lives and writes on the Isle of Skye, off the north-west coast of Scotland. She graduated from Bristol University and trained as an actress at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. For eight years she pursued an acting career, the highlight of which was sharing a table in The National Theatre canteen with Sir Michael Gambon. The lowlight was playing a fairy for four rainy months in an open-air production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Regent’s Park.



Whilst under-employed at the National Theatre, Linda accidentally became a freelance journalist and wrote light-hearted articles for magazines, many based on her semi-self-sufficient “Good Life” in rural Cambridgeshire. For twelve years she had a humorous column in IDEAL HOME about family life. (Her children, now adult, are still trying to live it down.)

Linda ran her two careers concurrently for a while, then decided to give up acting to focus on journalism and raising a family. At the age of 40 she re-trained as a primary teacher and taught in Norfolk specialising in English and Art. She decided to re-think her career yet again after she was assaulted by a disturbed pupil.



The re-think entailed giving up teaching and downshifting to the Isle of Skye, realising a long-held dream to move to the Highlands and write full-time. Linda now lives on a hillside overlooking the Cuillins, a mountain range featured in her first novel, EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY.

Linda’s second novel A LIFETIME BURNING was published in June 2006 by Transita.

Her third novel, STAR GAZING, set on the Isle of Skye and in Edinburgh, will be published by
Piatkus in May 2008. She is working on a fourth, FAMILY SHADOWS to be published in 2009.



CONTACT DETAILS

Linda Gillard is available for readings, talks and workshops.

She has also written Reading Group guides for her novels.

Contact her at

info@lindagillard.co.uk


 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Where do you get your ideas from?

People. The characters always come first, then a sense of place. I don’t need a story, just a situation that gets me thinking, “What if…?”


How long does it take you to write a novel?

It varies. A LIFETIME BURNING took 19 months (and that was a big book in all senses) but I had a 2 year break in the middle of writing EMOTIONAL GEOLOGY when I was getting my kids off to university and moving to Skye. I would hope to produce a book a year now I’m writing full-time. It feels a bit pressured, but that’s what publishers want and need.


Do you plan your books in advance?

No, not much. I have a general idea of the story arc, but I don’t plan much, I just write and see what happens. I like the uncertainty. I think I write more bravely without the safety net of a synopsis. I have a theory that the un-put-downable quality of my books that readers often refer to is because I don’t know what’s going to happen next, so the reader can’t possibly know. It comes as a surprise to all of us!


Longhand or word processor?

Always longhand first. (Disposable pencil on lined A4 if you want the techie details.) I can write straight on to the PC but found I wrote better in pencil. It’s also too easy to hit the Delete button when you’re feeling negative about your work.


Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

No. I do come up against problems with the story, by which I mean that I know what the book needs but I don’t know how to do it. I just wait until the characters tell me how to resolve things. I find solutions usually come when I’m washing up or in the shower. They never hit you when you’re thinking about them.


Your books are quite different from each other. Do you have a favourite or a favourite character?

My favourite of my books at the moment is A LIFETIME BURNING. As for favourite characters, I’m very fond of all my heroes (even scumbag Rory in ALB.) I also have a soft spot for Garth the Goth in STAR GAZING. I’m embarrassed to admit he actually used to make me laugh when I was writing the book. Garth is a real tonic.


Are you working on another book at the moment?

I've just finished my fourth novel which has the working title FAMILY SHADOWS. It's a mystery about an eccentric family with secrets. It may owe something to my admiration for Daphne du Maurier. It will be published in 2009 by Piatkus.


What advice would you have for a would-be novelist?

Write for writing’s sake. Don’t expect publication or financial reward – you are unlikely to get either. Writing is its own reward anyway. When you feel angry about your unsolicited manuscript being rejected, remember: nobody asked you to submit it!


Which writers do you admire?

In alphabetical order: Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Dickens, Daphne du Maurier, Dorothy Dunnett, Margaret Forster, Georgette Heyer, Patrick O’ Brian, Christopher Priest, Mary Renault, Shakespeare (the Boss), Mary Stewart, Anne Tyler, Barry Unsworth, P G Wodehouse.


Is there a particular book or author that inspired you to be a writer?

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t write or make up stories in my head. The first time I dared to think, “Hey, maybe I could do this…” was as a teenager in the 60s when I read the romantic suspense novels of Mary Stewart. She was a big influence and I still re-read her with enjoyment.


Which book would you most like to have written?

From a financial point of view, THE HIGHWAY CODE. From a literary point view, THE GAME OF KINGS by Dorothy Dunnett.