Straight From the Mouth of Linda Bond, author of Cuba Undercover - Win a $25 Gift Card!

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Cuba UndercoverTitle: Cuba Undercover
Author: Linda Bond
Publisher: Entangled: Select Suspense
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Format: Kindle 

His revenge will change her life forever...

Cuban-American TV reporter Rebecca Menendez's success comes from playing by the rules. When she's kidnapped by a fierce and intensely handsome man who needs her help, however, all of those rules seem pointless. Nothing could have prepared her for being taken hostage...or the irresistible reward if she complies: information about her long-thought dead father. Antonio Vega has spent almost every day of his adult life dreaming of revenging his father's death. With his sister's life and freedom in jeopardy, Antonio isn't taking any chances. But once Rebecca and Antonio are in Cuba, they're immersed in a world of corruption, deceit, and betrayal. It's a deadly game...and there are no rules.

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Thanks for letting us interrogate interview you!  Can you give us a go-for-the-gut answer as to why you wanted to be an author?

I started writing romances in high school. Of course then I didn’t know what the heck I was doing, I just knew I had stories to tell, romantic stories with happy endings.  But then a thriving professional life as a TV news reporter (where I told real stories) marriage and kids took precedent.  Then about ten years ago I joined a writer’s group – The Tampa Area Romance Writers – and I never looked back.  I’ve really been writing all my life.  Writers write. They can’t be stopped. LOL


Tell us (we won’t tell promise!) is it all it’s cracked up to be?  I mean what are the perks and what are the demands?

Oh boy. I can hear my kids say, “You love the computer more than me!”  It’s one of the reasons I quit my job and took the summer off to travel and hang out with them. I’m still writing and launching a book this summer, but I’m also camping, white water rafting and doing crazy things I never thought I’d do, just because my kids want to. They think it’s fun to make mommy walk on a single rope way above the ground. Check out the picture.




Which route did you take – traditional or self-published – and can you give us the nitty gritty low down on what’s that like?

Hard. One word sums it up.  I’m a journalist, so I write under deadline every day, and I have a track record, and it’s still HARD to get published in fiction. After years of trying, I met an Entangled editor at RWA. She liked my pitch.  I sent in the full and got an email from New York Times Best selling author Nina Bruhns. She loved the book and wanted to edit it for Entangled. Frankly, I should have paid her!  LOL I learned so much from her and Kate Fall, who edited Alive at 5 together.  That led to my second book with Entangled Cuba Undercover and working with another great editor Vanessa Mitchell.

Tell us for real what your family feels about you spending so much time getting your book written, polished, edited, formatted, published, what have you?

Like I said above, they are supportive but also resentful so it’s important to make sure you have balance.  I will be honest with my kids and say I have a deadline to meet, but after I’m done, you pick and we’ll play.

Do your pets actually get their food on time or do they have to wait until you type just one more word?

LOL. That is funny.  They have to wait. Except for my old English Bulldog Sanford.  He’s a diva or divo. He barks until I get so annoyed, I stop and feed him. Guess who runs the house? Who taught him to bark out orders?

In writing your book, how did you deal with the phone ringing, your family needing dinner or your boss calling you saying you’re late?

I would get up early on Saturday mornings and write before the kids got up, or I would write after they went to bed.  First up and last to bed. Always.

What was the craziest or insane thing that happened to you in the book publishing process?

HMMM. Since I’ve been a TV reporter as well, nothing has really topped the craziest things I’ve experienced there. But I will say, I met my husband on a trip to Cuba, and he actually helped me write this book.  He was painting walls, and I’d follow him from room to room reading the manuscript. He’d stop and tweak the dialogue of my hero Antonio Vega. So in reality, this was collaboration.

How about the social networks?  Which ones do you believe help and which ones do you wish you could avoid?

I’m social by nature and could spend hours in the social media tornado! I love them all. I Facebook the most. I have four pages I have to keep up with:  Linda Bond, my personal page, Linda Bond my author page, Linda Hurtado, pubic figure (my TV page) and Linda Hurtado (my family personal page) But the time you post on all four its time to go to bed. LOL  I also like Twitter and Pinterest. 

What is one thing you’d like to jump on the rooftop and scream about?

Freedom!  Freedom to choose what you want to do. Freedom to do it. Freedom to live, as you want. Freedom to write what you want to write. Freedom isn’t free though and at some point we all have to be willing to pay part of the price.  I value my freedom and independence above all else.  Well, I value my health and my family as much. 
           
Okay, too much sugar for you today!  Here’s a nice cup of Chamomile tea and come on over and sit under the cabana and watch the waves roll in.  Now…can you tell us what you love about being a published author and how all those things above doesn’t matter because it’s all part of the whole scheme of things and you wouldn’t have it any other way?

           
I love to hear from readers.  I really, really do.  We authors spend so much time laboring over our craft, hoping someone will like what we write, dreading bad reviews, or worse, ridicule. To have a reader give you an honest and sincere compliment on your work is the best. The BEST!  I appreciate every single one of my readers.  I do.



Linda Bond and kidLinda Bond loves to read. She started with those great Nancy Drew books. Remember Nancy Drew and 'The Secret of the Old Clock?"  How about 'The Mystery of the 99 Steps?'  She really liked smart, gutsy heroines, even at a young age. In high school, Linda discovered historical romances by authors like the great Kathleen Woodiwiss.  She read at least three books a week.  So many her mother actually called a conference with her teacher, worried, and overwrought that her innocent little girl was reading those trashy romance novels.

What was she learning?  Linda's teacher just looked at her mom and said, "Your daughter reads three books a week?" Linda's mother said, "Yes, at least. And I don't know what to do."

"Let her read," Linda's teacher responded.  And, so she did.
Harold Robbins and Jackie Collins took Linda out of her high school hallways and into the glamorous Hollywood Hills.

John Grisham, James Patterson, and Harlen Coben can still keep Linda up all night. Turning pages, ladies, turning pages.

Linda lives for a good romantic thriller. Which is probably why she's a reporter.  She's addicted to the rush of adrenaline that comes with finding and crafting a great story.

Each day Linda writes about someone's unique life.  In Linda's world, 400 words must carry the weight of 400 pages. Linda writes a dreaded synopsis every single day- under deadline.

Now, Linda is retraining herself to do just the opposite.  She's punching up her pages with powerful passages. With each new chapter, Linda smiles, because she loves to tell a story.

It's really as simple as that.

The best way to really know Linda Bond is to read what she writes.  That's where the real fun begins.

For More Information
  Visit Linda at her website  
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Linda is giving away a $25 Gift Card!

 
Terms & Conditions:
  • By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
  • One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive one $25 Gift Certificate to Amazon
  • This giveaway begins July 14 and ends on August 11.
  • Winners will be contacted via email on August 12.
  • Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!

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