Linda Howard
I began writing at the age of nine, far too young to know
better. I've always lived with other people inside my head,
so I'm at a loss when people ask me where I get my ideas.
Coming from a long line of smart-asses the way I do, I'm
always tempted to say "From the Idea catalog." Is that
better than admitting to a form of schizophrenia? The
voices
in my head don't tell me to kill anyone, they tell me to
write. So I do.
On the outside, I live a rather normal life. I attended a
small country school, then a small community college where
I was the only journalism major. I promptly dropped out of
college and got a job at a trucking company, which greatly
expanded my knowledge of people in general and men in
particular. No, I wasn't a truck driver, I was an office
worker -- officially a secretary, though I did almost no
secretarial work. Somehow I ended up doing things like
payroll, dispatching, insurance, cost-control studies,
shipment tracing, and even -- when I got bored with the
color of the office -- a painter. I loved that job, and the
people with whom I worked.
I loved writing more, though. I got up at 3:45 in the
morning, got to work around 6:30, and was usually home by 5
p.m. I still had all the normal things to do at home:
laundry, dishes, etc. It was usually around 7 by the time I
got to the typewriter (which later became a computer), and
I would write until I was too tired to sit up any longer.
After a few hours' sleep I started all over again.
Eventually, though, the writing became more lucrative than
my day job, with more and more demands on my time, so the
day job had to go.
I met my husband at the trucking company; since we worked
together, that saved wear and tear on two cars. We bought
our first bass boat in 1979 and he began tournament bass
fishing, which was the start of another career for him. I
eventually quit work to write full time, and he quit work
to
fish full time. H'mm. I wonder who got the better deal. He
travels all over the country fishing on the B.A.S.S. pro
circuit, and most of the time I go with him. It is NOT an
easy or glamorous way to make a living.
Over the years, I've written just about every kind of
fiction except horror, which I avoid because it gives me
nightmares. Science fiction, fantasy, adventure, romance,
paranormal -- I've written it all. So far, the science
ficiton and fantasy have been for my own entertainment. One
day -- who knows? I write whatever interests me at the
time,
and I'm interested in almost everything.
I'm a morning person, and a mountain person. I like the
beach, but I'm happier in the mountains. I need to at least
SEE a mountain. I wake up disgustingly early, usually
before
dawn. My office faces the east, so it's bright with morning
light. I like to work in one place -- my office. In fact,
it's difficult for me to work anywhere else, because a
change of location splinters my concentration. Once I moved
my desk from one wall to another -- in the same room -- and
couldn't write a word for almost a month.
I love writing so much that, if I never sold another book,
I would still write. Those people would still live inside my
head, their stories swirling and coalescing until I have to
get them out. The satisfaction of telling their stories is
intense. Some stories aren't as interesting as others. I've
never yet written anything with which I was satisfied. The
written word, and my talent, does not measure up to the
stories as they are in my head. So I keep trying, and maybe
one day I'll get it right.
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Books
Under the Boardwalk
June 24, 2008
In Blue Moon, New York Times
bestselling author Linda Howard lures a sheriff into
a scorching murder mystery—and into the arms of a lover
from the heart of the South: the wet and Read more...
Up Close and Dangerous
July 17, 2007
A mysterious plane crash . . . a dangerous trek through
the Idaho wilderness . . . a smoldering attraction . . . and
a deadly game of cat and mouse. In Read more...
Raintree: Inferno
(Raintree, Book One)
May 1, 2007
Two hundred years after the Raintree clan defeated and
abandoned them on a small Caribbean Island, the Ansara
wizards are rising again to take on their bitterest foes.
Despite their extraordinary powers and Read more...
Cover of Night
May 1, 2007
In the charming rural town of Trail Stop, Idaho, accessible
to the outside world by only a single road, young widow Cate
Nightingale lives peacefully with her four-year-old twin
boys, running a bed-and-breakfast. Read more...
Drop Dead Gorgeous
November 28, 2006
Blair Mallory has already survived one murder attempt. Now,
while planning her wedding and dealing with holiday-season
madness, Blair once again dodges a bullet. Or more
precisely, a Buick. And though the driver's Read more...
Cover of Night
June 27, 2006
In the charming rural town of Trail Stop, Idaho, accessible
to the outside world by only a single road, young widow Cate
Nightingale lives peacefully with her four-year-old twin
boys, running a bed-and-breakfast. Read more...
Killing Time
June 27, 2006
Returning to the entrancing supernatural territory of her
popular novels Dream Man and Son of the Morning, New York
Times bestselling author Linda Howard has written a sizzling
new novel that is her Read more...
Killing Time
June 14, 2005
Linda Howard returns to the entrancing, supernatural
territory of her bestsellers Dream Man and Son of
the Morning in her sizzling new novel.
In 1985, a time capsule was buried in the front Read more...
A Mother's Touch
May 1, 2005
Three classic stories from bestselling authors Linda
Howard, Emilie Richards and Sherryl Woods, celebrating the
sweetness of love, the heat of desire and the softness of a
mother's touch.
The Way Home by Linda Read more...
Kiss Me While I Sleep
May 1, 2005
If you sense someone's watching you from afar, or if
you feel a shadow other than your own at your back, I
might as well pack it up and call Read more...
To Die For
January 1, 2005
Blair Mallory lives the good life. She's pretty, confident,
and the owner of a thriving up-scale fitness center. But in
the shadow of success, a troubled member of the club
develops a strange Read more...
Kiss Me While I Sleep
July 13, 2004
If you sense someone's watching you from afar, or if
you feel a shadow other than your own at your back, I
might as well pack it up and call Read more...
Cry No More
May 1, 2004
Count your blessings; they can be snatched away in an
instant. It is a sentiment Milla Edge knows too well.
With an astonishing blend of savvy, instinct, and passion,
Milla Read more...
Cry No More
November 4, 2003
Count your blessings; they can be snatched away in an
instant. It is a sentiment Milla Edge knows too well.
With an astonishing blend of savvy, instinct, and passion,
Milla Read more...
Dying to Please
November 3, 2003
Loyal. Beautiful. Professional. Impeccably organized.
Potentially lethal. Sarah Stevens is a woman with many
distinct qualities. First and foremost a butler par
excellence, skilled at running large households smoothly
and Read more...
Kill And Tell
October 29, 2002
Open Season
May 21, 2002
Dying To Please
April 16, 2002
Loyal. Beautiful. Professional. Impeccably organized.
Potentially lethal. Sarah Stevens is a woman with many
distinct qualities. First and foremost a butler par
excellence, skilled at running large households smoothly
and Read more...
Strangers In the Night
December 1, 2001
Contains three previously published novellas.
"Lake of Dreams": Thea Marlow had encountered her soul mate
in the depths of her overpowering, frightening dreams. Now,
on the shores of a country lake, Read more...
Open Season
July 17, 2001
Mr. Perfect
June 26, 2001
Finding Home
April 1, 2001
Three women with nothing but their dreams of finding a
real home, a place to belong.
Duncan's Bride by Linda Howard
Madelyn: She'd moved to Montana to marry a man
she'd never Read more...
An Independent Wife
April 1, 1999
Summer Sensations Anthology
July 3, 1998
The MacKenzie Family
July 1, 1998
After the Night
January 1, 1998
Kill and Tell
January 1, 1998
Still reeling from her mother's recent death, Karen Whitlaw
is stunned when she receives a package containing a
mysterious notebook from the father she has barely seen
since his return Read more...
Dream Man
January 1, 1998
A Lady of the West
October 1, 1997
Shades of Twilight
September 1, 1997
Roanna Davenport was raised a wealthy orphan on her
grandmother's magnificent Alabama estate, Davencourt, where
she had a passion for horses, a genius for trouble, and a
deep love for Read more...
MacKenzie's Pleasure
(SIM #691)
June 1, 1996
MacKenzie's Mission
(SIM #445)
June 1, 1992
Mackenzie's Mountain
April 1, 1989
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