Interview with Linda Bond, author of Alive at 5 - Win a $25 Amazon/B&N Gift Card!

Title: Alive at 5
Author: Linda Bond
Publisher: Entangled Ignite
Pages: 249
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Format: Ebook

TV news reporter Samantha Steele is one panic attack away from losing her job. Future on the line and cameraman in tow, she follows her mentor on an exhilarating adventure vacation. When he dies while skydiving, her investigative instincts scream “murdered”, and lead her to gorgeous thrill-seeker Zack Hunter.

Zack is an undercover police officer investigating his uncle’s death through the same adventure vacation company. Samantha is a thorn in his side the moment they meet. Not only is she investigating the same case, but the emotionally wounded loner doesn’t want another partner, especially one whose goal is to splash evidence all over the evening news. But Samantha’s persistence is quite a turn-on, and Zack’s overpowering desire makes it harder for him to push her away.

When the killer turns his attention to Zack, Samantha might be the only one who can save him, forcing the anxiety-riddled correspondent to finally face her greatest fear.

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Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life, Linda. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how long you’ve been writing?

A: I am a former baton-twirling beauty queen from the South, who is now a full time TV news anchor and reporter, as well as an insanely busy soccer mom. Most people ask me how I find the time to write. I tell them, when you love something as much as I love writing, you make the time. During warm-ups before my kid’s soccer games, at midnight on Saturdays, I write whenever and wherever. I’ve been writing all my life. In school, I would carry around a notebook so I could write down dialogue and ideas whenever they’d hit me. Still do that today.

Q: Can you please tell us about your book and why you wrote it?

A: Alive at 5 is a romantic adventure set in exotic locations throughout Florida. I got the idea for the novel while sitting on the anchor desk reading a story about an accident during an adventure vacation in Florida. I turned to my co-anchor during a commercial break and said, “That would make a cool setting for a mystery. Who is making murder look like accidents on a high risk vacation tour?” He loved the idea, and so this book was born.

Next, I came up with characters – Samantha Steele, a control freak TV news reporter on edge, suffering panic attacks right as she goes live. That’s a problem. Zack Hunter, an undercover cop trying to extinguish an inferno of guilt by chasing death and doing reckless things like jumping out of planes and swimming with the sharks, which makes them complete opposites. Now, put them together and at odds. They both need to be undercover on this adventure vacation to investigate, but Zack doesn’t want the reporter splashing any evidence they might find all over the evening news. But, if he doesn’t provide Samantha a cover, she threatens to blow his. Now you have action, adventure, and plenty of conflict.

This book was fun to write. We also had a blast shooting a video book trailer at Skydive City in Zephyrhills Florida. Check it out at: http://bit.ly/Aliveat5trailer

Q: What were some of the biggest challenges you faced writing it?

A: Well, in my case, since I have a demanding day job, and a wonderfully busy home life with 5 kids and a sexy hero who I married, I’d say finding the time to write was the biggest challenge. But I love it so much my laptop is never that far away from me.

Q: Do you have a press kit and what do you include in it? Does this press kit appear online and, if so, can you provide a link to where we can see it?

A: I do have a press kit. It includes a picture of me, the Alive at 5-book cover, early reviews, quotes, a bio, book blurb, buy links, awards and achievements, and fun facts about me.

http://bit.ly/authorlindabondmediakit

Q: Have you either spoken to groups of people about your book or appeared on radio or TV? What are your upcoming plans for doing so?

A: This is a very interesting question. I work as a TV news anchor and reporter in a top 20 TV market. But I have chosen to separate my career as a journalist, and my career as a romance writer.

I picked Linda Bond as my pen name because my mother’s maiden name was Bond. My uncle is James Bond, (the law professor, not the hunky movie character) and I write romantic thrillers. It just fit.

Yes, I plan on doing radio and TV, but as Linda Bond the author, not Linda ******, the TV news anchor.

Who is Linda Bond is? There are hints on my web site. Solve the mystery, if you can. J

Q: Do you have an agent and, if so, would you mind sharing who he/is is? If not, have you ever had an agent or do you even feel it’s necessary to have one?

A:I don’t have an agent. I sold my book to Entangled Publishing without one. But my broadcast agent insisted I talk to his literary attorney, so I did have some guidance. I would like to work with an agent because I’ve written a women’s fiction beach read that isn’t a fit for my current publisher. An agent could shop it around.

Q: Did you, your agent or publisher prepare a media blitz before the book came out and would you like to tell us about it?

A: My publicist at Entangled has me on a blog tour for two weeks. They have invested in advertising for Alive at 5, as have I. I’m running contests, posting on all platforms of social media, blitzing my book video on video sharing sites, creating author pages on most retail outlets, and sending out release day e-blasts through popular reader web sites. I sent out advanced reading copies for reviews. You name it. I’m trying it.

Q: Do you plan subsequent books?

A: I’ve completed two other manuscripts. Cuba Undercover was conceived while I was on assignment in Cuba. I met my husband on that trip covering his family’s story, so this book is based on a real life romance.

I’ve also completed a women’s fiction book called Glory, Glory the Majorettes are 40. Like Waiting to Exhale or the Dirty Girl’s Social Club, Glory, Glory explores what happens when the popular girls turn 40. This heart wrenching, yet triumphant tale of female friendship reminds us that when life doesn’t turn out as we’d planned, we can always depend on our best girlfriends to lift us up and remind us its never too late to make a change.

More information on both books can be found at:www.lindabond.com

Q: Thank you for your interview, Linda. Would you like to tell my readers where they can find you on the web and how everyone can buy your book?

A: Yes and thank you for having me today. The best place to find me is at: www.lindabond.com. You can buy Alive at 5 at:

http://bit.ly/Aliveat5Amazonlink

http://bit.ly/Aliveat5BandN

http://bit.ly/Aliveat5Kobo

Author Linda Bond was born in San Francisco, California but spent most of her life in the south, attending middle and high school in Greenville, South Carolina and college at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.

She’s worked as a television news reporter and anchor in Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa, Florida. For the past fifteen years, she’s been a health reporter, sharing important information with viewers on the latest medical breakthroughs and writing emotional, human-interest stories on those who have the courage and spirit to fight for their lives.

She writes every day, under deadline, but has always loved losing herself in a good fiction story. Her love for writing fiction actually started in high school, but a thriving, busy professional life, along with five kids, kept her busy for many years.

Entangled Publishing is releasing her debut romantic adventure, Alive at 5, July 14th 2014.

She has received numerous writing awards in Romance Writer’s of America chapter contests for Alive at 5 and her other manuscripts Cuba Undercover and Glory, Glory the Majorettes are 40.

She has also won 12 Emmy awards, numerous Society of Professional Journalist, and Associated Press awards, as well as a Florida Bar award and Edward R. Murrow award.

This former baton-twirling beauty queen from the Deep South, now lives in Tampa, Florida with her husband, adopted son from Cuba, two daughters, and one stubborn Bulldog named Sanford.

Her latest book is the romantic suspense novel, Alive at 5. For More Information