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A Romance Column


An Interview with Linnea Sinclair

     A most magical time of year is quickly approaching for which we writers and readers are excitedly preparing. No, it’s not Christmas or Valentine’s Day. Those just passed. Nor do I mean St. Patty’s Day or Mardi Gras. It’s time for the 2004 Romantic Times BookClub convention.

     Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ll have heard that the convention’s been moved to March and will be held in the glittering Big Apple. What you may not know is that multi-award winning author Linnea Sinclair is busily putting together an awesome sci-fi romance track.

     I recently spoke to Linnea to get the scoop and invite you to sit in our little chat.


ELAINE: I've heard that you're organizing a sci-fi romance writer's group for the March 2004 Romantic Times Convention in New York. How did this come to pass?

LINNEA: My head's still spinning so I'm not exactly sure, but anyone who's known Lady Kathryn of Romantic Times BookCLUB knows what a whirlwind she is. Somewhere in a telephone conversation with her on a totally different topic the entire idea of promoting the SF Romance genre was born. And out of that, a panel at the upcoming RT con.

 

ELAINE: What is the official name of your group?

LINNEA: There UNofficial name is Woman of Science Fiction and Fantasy, or WOSF. Then we toyed with WOFS, or Women of Fantasy and Science Fiction, solely because WOFS is easier to pronounce. At the moment, we're simply a private email list. At some point, if we get large enough, and most likely before the 2005 con in St. Louis, I'll take the list to a Yahoo group or something of that ilk, just because it'll be easier.

 

ELAINE: What type of events are you planning for this group and for your readers?

LINNEA: I'm trying to put together an informative and enlightening panel of editors, agents and authors involved in SFR, stick them in a room and let readers come in and pepper us all with questions. I'm envisioning an open dialogue where readers familiar with the genre can make their desires known as to what they'd like to see in--pardon the pun--the future. And where readers unfamiliar with the SFRomance genre can meet and greet and have fun learning about us.

Along with that, author Eden Robins has shanghaied me...oops! I mean Eden has graciously asked my participation in a SF&F themed party for the convention. We're toying with possibly recreating the 'feel' of my Intergalatic Bar & Grille (where my fans and characters hang out on my site) as a setting for everyone's characters and SF fantasies. With great music and drinks, of course!

 

ELAINE: Is anyone helping you plan this event? If so, who?

LINNEA: It's all still pretty loose, given the short time frame, but in addition to working with Eden "All Our Tomorrows" Robins, many other authors have expressed an interest in this and/or a follow-up party/panel (notice I listed 'party' first) in 2005, including Dara Joy, Robin Owens, Barbara Karmazin, Liz Maverick, Jennifer Dunne, Catherine Asaro, Myra Nour, Dr, Debra Holland, Susan Grant, Elaine Corvidae and many other great names in the SF and futuristic romance field. Not everyone can attend these cons but everyone's excited about making SFR a household name. Those authors who can't attend have emailed wonderful ideas and are willing to send promo items for the panel and the party.

Watch the RT site--www.romantictimes.com-- for updates as they happen!

 

ELAINE: Do you have any new books being released in 2004? Please tell us about them.

LINNEA: Command Decision, the sequel to Command Performance, should be out in 2004. It's totally my fault it's been delayed. Life has just become a tad crazy lately.

I also have a good portion of The Downhome Zombie Blues written. It's a fun book, very much like a combination of Aliens and Men in Black, with perhaps a touch of Ghostbusters thrown in.

Then, of course, I have to get working on Chasidah's Choice, the sequel to Gabriel's Ghost.

Wintertide, my sword and sorcery fantasy which won the EPPIE for Best Fantasy Novel, will be re-released in mass market paperback from Medallion Press sometime in 2004. I don't have a release date yet. As soon as I do, it'll be on my website. Since my books to date have been available only in pricier trade paperbacks, this is a terrific opportunity for me to get my books to a wider audience.

 

ELAINE: Which book you writing now? Or do you have time to plan this event and write?

LINNEA: I'm finalizing Command Decision but yes, writing has suffered because I'm being pulled in a lot of different directions lately, and not just because of the RT events. I also do cover art work and ad layouts for authors' co-operatives, and it seems I'm up to my ears in administrative type work because of that.

In the midst of it all, we may be moving. Again.

If only I could cram 30 hours into a day, and 9 days in a week!

Finishing Decision is my primary project. I hope to have that all finalized before RT in March. If not, I fear my fans may flog me when they see me!

ELAINE: Wow! What a busy lady! Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us, Linnea.

 

So, if you love sci-fi romance, if you love reading and you don’t have your reservation to the RT convention, you’ll be wanting to reserve your space – if you still can.

And as a big fan of Linnea and her books, take a tip from me and don’t miss out on those either.


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