Q+A with Linda Grimes (The Big Fix)

Please welcome today's guest author, Linda Grimes!  Linda is the author of the In a Fix series, including THE BIG FIX.

Q+A with Linda Grimes

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Linda:  I wrote my first novel when I was eleven. Pure fanfiction, before I even knew what fanfiction was. At the time, I was obsessed with Trixie Belden mysteries. Likewise anything to do with horses. So, naturally, I combined my passions and wrote Trixie Belden and the Kentucky Derby Mystery. The "mystery" concerned bad guys drugging the racehorses to make them run faster. Such a sophisticated (or perhaps "jaded" is a better word for it) thought for an eleven-year-old. Alas, there wasn't much of a market for fifty pages of painstakingly handwritten words, no matter how faithful to the Trixie Belden universe. It was doomed from the start to a life sentence in the drawer.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Linda:  It's funny, but all that "paranormal" stuff just feels normal to me. It's "normalcy" that seems off-kilter somehow. (I suspect I have an odd mind.) So, when it came to telling stories, it just seemed "normal" to go "para." 

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Linda:  Naturally enough, I'd jump at the chance to be an aura adaptor, like my characters. Being able to look exactly like another person—at will—strikes me as a handy ability to have, in a multitude of situations. Especially on a bad-hair day, or when my jeans are feeling a tad snug.

Barring that, I would love to be invisible. Well, maybe not all the time—that would probably get old fast. But being able to disappear whenever I wanted … now, that would be cool. It appeals to my nosy-but-introverted nature.

Or, you know, super-strength, so I could beat the snot out of anyone who ticks me off. Not that I'm *cough* violent or anything in real life. But as long as we're fantasizing …

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release, The Big Fix.

Linda:  Um … would it be terribly ill-bred to quote Publishers Weekly? I like how they put it:
“Self-referential humor combines beautifully with fast-paced action and suspense. The warm, merry vibe of Ciel’s large family and the continuity from previous books are simply added bonuses to the exceptionally well-told story.”  —Publishers Weekly, starred review for The Big Fix

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Linda:  This is always a tough one for me to answer, because no actor I know of looks exactly like Ciel, Billy, or Mark. But there are "types" that come close.

Hannah Spearritt (from the British TV show Primeval) reminds me of Ciel, in both build and spunky personality. Or possibly Britt Robertson (from the TV show The Secret Circle). In any case, someone petite, who exudes terrier-like determination and spirit, would be an ideal fit.

Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries) and Matt Bomer (White Collar) are dark-haired, blue-eyed charmers like Billy. They both have that certain sense of fun and mischief a good Billy-type demands.

Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), with short hair, could play the intense, dark-blond CIA agent, Mark—infuriatingly alpha, but with a gentle side that peeks out occasionally.

Of course, to be truly certain (about the guys especially), I'd have to interview them in person. Strictly for *ahem* professional purposes. 

Thank you Linda for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Linda Grimes and her books, please visit her website.  You can learn more about her new release,The Big Fix, below.

The Big Fix (In a Fix #3) by Linda Grimes

Linda Grimes’s sexy and hilarious urban fantasy series that began with In a Fix and Quick Fix continues in The Big Fix.

Aura adaptor extraordinaire Ciel Halligan, who uses her chameleon-like abilities to fix her clients’ problems—as them—is filling in on set for action superstar Jackson Gunn, whose snake phobia is standing in the way of his completing his latest mega-millions Hollywood blockbuster. There’s only one thing Jack fears more than snakes, and that's the possibility of his fans finding out he screams at the sight of one. Going from hero to laughing stock isn’t part of his career plan.

Seems like a simple enough job to Ciel, who doesn’t particularly like snakes, but figures she can tolerate an afternoon with them, for the right price—which Jack is offering, and then some. What she doesn’t count on is finding out that while she was busy wrangling snakes for him, his wife was busy getting killed. When Ciel goes to break the sad news to the star, she finds out Jack was AWOL from her client hideaway at the time of the murder.

Ciel begins to suspect Jack’s phobia was phony, and that he only hired her to provide him with an alibi—but if she goes to the police, she’ll have to explain how she knows he wasn’t really on set. Up against a wall, Ciel calls on her best-friend-turned-love-interest Billy, and her not-so-ex-crush Mark, to help her set up the sting of a lifetime.

Release Date:  May 12, 2015
Genre:  Urban Fantasy
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