Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Guest: Linda Conrad


Please welcome Linda Conrad to the convertible today!  Let's all wish her a Happy 25th book!  Linda is giving away a copy of one of her books to one lucky commenter today!

What Am I Doing?  Where Was I Supposed to Be? 

I must be getting old.  Shusssh.  Who said that?

I’ll be darned if I can do a single thing anymore without putting it on my “to-do-list” and then checking it twice.  Take today for instance; I was thrilled to be asked to blog here and agreed instantly.  Uh, and then much later I checked my calendar.  So, I (like I suppose many of you are) am off today to the Romance Writers of America conference in Orlando.  I will check in as often as possible.  Promise.  And I may see some of you at the Literacy Signing tonight.

Back to this blog; I know I planned on mentioning my two current books out for Silhouette Romantic Suspense: HER SHEIK PROTECTOR was on the July list and COVERT AGENT’S VIRGIN AFFAIR is my August release.  I was going to mention them…somehow.  But for the life of me I can’t remember now how I planned to do that.  Sigh.  I didn’t write it down. (or I can’t find my list)

Anyway, here’s a fun excerpt from HER SHEIK PROTECTOR:

Rylie stared at the back of the closed door, still waiting for Darin’s return and to hear him say he needed her help.  Ten seconds.  Forty.  One minute.  Two.
           
Okay, she got that he was worried about her.  Really she did.  But she’d also hoped he was coming to know the person she was inside.  The person who could never in a million years wait around in safety, sitting on her hands while someone she cared about worked to save her life.
           
Two hours later Rylie’s ears were popping again as she crept through the quiet corridors, looking for any sign of Darin or the Taj Zabbar kidnapper.  The train must be heading lower, going in the direction of the lake below the mountains.  Rylie could almost feel gravity pulling her downward.
           
The train rounded a steep u-curve right then, and Rylie got a good view through the windows into another corridor as the snaking cars doubled back on themselves.  There, maybe only two or three train-car lengths ahead, she saw two men locked in mortal combat in the well-lit corridor of a sleeping car.
                       
She pushed through pressurized door locks and tramped across the little bridges called vestibules that connected two cars.  Through one car.  Then into the next.
           
Then she heard a noise coming from the end of the car.  It sounded as though someone had momentarily gone through the pressurized door onto the next vestibule.  Shoving hard to open the door, she blinked at sudden air movement and turned her head in that direction.
           
To her amazement, she saw shoes…well, feet with shoes on them…as they disappeared up a ladder that she’d never noticed before.  A ladder to the roof of the train?  Why?
           
After she heard a distant shout, sounding for all the world like Darin’s voice, the why didn’t seem too important.  If he could chase someone to the roof of a train, she could follow.

And I was going to tell you that COVERT AGENT’S VIRGIN AFFAIR is my twenty-fifth book for Silhouette.  Apparently that is some sort of milestone.  But I still can’t remember what else I was going to say. 

Does that happen to you?  My short term memory is shot, but I’m much better at long term.  How about you?  Here’s a little memory quiz to check for yourself.

1)    What was the name of your first pet?  (mine was Slinky the cat)
2)    Who was your first best friend?  (not counting relatives, mine was Janet in first grade)
3)    What’s your first memory?  (mine is playing in the snow for the first time in New York.  I was four and had always lived in Miami)
4)    What’s the first book you can remember reading all by yourself? (Winnie the Poo)

There you go.  I don’t even remember what I had for lunch yesterday, but I remember these things.   How about you?  Give it a try and let us know how your memory is now.  Have fun!

To celebrate my twenty-fifth book release, I’m giving away one lucky commenter’s choice of either HER SHIEK PROTECTOR or COVERT AGENT’S VIRGIN AFFAIR.   Post those memories to win!

Drop by Linda’s newly designed website, http://www.LindaConrad.com to find out more Behind the Book about her new Desert Sons series, and to sign up for Linda’s newsletter and contest!  Join Linda on FB at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Linda-Conrad/331439655105  and on Twitter at  http://twitter.com/LindaConrad

29 comments:

krisgils33 said...

Congrats on your books. My memory is terrible, it always has been. Although I do remember that my first cat was named Silvie.

Laney4 said...

Hello, Linda!
It's great to see you at RWTTD, despite your busy schedule. Good luck with that!
1) First pet was Blondie, a terrier mixed breed. Loved taking her for rides on my bike, as she rode in my "carrier".
2) Heather has been my best friend since Kindergarten, so that would be 47 years now. OMG!
3) I remember watching my brother slide down a really long banister in our house (and getting in trouble for it). That home was later converted into a funeral home. Sure would love to see it now!
4) No idea re first book. I read "Noddy" books in my tween years, as well as Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, etc. Oh! My Mom got a subscription for me to receive Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy books in my public school years! I guess that would be the answer, although I had read hundreds or thousands of others by then....
Have a great day!

CrystalGB said...

Hi Linda. Congrats on your 25th book release. What a great milestone. I love your books.
1.First pet was a Pekinese poodle named Tiny.
2.First best friend was Kim in grade school.
3. First memory was sitting on the floor looking up at my Mom while she talked to me. She had on a pink checked shirt and a skirt.
4. A Berenstein Bears book.

Kathleen Eagle said...

Welcome, Linda! Congrats on #25. It IS a milestone--the kind I always miss marking because I never remember the number anymore. I hate it when people ask how many books I've written because I sound like such a dork when give an approximate number.

And I'm in the good long term-bad short term category. It's a relief to know I'm in good and plentiful company!

Unknown said...

Thanks for joining us, Linda, and huge congrats on your 25th. Doesn't time fly!

I'm with you...except I don't have the long term memory anymore either.

Have fun in Orlando.

D Twomey said...

Congratulations Linda! Huge accomplishment, 25 books... Especially to a non-writer who can't even fathom trying to write a book at all!!! Really, I don't see how you guys can even think up all this stuff... but I'm glad you do. :)

I don't seem to have much trouble with short or long term memory yet... but does anyone else have trouble with just trying to remember specific words when you're talking with someone? Or is it just me? You know... "oh, what is the word I'm trying to say" type thing? Pretty embarrassing and very frustrating!!

Kathleen Eagle said...

Oh yeah...
1. First pets--I was pretty little when Daddy gave Mama her very first puppy--a collie--who soon died of distemper and I remember how bad I felt because Mama cried. Then we got a grown German Shepherd named Razz.

2. We moved a lot when I was little--Air Force--so I didn't have a really best friend until I was about 9. Her name was Iris. In kindergarten I remember being terrorized by twin boys who used to chase me. They were Kansas farm boys who always wore overalls, always looked exactly alike. I can still see them, but no names.

3. Mother Goose--the one with the old woman sitting on a flying goose and carrying a baby in a basket. I knew a lot of it by heart, but I remember when I started recognizing the words on the page.

I love testing my long term memory, calling up those images. Thanks, Linda!

Minna said...

Hmm. Well, I can remember "reading" a Donald Duck comic. But I can't say I would have been really reading it. I just remembered the text by heart. However, I can't remember the first book I actually read. But I do remember the first book with lots of text and no pictures I read in English (I had read plenty of comics before that) from cover was Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie.

runner10 said...

Fun post.
1. Missy.
2. Sherry
3. presents under tree
4. Winnie the Pooh

Had to think hard.

Linda Conrad said...

Hey all! Installed in the hotel and it looks like rain! Figures.

Krisgils33, love the name Silvie. Reminds me of my Slinky. I also had a bird name baby. :)

Linda Conrad said...

laney4, there you are! I like the name Blondie. Different

Linda Conrad said...

crystalgb, I love the idea that your first memory was Mom. I suppose mine was too. But the snow was a bigger deal at the time

Linda Conrad said...

Tks, Lois! I have a brother-in-law who can't remember what he did as a kid either. Kinda sad. But then, maybe it's better that way.

Linda Conrad said...

Hi Kathlee! I think anything after 25 should be "25" and counting. Nice that you remember Iris. Don't you sometimes wonder if she remembers you too?

Linda Conrad said...

d twomey, I get tongue-tied and can't recall the right word all the time. Except not when writing. Isn't that odd?

Linda Conrad said...

Comics count as first books, Minna. But I think mine comics were all memorized. The first time I actually recognized a word was Winnie the Poo

Linda Conrad said...

Ah, another Winnie the Poo fan, runner 10. Good for your mind to think hard now and then. :))

catslady said...

I can answer all but the last one - not a clue what my first book was but I do know that I read anything I could get my hands on.

I too had a cat named Slinky who just passed this year at 15. But my first cat was Tiger.

My friend's name was Nancy.

My first full memory is when I was 4 and going to kindergarten.

But like you I seem to be forgetting more things. I hate when I can't come up with a word when in the past I know that didn't happen.

Congrats on 25 books!!

Linda Conrad said...

Hi catslady. I had a cat named Missy for 17 years. Loved her dearly.

Don't sweat the words. That's normal, really. Just give yourself a little time to think it over. Like hours sometimes. :)

EllenToo said...

Name of first pet ~~ Chula, a dog
First best friend ~~ Judy Drew
First memory ~~ my brother being born/having the chicken pox (these happened at the same time)I was four.
First Book read by myself ~~ Black Beauty

EllenToo said...

PS: CONGRATULATIONS on your 25th book.

Patience Smith said...

Happy 25th book, Linda! Hurray! And have a great time at RWA.

What was the name of your first pet? Frosty

Who was your first best friend? Since age 2, Rachel and she's still a BFF.

What’s your first memory? Looking up at the big houses in Ohio, where I was born (age 2).

What’s the first book you can remember reading all by yourself? Curious George

robynl said...

a big congrats on #25!! way to go.

my memory from back and from now is not so good anymore; I don't remember many things my twin brother remembers. Since radiation my memory is not so good either; don't know if that is a problem with many but for me it is.

I've had too many cats to remember and dogs also.
Heidi was probably my first read.

Linda Conrad said...

Ah, my old friend Ellen, HI! Black Beauty. There's a book you don't hear about much anymore. But I loved it. Something about little girls and horses. :)
Tks for the congrats!

Linda Conrad said...

Ah, my old friend Ellen, HI! Black Beauty. There's a book you don't hear about much anymore. But I loved it. Something about little girls and horses. :)
Tks for the congrats!

Linda Conrad said...

Hi Patience. Nice memory. I'm already tired, with a long way to go. Miss you here.

Linda Conrad said...

hi Robinl. Tks. I don't remember ever reading Heidi. But I do remember the old movie. Loved it.

Linda Conrad said...

Hi all, from rainy Orlando.
Thanks so much for a fun day of remembering. You all are the greatest!
I put the names in an ice bucket (empty) and drew D Twomey as a winner. Congratulations! Email me with your mailing address and choice of book to: LindaConradbooks@aol.com

Thanks again!

Laurie G said...

1) First pet German Shepard named Bonnie- we only kept her for a short time as she became too big for our small yard

2)First Best Friend- Paula we were inseperable until she met her future husband our Sophomore year of HS Yes they are still together 40 years later!!


3)My first memory is of Christmas when Santa Claus came to our house with presents. I was about 4.

4)I remember a Little Golden Book called The Pokey Puppy.

Thanks for the good memories!