The Necklace III: London, July 1967

As a child, Linda was mesmerized by storytellers, and her mother always made sure she had a supply of books close at hand while she was growing up. Sitting on her lap and listening to her read is one of her earliest memories. She recalls drawing pictures and then making up stories to go with them, and as she got older, her stories became longer and more fanciful. At age ten, she began to write them down, and when she was twelve, she wrote her first “book,” all handwritten. During rainy days in gym class, she wrote when the students had to stay in the locker room and sit on benches. She had a small cult following of friends who waited for her to finish each page, which she would then pass down the row. When she got a typewriter for her thirteenth birthday, she typed up her “masterpiece” and put it in a 3-ring binder, then hid it away. The story was actually quite silly. Having a typewriter, however, made it possible for her to write even more, which she did on almost a daily basis.

But, as happens to many young, aspiring writers, reality grabbed her, and when she graduated from high school and headed to college then into the workforce, the dream of becoming an author washed away. It wasn’t until she turned 62 and experienced her 3rd job layoff that she decided to make her writing dream come true.

Writing has since become an addiction to Linda, and she’s finding that ideas for numerous scenarios and characters keep flooding her brain, with the characters screaming, “Write about me! Write about me!”

And, that’s what she intends to do.