Linda Huber grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, but went to work in Switzerland for a year aged twenty-two, and has lived there ever since. Her day jobs have included working as a physiotherapist in hospitals and schools for handicapped children, and teaching English in a medieval castle. Her writing career began in the nineties, when she had over fifty short stories published in women’s magazines. Several years later, she discovered the love of her writing life – psychological suspense fiction. Her ninth novel, The Runaway, was published in March 2020. She also writes feel-good novellas as Melinda Huber, and really appreciates having the views enjoyed by her characters right on her own doorstep!
Hi Linda how lovely to see you in my virtual cocktail lounge. What can I get you at the bar?
L: Thank you – you need to either win the lottery or take out a huge mortgage to buy cocktails in Switzerland, so I’ve been looking forward to this! I’ll have a White Lady, please. They always look so elegant.
We can do elegance, Linda. Do you remember where we first met in real life?
L: I think that was in London. Bloodhound Books threw a huge party in a bar near King’s Cross Station, and I came over from Switzerland for that. It was a good evening!
It was and I was stunned to see you there, travelling all that way for a party! What were your first impressions?
L: You looked très chic in a dress, if I remember rightly. It was one of those evenings we were all meandering around in semi-darkness saying, ooh, look, there’s so-and-so!
Happy memories. Points in common?
L: The main point everyone had in common that night was – we were all screaming at each other, the music was so loud… Writers have so much in common, though, and it’s great to be able to chat in real life about the ups and downs of the writing life, especially if you write in a similar genre, as we do. Nobody “gets” it like another writer!
Indeed and we both started off by writing short stories. Tell me about your latest book?
L: A psychological suspense novel The Runaway. This one’s set mainly in and around St Ives. We had several holidays in Cornwall when I was a child – I just loved the magic of the place. The book centres on a family of three who relocate there from London. One of them discovers that you can’t run away from a secret. Or… can you?
I’ll look forward to reading that. What are you working on now?
L: My WIP at the moment is another psych. suspense novel. It’s just back from its structure/characters/plot edit, so I’m working through my editor’s suggestions and corrections. This one, which is giving me biggest headache ever as far as finding a title’s concerned, will probably join the others in my self-published collection, though it won’t be ready for a few months.
We can only think wistfully about book events at the moment so what would be your dream panel (at any event) – subject, fellow panelists or a Q&A with someone you have met or would love to meet?
L: That’s a hard one. I think I would like to be on a panel discussing character development in crime fiction. The other panelists would be Elly Griffiths, Elizabeth George and Mary Higgins Clark. (I can dream, can’t I?) And if could do the impossible, I’d like to watch a panel with those three plus Ruth Rendell. These ladies all write/wrote such great characters.
I’d join you for that! What are you most looking forward to when lockdown is finally lifted?
L: Being able to go where I want to go without packing face masks and hand sanitiser, and without the nagging fear at the back of my mind all the time.
Is there anything lockdown has made you think about/want to do?
L: I think we’ve all learned to appreciate what we have, in this pandemic. It’s often the little things in life that give us the most pleasure – a zoom chat with my kids, meeting (at a suitable distance) friends locally and having a chat or a coffee. In the Spanish Flu epidemic last century, it took them three years to get on top of it. I’m hoping for two, this time, but we’re not even halfway there yet. Thank heavens for the Internet…
Absolutely and it’s been so lovely to catch up with you now Linda. I hope it’s not too much longer before we can meet in real life. In the meantime let’s have another White Lady.
You can find out more about Linda and her books here and follow her on Twitter @LindaHuber19