Interview with Linda Alexander

Added November 15, 2003

Ayden: Linda, thank you for joining me, I'm looking forward to "picking your brain". I'll start with a rather easy question. When did you start your writing career? Was it something you always dreamed of doing?

Linda: I've been writing since I was a child. I still have some of the stories and poems. I recall, mostly, that in those days I wrote to assauge anger and hurt. Particularly, dissatisfactions w/my parents -- I'd hole myself up in my bedroom and write about it. I've not stopped since, just figured out how to channel it a bit better.

Ayden: Would you mind telling us a bit about your published works, both the fictionand non-fiction?

Linda: I've written for publication for over 15 years. A satisfactory representation of my published articles can be found at: http://www.authorsden.com/lindajalexander.

As for books, I've published 3. The 1st, in 1994, was The Unpromised Land, the true story of Gary and Shirley Beresford and their struggle as Messianic Jews to gain legal residence in Israel under the Israeli Law of Return. However, because they believe in Christ as Messiah, at that point, Israel didn't acknowledge them as Jews and denied their petitions.

Until Next Time, published 11/2002, is my 1st published novel. I wanted to delve into the idea that evil is real, tangible, not just the nebulous thought that "good people do bad things" but, rather, that evil exists as its own entity. In this book, a man is being overtaken by evil and has to figure out how to control it, or let it take over.

And Dorothy from Kansas Meets the Wizard of X is my current release, though actually in its 2nd printing. First time around, in 1999, it was published by a house that has since gone under. In its current iteration, published by PublishAmerica, release date 10/2003, it has a new cover, photos in the middle, expanded text, and a "Where Are They Now?" section.

Ayden: Your latest book, Dorothy from Kansas, deals with a rather controversialsubject, the world of adult films. Why this particular subject?

Linda: Truth be told, my ex-husband used to bring them home and almost every one was HORRIBLE. Yet now and then, there'd be one with decent-enough acting, something of a plot, artistic treatment of sexuality. And each time it was borderline decent, it either starred, and/or was directed or produced by a man named Eric Edwards. I jucouldn't understand "what a nice boy like him was doing in a job like that," and decided to find out.

Ayden: Was it hard to remain impartial while writing? Did you battle moments when all you could think of was "How could they?"

Linda: Not really. I already knew I wasn't a true consumer. Nothing would change that. And what I set out to do was to learn what made Eric and, expanding on that, others in the industry, do what they did for a living. Many books and articles had been written about the salacious element of porn, many more about why it was a bad thing. But very little, if any, had been written about the people, and how being involved in such a world, day in and day out, affected their lives.

Ayden: Did this book change your opinion about the adult film industry in any way?I know it made me think and reevaluate some of my preconceived notions.

Linda: I actually have much less patience for the product and much more for the folks who produce it. If anything, it made me like the product much less than I did before -- and I didn't really like it all those years ago.

Ayden: What's coming up next year for you? Any new books we should be on the lookout for?

Linda: I've a few projects in the hopper. One in particular is a biography of late star of Hollywood's golden era -- Robert Taylor. He made many westerns, war films, love stories. A few that pop to mind are Quo Vadis, Camille (with Greta Garbo), and Johnny Eager, though he made many, many more. He was called "The Man With the Perfect Face" and, besides his films, is probably best known for supposedly naming names of Communists during the Hollywood Blacklist era. I've many previously-unreleased details of his involvement in this dark day of our history, as well as an interview with the Italian actress who was the catalyst for breaking up Taylor's first marriage to Barbara Stanwyck. He was married a second time, and had 2 children. I've been given extraordinary access to his family, old letters and documents, friends. It's an as-yet untold story of old Hollywood, almost now completely gone.

Ayden: I will be looking for that biography. I grew up watching Robert Taylor movies and was saddened to learn he'd passed. I know for many authors, their family is one of their biggest supporters. How does your family feel about your chosen career?

Linda: My family, in general, thinks me rather eccentric, in a lovingly supportive way. My husband backs me wholeheartedly. He's a very special person and has encouraged me to get back into my writing, after I had a circumstantially-required break for a few years.

Ayden: Is it hard to balance your writing with your other every day obligations?

Linda: Yes, it's hard to balance. Folks don't really realize how long it can take to support oneself with a writing career. That being said, it can require other "day jobs" until the writing begins to pull in the mortgage payments. Add that to family, friends, and, a real big part of the writing life, PROMOTION -- well, time becomes something of a dream!

Ayden: Do you treat your writing as normal 9 to 5 job? A set time, a set place, aset number of pages by the end of every day?

Linda: No. I also work full-time at a goverment job. Not my choice but, as I mentioned above, the mortgage requires it. Therefore, I write when I can, as much as I can. I'm moving towards that full-time writing effort, though. I'm getting there. . . . Please check out my main website at: http://www.i-am-america.net.

Ayden: What's the hardest part about a being an author?

Linda: Promotion. A lot of folks believe that once the book's published, that's the end of it. On to the next writing project. Truth be told, that's only the beginning. Promotion is a requirement for sales, even amidst the writing of the next book. This all harkens back to that time question -- can anyone help me add about 5 hours to each day?!

Ayden: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors that you'd like to share?

Linda: Refer back to the former question. Don't ever think that all you have to do is write, and publish, the book, and then it's gravy from there. That's only the start of the adventure.

But beyond all else -- enjoy that adventure. When you stop having fun doing it, stop doing it.

Ayden: Linda, thanks again for talking with me. I enjoyed it immensely.

To learn more about Linda and her available books, visit her website at www.authorsden.com/lindajalexander.

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