Linda Jordan

answers the Usual Questions

Linda Jordan writes fantasy and science fiction for young adults and adults, gardens and says she goes to great lengths to avoid doing any real work. She also writes under the pen names of LJ Wolfe and Annie Cox.

Has your interaction with fans, for example, at conventions, affected your work?

When I first began writing I went to a lot of local conventions and even one worldcon. The fan community amazed me with their vast amount of knowledge, skills and closeness.

The people I met were fascinating to talk to and they all had something in common. They were all passionate about something. It was wonderful to listen to people's individual obsessions, whether they loved a particular writer or epic fantasy, or spinning pots on a wheel, gourmet cooking, or making costumes for cons.

Since then I quit writing to go back to school and then have a daughter (where my brain disappeared for two entire years!) and for the last nine years when I've began writing mostly full-time, there's only been one income coming into the house to support three people and four cats. Unfortunately, that's meant I haven't had the money to go to conventions. I save my money to go to workshops to become better at what I do. If you stop learning, you die.

Is there any particular incident (a letter, a meeting, a comment that stands out?

Back when I was involved with the fan community, I was playing in one of the local softball games, stupid because I'm so not a sporty person and because I'd only had three hours of sleep having worked my graveyard job - baking - the night before. I was trying to beat the ball to the base (I think I did), but I hyperextended my knee and fractured my tibia. Which meant I was on bed rest for weeks and not working at the night job. And we had no health insurance. The local fan community took up a collection to help me pay the medical bills. I felt, and still feel, so very grateful for that help.

Do you have a favourite author or book (or writer or film or series) that has influenced you or that you return to?

Wow! There are so very many! My childhood reads were Edgar Rice Burroughs and Arthur C. Clarke. In college I moved on to Anne McCaffrey and Frank Herbert. I don't go back to them, but I'm sure they formed the foundation of my writing.

The writers I have on my bookshelf (the books I've read and kept, not the TBR pile) include Phillip Pullman, Robin Hobb, Neil Gaiman, Juliet Marillier, John Varley, George R.R. Martin, Laini Taylor, Connie Willis, Paolo Bacigalupi and Kris Rusch. To name just a few.

And films or series. I rewatch The Fifth Element, the two new Star Trek movies, Firefly & Serenity, the Harry Potter series (comfort food), the Hobbit and LOTR series, Blade Runner, Dune (okay, the movie has some problems, but the art direction rocks), Stardust and The Princess Bride quite often. I'm sure I missed a lot of movies here.

About re-reading though - I don't do it often. I read so very slowly and have little time for it that I'm always stepping out into new books. There's so much I want to read!

Who is the person you would most like to be trapped in a lift with? or a spaceship?

Today, it's Neil Gaiman. I think the conversation would be fascinating. Tomorrow I'd give you a different answer, cause I'm just like that.

Who is the person you would most DISlike to be trapped in a lift with? Or a spaceship?

I've been trying to think of a single person and my mind comes up blank. When I've been trapped talking to someone whose political, social, religious, sexual, environmental, etc. beliefs I despise, I always learn something. So I don't have a good answer here.

What would you pack for space? (Is there a food, beverage, book, teddy bear, etc that you couldn't do without?)

OMG CHOCOLATE!! And my cell phone, because it has my reading apps on it, so there's a lot to read there. And I'd need my computer so I could write. And probably I should bring some water. And protein. And possibly vegetables. And more chocolate. And cats for entertainment. And my glasses, so I could see. And a fuzzy sweater, cause it's cold out there, right? And comfy shoes. After that, I think I'm good.

What is the most important thing you would like to get/achieve from your work?

The ability to support myself. Here in my part of the world Money = Freedom. I value my freedom. And the ability to write what I want to write, when I want to write it. It's what keeps the juices flowing and the ideas coming.

What is the special satisfaction of your work?

Taking an idea and creating worlds and characters out of nothing and making a story flow into something cohesive.

submitted by Linda Jordan

29 July 2014

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Just the facts:
Born: 1956/Montana
Resides: Out in the boonies, north of Seattle, WA. USA
Bibliography/Awards:
Novels:
Living in the Lower Chakras
Infected by Magic
The Jeweled World Series: The Black Opal, The Enigmatic Pearl, The Flaming Ruby
Collections:
Paradiso Stories
Magic IS
Unseen Worlds
Element: 5 Contemporary Fantasy Short Stories
Love & the Aliens
Bibi's Bargain Boutique
Elements: 5 Stories for Young Adults