Linda Kage interview

I grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest as the youngest of eight children. Now I live in Kansas with my husband, two daughters, nine cuckoo clocks, and a cat named Holly. My life's been blessed with lots of people to learn from and love. Writing's always been a major part my world, and I'm so happy to finally share some of my stories with other romance lovers.

I'm a member of Romance Writers of America, and I've been through a writing correspondence class in children's literature from The Institute of Children's Literature, and then I continued my writing lessons by majoring in English with an emphasis in creative fiction writing from Pittsburg State University.

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As an author of smoking-hot new adult romance, in your opinion, what are some of the biggest misconceptions about the romance genre and/or new adult category as a whole?
Oh, wow!  Go straight for the hard questions!  LOL! Okay, let’s see. I guess the biggest misconception I’ve seen around is that romance is just smut—all sex and no story. This comes from people who focus solely on the sex, which probably takes up less than ten percent of the actual book. But I don’t see how having a sex scene in a book makes it lack depth. The characters in all the stories I read still go through real life situations that readers can relate to. They change and grow and learn and feel. They’ve even taught me lessons about human nature and how to view myself and others. Plus they have happily ever after endings I know I can rely on. I can always count on them to show me something new about life I’ve never seen before. I think there is something very cathartic about romance stories. So, sorry, but no, they’re not just sex.  The sex stuff is merely the frosting on top of an already perfect cake!

As for NEW ADULT romance, I think a lot of people think they’re really immature. But I guess I have a different definition of immaturity than those people. I always think of an immature person as someone who can’t take on responsibility, who expects others to do everything for them, who whines and complains whenever they’re forced to actually work. In new adult books, the characters are inexperienced and freshly learning to fend for themselves, so a lot of things are new to them, and their delivery can sometimes be really awkward and fumbling. They’re still playful and talk in a lingo different than older adults. But that doesn’t make them immature to me. They still take on tasks and responsibilities heaped on them; they just don’t have all the answers a wiser, seasoned adult would have yet. I actually like watching new adult characters learn and grow into the kind of person they want to be.

What’s the best line from a book, movie or TV show that you wish you wrote?
You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!  LOL!  No, actually, I have no idea.  There are way too many kickass quotes out there to just pick one!

If you could co-author a book with anyone, who would it be and why? (feel free to time-travel on this one—it can be any author, living or dead)
Ada Frost!  Not only is she my best friend, but she has the most amazing story ideas!

As an independently published author who has achieved such great success, what advice do you have for all the other indies and aspiring authors out there?
Oh!  HAVE I achieved great success? I think that’s a question for someone else to answer.  I just know I’m still working and still hopefully growing and learning from my mistakes.  The only thing I know about how I got to the point I’m at is because I didn’t give up. So…don’t give up!

If you could borrow any character from a book, movie or TV show and put him/her in one of your stories, who would it be and why?
Hmm, Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind, maybe.  I don’t know if she’d be the good guy or the bad guy.  I just know she has a huge colorful personality, stubbornness, and a strong will that makes her addictive for people to keep watching and reading about.

The zombie apocalypse has hit (as we all knew it would one day). Which TV or movie characters do you want as part of your crew? (no superheroes…that’s cheating)
Well, Daryl Dixon and Rick Grimes, of course!!  Nothing beats the guys from The Walking Dead. But I’d settle for Sam and Dean from Supernatural too! ​

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