Authorsday: Linda Welch

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How long have you been writing?

I have daydreamed in epic detail as long as I can remember. I began writing them down about fifteen years ago.

How did you pick the genre you write in?

I enjoy reading mystery with an urban fantasy/paranormal slant so wanted to write in that genre. Although I only saw something suspiciously eerie once, I have heard and felt strange phenomenon since my childhood, and my husband and I heard noises which could not be attributed to natural causes in many homes in which we lived. Hence, the ghost characters in my books.

Do you plot or do you write by the seat of your pants?

I begin with a vague plot, often the beginning and end, then the characters take over and I just follow along. The book I’m working on now is the first for which I did an outline because I already knew most of the plot devices.

What drew you to the subject of Along Came a Demon?

It was an idea that popped into my head years ago, a woman who sees and communicates with the dead as one does with the living. I decided she would be overwhelmed by so many dead persons wanting her attention, so she sees only those who died a violent death.  Then I realized that if these dead are so real to her, she must have a way to identify the dead from the living, hence their whispering voices and frozen expression. Because I wanted to make her story different from the many urban fantasy novels out there now, her world is not littered with supernatural creatures and she is secretive about her ability.

Describe your book.

Along Came a Demon, The Demon Hunters, and Dead Demon Walking star Tiff Banks. She is mildly snarky, impatient and suspicious by nature. Tiff sees and speaks to the ghosts of those who died violently. If not for their frozen expressions and whisperings voices she would have difficulty distinguishing them from the living. These ghosts, or as she calls them, shades, are helpful when Tiff assists her local police department in their investigations. The dead are all around and they’re always watching, they can do nothing else, and they tell Tiff what they see and hear. She also lives with two shades who have become her family, even though they often drive her to distraction. Tiff also sees through the glamour of demons to what they actually are. They are not really demons, but Tiff calls them that. In her opinion, anything that can charm a person for the purpose of sensual and sexual gratification is demonic.

In Along Came a Demon, Tiff has to solve the mystery of why the shade of a woman is able to break the rules of the afterlife to seek her and what happened to the woman’s son, but first she must convince the police that the son does exist. Having a partner foisted on her does not make Tiff happy, particularly as Royal Mortensen is a demon. A loner, she doesn’t expect much from life except failed relationships and does not know how to react to a man who seems to assume they are destined to be together. Trying to solve the case while distracted by her un-Tiff-like feelings for the handsome detective turns her life upside-down. Royal seems perfect – he even cooks! But is he?

What do you consider your strengths in terms of your writing?

Characterization and background detail. To really know a character, the reader has to know what the character sees, hears, feels and even smell what they smell.

What’s your writing schedule?

I don’t have one. I envy writers who dedicate so many hours of their day to writing. Some days I put in up to three hours, other days, nothing. I tend to get my ideas when I am away from the laptop. I carry a mini digital recorder with me everywhere I go, even to bed.

What’s your favorite thing about your book?

That my main character, Tiff Banks, talks to the reader on a one-on-one, personal level.

Who is your favorite character in your book?

I have several: Tiff’s ghost roommates Jack and Mel, a suave, egotistical demon named Chris Plowman, but another in the yet to be published fifth book could well be their rival. She’s the ghost of an English woman, a gossip and motor-mouth.

What was your favorite scene to write?

I enjoyed writing the scenes in which Royal teases Tiff. Tiff has never been teased before so does not know how to react.

Author Bio:

Linda Welch was born in Hampshire, England. She lived in Idaho, California and New Mexico and finally settled in Utah. She lives in a mountain valley with her husband, Scottish terrier and cat. Unlike Tiff Banks of Linda's Whisperings series of paranormal mysteries, she is not tall, white-haired and does not see demons. She does see moose, deer, raccoon, skunk, a huge bird population and a ridiculous amount of snow. When not working at her other job and depending on the season, she is usually tending to family, attacking weeds in her garden or shoveling out after a snowstorm.

Book Blurb:

I'm told the dead are all around us. I wouldn't know about that. I see only the violently slain. They could be victims of hit-and-run, innocents caught in cross-fire, the murdered. They whisper to me and they never, ever, forget the face of their killer. They aren't the only supernatural things I see. We live side by side with what some call the Otherworldy. That's too much of a mouthful for me. I call them demons. If you saw them as I do, you'd know why. I'm Tiff Banks. Welcome to my world.

http://lindadwelch.com.