CentreStage with Linn B. Halton: Following the path that fate lays out …

Welcome again to CentreStage!  CentreStage showcases fantastic authors from around the world, often introducing fellow featured authors at loveahappyending.com as well as my fellow authors in the Sapphire Star Publishing family.  On CentreStage, these authors might write for you about their lives, or their writing journey, or anything else that matters to them.  Every feature will be different in format and flavour, so watch out for a variety of stories and tales.

Today, it is my great pleasure to welcome another loveahappyending.com featured author…  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:  Linn B. Halton!

A great believer in fate….

People who know me well understand that I am a great believer in fate. That’s not to say I think we live our lives on ‘remote control’ by any means, but if you are born to be an eminent surgeon or a rock star … well, you will find yourself following a particular path.

Yes, I do believe we have freedom of choice but if you are making a cake and have all the ingredients in the bowl, you suddenly can’t change your mind at that point and decide you are making pasta instead! However, the sort of cake you end up with will depend on the effort you put in to make it the best it can be. It can be a plain little sponge or an amazingly decorated cupcake (both can be very enjoyable) – the choice is yours.

…and stars!

I’m old enough to be a little more laid back about things than I was even a few years’ ago. I am a typical Gemini and admit I am borderline obsessive compulsive. Hey, it’s in my genes so it’s not my fault!  It is true that over the years I have made things happen by sheer rugged determination and total commitment. I can be focussed to a fault. It’s a trait that has a good and a bad side, but it has come in handy with my third career.

A woman of many talents, including finance…

Career number one was finance. I hated maths with a passion when I was at school. However, accountancy was another matter and I specialised in planning and forecasting. For over twenty years, after my sons started school, it was something I enjoyed despite the pressures and deadlines that seemed never ending. It taught me so much about being disciplined in the way I work, about being methodical and planning ahead. Probably not the best environment for someone who leans heavily towards OCD – but my gut instincts meant that I could spot errors or problems areas in financial reports quite easily. I enjoyed investigating anomalies and resolving problems. It was a job I loved. It didn’t fulfil my artist/creative side though and the outlet for that was my hobby. Together with my husband we have lived in and renovated 13 properties to date. It was this hobby that led me into my second career.

…design…

A chance meeting and conversation led to a job offer to become an Interior Designer for new build Show Homes. For a while I had a dual role and also took on Sales & Marketing as the housing market hardened and selling was very much led by the finishes on offer to potential purchasers. It was an exciting time for me as I was responsible for making the selections for all of the internal finishes for show homes and any properties not sold prior to the final fix stage.  To be paid to go to work and choose floor and wall tiles, bathroom suites, kitchens … it was a dream. Fate had unleashed my inner longing to be creative on a larger scale.

Then my mother became unwell and my intuitive side told me (without anything concrete to confirm it) that she wasn’t going to be with us for much longer. I resigned from my job at the end of December 2008 and she died unexpectedly at the end of March 2009, three short months later.

…and writing!

My mother and I both knew that I would eventually become a writer – whether published or unpublished – because I began writing when I was 11 years old.  Family and work commitments meant I was too busy to write anything more than poetry on occasion, but I kept a journal of storylines for when I reached that me time stage of my life.  We both assumed it would be once I retired, but shortly after her death I found myself in front of the computer writing my first novel – Touched By The Light.

Fate and talent coming together at last!

I didn’t go back to work, and again fate and my mother had enabled me to see that you can walk away from the nine-to-five habit and earning a good salary. We bought a smaller house and now I spend my time writing and running three websites connected with writing. It’s more than a full-time job, it consumes all of my free time but I absolutely love it! My husband understands that this is my time, after years of working and bringing up a family he never begrudges me a second of the time I’m on the computer. We try to ensure we still get quality time together – we have date nights and holidays/short breaks to keep the magic going.  As a Grandma I find the time I spend with the grandkids grounds me and is a perfect break away from my new ‘job’.

The other day someone asked me if I ever get writer’s block. Having waited so many years to get to this stage, the answer is no. I have too many projects in my little journal waiting to be taken forward. I wrote for about sixteen months flat out after my mother died and completed five manuscripts. One she inspired, the true story Being A Sceptic Is Oh So Easy, my debut novel was released in Feb 2011 and the other three are all due out this year – starting with The Quintessential Gemini published by the fabulous Sapphire Star Publishing.

The best possible outcome!

What is hugely satisfying for me, is that this ‘job’ feels so right.  I am a square peg in a square hole – I’ve never been the round peg type of lady. For whatever reason I’m where I’m supposed to be and doing what makes me happy.  I’m so thankful for this opportunity and I’m grateful to every single person who sits down to read one of my novels, it’s an amazing thought and humbling.  It’s one thing to write, but another for people to want to read what you write.

Writing for me has never been about fame and fortune because I accept if that was my fate it would have created the opportunity for me earlier in my life.  It’s about the readers who take the time to post a kind review or Email me to let me know how they felt about a story I have written. When I was in my early 30’s I went to see a clairvoyant who told me that I had an unusual life map for a Gemini. He told me that I would gain the most pleasure from my working life at the END of my life and that I would work to a good old age. Well, if I have to write ALL of the stories in my little journal, I might have to live to the ripe old age of 120. A little cosmetic surgery may be in order if I update my author photo … It’s been a total pleasure to be here with Nicky and thank you for dropping by to help me celebrate novel no. 2!

Wow:  Introducing… The Quintessential Gemini, Linn’s masterpiece number 2! 

For twenty-one years the main focus of Katherine Dale’s life has been her work.  Love interests and hobbies came and went; but always there for her, her only constant – other than her cat delightfully named No. 4 – was her nine to five habit.   Until she’s replaced.

Her confidence is dented and she’s angry; at life and at herself.  She’s failed to grasp the office politics that were going on around her and ignored hints of ‘changes to come’ in her horoscope forecasts. For over twenty years she has followed Mark Ainsley-Thomas, a renowned Astrologer in the UK and USA.  His daily forecasts direct the way she lives her life as a typically complex Gemini.  Mark is now an ‘A’ list celebrity and his new Agent is determined to raise his profile in America, so he has to take on James Kingman to help him run his website.

Katherine is totally confused by James’ forecasts and that’s where the fun begins! 

The Quintessential Gemini is available in paperback and e-book from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.

 ******

Linn is a featured Author on http://loveahappyending.com/.  You can visit Linn’s author page at loveahappyending.com as well as at Sapphire Star Publishing.  Linn also has her very own website and blog, and she Twitters and Facebooks as well!

Linn, a big thank you for visiting CentreStage today and sharing the path that fate had laid out for you… so far.  I am curious to see where you go from here!

Over to you, dear reader:  tell us about your fate.  Is life taking you down the path you expected… with a few twists and turns thrown in for a bit of fun?