Welcome author Lin Brooks

Today, I welcome US contemporary fiction author, Lin Brooks. She's stopping by as part of her blog tour. I've asked her a few questions, and her replies have taught me something new. 

a) I learnt about Alabama - it has beaches! (Ignorant European that I am...)
b) There are half marathons happening at Disney World - at night!
c) Her novel, Where the Greener Grass Grows, sounds like a wonderful, warm story about relationships. (Have a peek, fellow Crooked Cat authors...)

So, here goes...



1) Welcome, Lin. What inspired the plot to Where the Greener Grass Grows?

My daughter and I have always been very close. I spent many years as a single mom, and she’s an only child, so we have always looked out for each other. When she started her sophomore year in high school, I began to realize how quickly time was passing and I wondered how I would cope when she left home. I have a good friend who has a daughter the exact same age, and I could see that her “empty nest” experience was going to be different than mine for a number of reasons. I decided to write about it. I saw immediately that relationships—those with our children/mothers, those with our girlfriends, and those with our significant others—shape how we cope with the big things in life, and this was no exception. So this quickly became a book about relationships. That made it more fun to write than just a story about a daughter leaving home.

2) Tell us about life in Alabama! What's it like?

I love it here! I'm actually a Mississippi native, but I went to college here, and then lived here for several years until I went to law school. I stayed in central Mississippi for 15 years, and then had the chance to come back to the Alabama coast when I (finally) married my college beau last year. I'm so glad to be home! The weather is hot, which I love. Cold weather and I don't get along at all. And the beaches are awesome. I'm a beach bum, so having the beach nearby is a little slice of heaven. A lot of Alabama is small towns and wide open spaces, but there are a few bigger cities, too. That’s relative, I suppose, but they are big enough to have plenty to do and everything you need to be comfortable, without being so big that the cost of living is high and traffic is a problem (I’ve driven in D.C. before. One of my goals in life is to never, ever do it again.) I do travel a lot, but I’m always happy to come home.

3) You're a runner. Have you run in any 'big' races?

I guess that depends on how you define 'big.' I've never run the Boston Marathon or anything, but I've run in some pretty cool races. I've run two half marathons at Seaside, Florida, which is just the coolest little place ("The Truman Show" was filmed there). I've also run a half marathon at Disney World. They had music and performers through the whole thing, so they get some pretty serious style points for fun races. I'm running a night half marathon at Disney in November, which I’m really jazzed about, and then a half and my first full marathon at the New Year's Double in Texas on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. So my fall training schedule is pretty full.

4) What genres do you read in your spare time?

I read a mixture of romance, women's fiction, crime drama and horror. I was raised on romance books, but my husband got me started on Stephen King when I was 17, and that love for a good horror story has lasted 25 years. I’m a Mississippian and a lawyer, which means John Grisham is a must (they haven’t passed a law yet, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time). And I met Lisa Scottoline at a book conference once, and it didn’t take me long to get hooked on her books, either. 



Thank you, Lin. A night marathon at Disney sounds intriguing. And best of luck for the New Year's Double! Now for the blurb and a taster of Where the Greener Grass Grows. 

Where the Greener Grass Grows

by Lin Brooks

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Blurb:

Sending the children off to college is never easy. For Lacey Marchand and Cara Myers, an empty nest is enough to drive them a little crazy -- but sometimes, a little crazy is just what the doctor ordered.

Now that their daughters have left for college, Lacey and Cara have too much time on their hands. With nothing else to do, Cara decides to help single-mom Lacey get a life. And what better way to get a life than a few blind dates?

Lacey, however, can't think of a worse way to spend her weekends. She has her own ideas for curing their empty nest problems -- Cara needs a new career. And a career just happens to be what Lacey understands best.    

For Cara and Lacey, coping with the empty nest means reinventing their lives without losing their sanity. Where the Greener Grass Grows is the story of two mothers learning to live, to laugh and to let go.

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Excerpt:

Sunday, August 26, 2010

Empty Nest

Have you ever noticed how quiet a house can be after a teenager leaves it? It’s like all of those decibels that have been screaming through the air for the last eight years have come to a sudden halt. I can hear buzzing in my ears, it’s so quiet. 

Three years ago, I realized it was almost time. When Abby started the tenth grade, I began telling myself it wouldn’t be much longer. Sometimes, I said this with more than a little relief. For instance, what single mother has never muttered under her breath, at least once, “just two more years and I can get in there and fumigate that room”? Of course you have. Admit it.

Well, at least now the room is clean. I had forgotten the child had a floor in there. The mp3 player is quiet and there’s no chattering on the telephone. I’m trying to remember the last time the house has been this quiet. A year ago, it would’ve been bliss. 

Now it isn’t. Remember all of those things you tell yourself you’re going to do whenever the kids leave home? I forgot most of them when she left. The rest were finished within four hours. I’m bored. I know it’s pitiful, but I’m new at this. Ideas would be appreciated.  
Posted by Lacey Gail at 14:52

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Lin Brooks is a lifelong Southern girl who lives in Mobile, Alabama with her family. Lin is a lawyer, runner, mother, home improvement enthusiast and an avid reader with a bucket list that includes visiting Australia, running a marathon and trying every kind of margarita ever made.

Author page:  http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005I56O5W

Blog:  http://lin-brooks.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default