Rock Chick Writes: Linda Robertson, Shattered Circle & G*veaway

Today, I’m excited to welcome author Linda Robertson to the blog. She recently kicked off her blog tour for Shattered Circle, the newest book in her Persephone Alcmedi series. Linda has four sons, three electric guitars, and a dog named after Bela Lugosi—what’s not to love? She also was once lead guitarist I a heavy metal band. You can find out more about Linda at her website, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Join Linda as she talks about music and the muse, and see the great tour giveaway at the end. 

ABOUT SHATTERED CIRCLE:  JUST YOUR AVERAGE MEGA-WITCH…It’s tough being a modern woman, but Persephone Alcmedi has it worse than most. Being the prophesied Lustrata has kicked her career as a witch into high gear, and juggling a wærewolf boyfriend who is about to become king of his kind and a seductive vampire who bears her magical Mark isn’t easy either….Still, Seph’s beloved foster daughter, Beverley, is causing more trouble than these two men put together. The young girl’s been playing with a magical artifact that’s far more dangerous than she realizes. Now Seph must summon help from a mystical being so potent that even vampires fear him . . . and the cost of his aid may be more than she’s willing to pay. Seph, Johnny, and Menessos face threats from all sides—and a few from within. Will the forces of destiny cement their tenuous supernatural union, or shatter it forever?

Now…welcome, Linda!

HOW ROCK-N-ROLL MADE ME A WRITER

When I was 15, I wanted a guitar. Like most kids, I let my folks know when I decided that I wanted this expensive musical instrument. And I let them know the next day, and the next. I bought magazines. I studied the guitars. I picked one I wanted. And another. And another. I scoped out the classifieds in the local paper and pointed out the guitar ads.

This went on for months.

I wore my parents down.

One day I found an ad about a red Peavy Razor and a small practice amp, available together for a reasonable price. The seller lived not too far away. My dad actually took me to meet this seller. And I came home with a shiny guitar, a little amplifier, and big, big dreams.

A lot of kids want toys, gadgets, thing-a-ma-bobs, and a myriad of items that they think is cool and exciting in some manner, yet they never utilize that thingy as much as they could. (Speaking as a mother of four boys, I’ve seen it many times over.) Kids never change. And yet, there’s that thing that surprises you. Everyone has something that really brings out their determination. Their ‘I’m gonna do that if it kills me.’

That guitar had been the focus of my cycloptic vision for too long for me to hold it, get frustrated because I couldn’t immediately rock out and promptly forget about it. I’d been playing piano since I was 8. My piano teacher had ceased teaching me when I was 14 because she couldn’t teach me anymore. NOT because I had learned all she had to offer. NOT because I was a fantastic virtuoso pianist.

She said I didn’t play the music on the sheet anymore. I played the right notes all right. I played them in the right order. I just didn’t believe the time signature and note values were set in stone rules. I made whole notes into quarter notes, or vice versa. I improvised new melodies from existing songs. I played them the way I felt them.

So, without a book or a teacher, I made a chart. I plotted out the notes of every string, every fret. And from there, I took my piano sheet music and started playing songs by notes. This familiarized me with the instrument enough to build my confidence. Then a friend of a friend showed me bar-chords.

BAZINGA!

By the end of the week I could play damn near every AC/DC song ever. Rock-n-roll was mine!!

When I was 16 I was playing lead in a cover band. For a long time, I was the only guitarist, so all the weight was on my shoulders. By the time I was 17, we were the house band for a local bar. We played every Thursday night. It was wonderful! Scary! Kick-ass! Exhilarating!

The drummer from that band and I still play today, with other folks in the band. We are now known as HAGATHA’S BLUFF, but most folks call us THE HAGS because the three female members are all over 40.

Those lessons of determinedness, of the importance of honing your skill, those long days sitting alone in my room learning how to play a new song by ear, going over and over it, rewinding that cassette until it was ready to break, until my fingers were so sore…those days taught me how to proceed toward a goal by myself. They prepared me for the writing passion that was also blossoming inside me.

Thanks for the guitar, dad.

Thanks, Linda!

Now…as part of her tour, Linda is giving away ten copies of Shattered Circle. You can enter via Rafflecopter here:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can also leave a comment to be entered for your choice of this week’s guest post/guest review books. Do you play a musical instrument? Have you ever played in a band? I tried to join a band when I was in high school, playing keyboards (I’d taken piano lessons for something like ten years), but my parents did not see this as a reasonable direction for me to take. So I hole up in my room and wrote. So…thanks, mom and dad!