Author Interview: Linda N Merryman

Linda Merryman and her book, Seven Lamps Were Burning

Linda was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She's lived in South Carolina since 1987.

According to her mother, when Linda was five, she was found engrossed in a huge bound copy of Bullfinch’s Mythology. Fantasy as a genre became a lifelong love, both in reading and writing.

Linda lives in a small town south of Columbia, SC where her Series of books is set. She has five children, two precious grandchildren and, while she is surrounded by a menagerie, only one of them is hers. That would be her rescue kitty, Mister Ree.

Learn more about Linda and the Cloudwalker series at lindanmerryman.com and

Twitter @Dreamweaving3

Amazon link: Seven Lamps Were Burning ebook or paperback

This is her debut novel! Yay! It's officially released on January 10th, but you can preorder it now. ;) In the meantime, here's an idea of what it is about:

When Darkness Falls, there's only one thing you need.

“Let there be light” he said, but light creates shadows and that is where creatures of darkness dwell.

Or do they?

Might they walk among us, using more subtle means to usurp the world and enslave the humans they despise? Seven Lamps Were Burning brings reluctant Sasha Riversong face-to-face with the questions of morality and mortality when she learns she has been designated as the keeper of Pandora's jar. She is tasked with bringing Hope back into a dying world, but there are those whose survival depends upon her failure.

Cloudwalkers, an ancient fallen race, are faced with a ticking clock and Sasha is also the key to stopping the countdown to their destruction. Only she can control the gateway into the realm where Hope resides. Their plan to foil her is devious – and very attractive.

Tragedy sees our heroine flying back to the Lakota reservation where she grew up on tales of the spirit world. There, the contest between her guardian angel and his former partner becomes more than a struggle for her soul.

With the help of her otherworldly accomplices, seven Earthbound spirits bent on redemption, Sasha travels to Delphi, Greece, where she must call forth the extraordinary inside the ordinary woman and believe in the power she has to control her own destiny.

Now, how about an interview? I love doing interviews!

1. What authors did you dislike at first, but grew into?

I'd have to say Shakespeare. My 12th grade English Lit teacher, Mrs. Meissinger, gave me an appreciation for the beauty of the poetry in his words. She was the archetypal “mean teacher”, but I loved her tough stance. She's mentioned in the book, too, because I never forgot her.

2. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

I think I've always had an appreciation for the written word because of my mother. She told me I was reading by the age of three. One incident stands out. In third grade, the kids were telling jokes that were somewhat inappropriate. I didn't get them all, but I laughed along with the rest of them. After school, I couldn't wait to tell my mother one (that had baffled me). With one simple riddle I was able to make her laugh while screaming at me never to say that again. (The riddle was “What is red and lies at the bottom of the ocean.” The answer had something to do with Moby...)

3. What's your favorite under-appreciated novel?

I don't know how under-appreciated it is, but “The Concubine” is one of Nora Lofts earliest books and has been overshadowed by her more recent works. It's about Anne Boleyn and I've read it at least six times in the last thirty years.

4. As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

I'd like to say something beautiful, like a wolf or black panther, but as a writer? I'm probably more like a bird-of-prey. Hawks are beautiful, eh? I circle and circle and when something catches my eye, I dive in and feast on inspiration, then glide on the wind wherever the writing takes me. (Although research makes me a mole.)

5. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?

Right now, five. I had to leave a lot of my belongings in Texas and New Mexico when I moved, and there are probably a dozen more beginnings that have been lost over the years.

6. What's the best way to market your books?

I'm still learning that! Getting a good support group with an online presence is a must that I didn't realize I needed until I got one!

7. Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?

To me, all things have a spiritual undertone, so yes. Writing releases tension because if I don't write, the story gets plugged up inside me and it's all I can think about.

8. How do you select the names of your characters?

This might sound crazy, but, they tell me. Some characters are based on people I know, so I might use their first name and just give them a different surname.

9. Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with good or bad ones?

I haven't had any yet! But, I will read them, and if they're bad? Well, everyone is entitled to an opinion. Sometimes I read a bad review on a book I loved and it ticks me off a bit, but you can't hold on to negativity. I'll probably cuss under my breath, imagine keying their car, and move on.

10. What was your hardest scene to write?

Definitely the end scene, Cloudwalkers vs. Earthbound. I mean, how do you show an angel fight? In the end, I let Sasha worry about it.

11. What one thing would you give up to become a better writer?

At my age, I've already sacrificed a precious commodity – time. I think, though, the thing all writers must suppress is Pride.

12. What is your favorite childhood book?

That would be Thomas Bullfinch's “Mythology”. I remember curling up in my great-grandmother's parlor with it and just roaming the stories.

13. Does your family support your career as a writer?

They do! I would never have come this far without my sister, Mary, and my twins, Timothy and Tamara pushing me along and BELIEVING in me.

14. How long on average does it take you to write a book?

I've finished short stories in as little as a month, but Seven Lamps took five years.

15. Share one little known fact about yourself.

I'm a genealogist. I've traced one branch of my family, with documentation, back to Rollo, the Viking and another to Brian Boru, High King of Ireland. I'm Irish, Welsh, English and Norman French, with an African great-great grandfather thrown in.