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Victoria lynn Weston talks with author & publisher, Linda Dini Jenkins about her book, "Up at the Villa, Travels with my Husband." 

Victoria: Tell me about “UP AT THE VILLA, Travels with my Husband” – how did you decide on this topic.  What is one of your favorite parts of this book and why?  Great title by the way.

Linda: Thank you. I agonized a bit over the title and it changed a few times in the editing process. I think my favorite thing about this book is that it encompasses all of my favorite things: travel stories, travel poetry, photography and food.

Victoria: Describe how the idea for this book came to you; as an intuitive flash, in a dream, running errands?

Linda: I’m a pretty consistent journal writer, especially when I’m on the road, so it became clear to me one day that I should try to organize the journal entries into stories and find a theme that I could wrap all those stories around. The book grew as my husband Tim and I started to talk about what I should include, and we had a lot of, “Don’t you remember when I . . .?” conversations. Some of them were so hysterical that I had to recreate those adventures from memory.

Victoria: What inspired you to write this book?   How did you keep focused?  Ever deal with writers block, if so, how did you handle it?

Linda: Tim and I have been avid travelers for years and we’ve fallen madly in love with Italy, so I wanted that to be the focus of the book. But the thing that became clear to me as our relationship went on was that when we travel we have adventures — even if the trip is 50 miles from our home — and that most of those adventures are the result of something that Tim has done. He’s wildly adventurous and unpredictable, and that makes for some great stories. The tension in the book really comes from this relationship where one of us is extremely organized and the other one is a real follow-your-nose kind of guy. It makes life interesting. As for writers’ block — sure, it happens. But I find that when I’m working in short forms like this (essays, poetry, guidebook information) I can resolve the block by simply moving on to another piece. I try not to let it get to me.

Victoria: Did you have a schedule for your writing?  I knew a fiction writer, who everyday, began writing at 9 a.m., she even dressed up for her writing which, in her case included her favorite pair of red patent leather stilettos.  

Linda: Since I am a full-time editor and freelance writer, I’m always at my computer by 8:00 or 8:30, and I’m usually writing something. Business work, work that has a deadline, always has to take precedence for me. So I find that my personal writing is most often done in the evening, unless I’ve imposed a deadline for a particular project. But I totally understand the stiletto strategy. When I lived in New York City and freelanced there, I never made a phone call to a client or prospect without wearing a business jacket!

Victoria: Did you go through the traditional channels of query letters to agents?

Linda: Not for this project. But I have been submitting my work for 25 years to various literary journals and university competitions.

Victoria: How did you deal with the rejection letters?

Linda: I keep them all in a little box in my office. It’s just part of the process. Acceptance is a numbers game — I believe you have to keep submitting and don’t let the rejections get you down. There are all kinds of reasons why work isn’t accepted, and sometimes it has nothing to do with the quality of your work. You just have to keep getting your work out there. My hero was the late great William Stafford, who didn’t get his first book of poetry published until he was in his late 40s.

Victoria:  Once your book was published, what did you do next?  Oftentimes publishers contribute to the marketing and promoting of their authors’ books.  Today, however, that responsibility lies mainly up on the author.  How do you manage your promoting? 

Linda: As an author-publisher I’m very involved with the marketing of my book and, in today’s environment, every author needs to be. I’ve done readings and book signings up and down the East Coast. I’ve been invited to book groups here in the Richmond (VA) area, and I’ve spoken to writers groups and at writer’s conferences. I (along with my partners) attend major industry trade shows like Book Expo America and regional shows, like the LA Book Fair, the Eastern Kentucky Book Fair and the Virginia Festival of the Book. And I have the expertise of a terrific publicist, Gail Kearns, of To Press & Beyond, who gets me reviews and press and has convinced me to get into social networking. It’s huge.

Victoria: As an author, where do you go from here?  Do you have other book ideas in the works? 

Linda: Well, I won’t abandon this book for a while. I’ll continue to make appearances when I’m asked and hope that it will be a good leveraging point for any future

writing. I’ve got a few ideas about the next book, and they all have something to do with travel and/or living in a foreign country. I am in the process of getting my ESL certification right now, so there could be a year or two abroad for me in the not-too-distant future. Of course, I’d love it to be Italy. If I can’t get another book out of that kind of experience, I should retire my pencil.

Victoria: Writing and publishing books is as much about the creative process as it is the business process.  How do you approach making your books profitable?

Linda: Publishing is definitely a business. We’ve had to be smart with Great Little Books, LLC insofar as sourcing printers, a distributor and top-notch creative people to work with us. We have printed reasonably small runs to date but will probably do just half that in the future, with an added electronic version. I think the industry is in a transition period here and as publishers we need to be open to changes. And we market, market, market!

Victoria: Once your book was finished, do you have a professional editor review before publishing?

Linda: This book underwent extensive readings by friends and friends in the business. When I incorporated all their wisdom and comments, I passed the manuscript to a professional proofreader for a final run-through. All manuscripts need other pairs of eyes on them.
Victoria: Have you considered writing a book, let's say "love story," that could translate well into film? 

Linda: Oh, I’d love to have that happen! I co-wrote a play several years ago with Barbara Worton (my partner in Great Little Books, LLC and author of TOO TALL ALICE and BEDTIME STORIES: THE SHORT, LONG AND TALL TALES OF A SLEEPWRITER, called “If I’m Talking, Why Aren’t You Listening?” We wrote a treatment for it and would still love to see somebody take a look at it with any eye towards filming it. I think it’s an important piece, but would need to be handled by a very perceptive and out-of-the-box director.

Victoria: You’ve recently launched a great blog – congratulations!  How do you use this platform to promote your books and other services?

Linda: Thanks. I went into blogging in December kicking and screaming, but it’s one of those things that Gail Kearns insisted that I do and now I’m so glad she did. First of all, I absolutely love writing it! It gets updated every Wednesday with a new story and keeps me fresh, both from a writing perspective and also from a “getting the stories down” perspective. I think the blog (www.travelthewriteway.com) is somewhat unique because, while there are a lot of blogs out there that focus on giving readers updated travel advice and good deals, Travel the Write Way sits at the intersection of travel and writing. So I talk as much about writing and the importance of journaling and preserving your memories as I do about specific travel experiences. I weave mentions of my book in every once in a while and incorporate links to my book’s website (which, by the way, is www.upatthevillatravels.com) without being too annoying. It’s a fine line. What the blog has done for me above all else is introduce me to some fantastic people from around the world — other Italophiles, foodies and journaling junkies like me who are so glad to have found each other.

Victoria:  It sounds like you have the right combination of "content and promotion" for your blog.  Any closing thoughts or words of wisdom to inspire writers?

Linda: Just to keep doing it. In 1938, a very wise woman named Brenda Ueland wrote a little book called IF YOU WANT TO WRITE. In it, she said, “Everybody is talented, original and has something important to say . . .” So say it!

Victoria: Thank you Linda, congratulations on your book and blog!

 

Check out Linda Dini Jenkins book; "Up at the Villa, Travels with my Husband," and her travel blog; Travel the Write Way.

ABOUT LINDA DINI JENKINS

Linda Dini Jenkins is author of the award-winning book Up at the Villa: Travels with my Husband, a beautifully illustrated collection of travel stories, personal essays and poetry. Up at the Villa has recently been nominated as an outstanding non-fiction work for the Library of Virginia Literary Awards, which recognizes and celebrates distinguished Virginia writers.

Linda has been published widely in literary magazines including Tampa Review, Peregrine,  Phoebe,  South Florida Poetry Review, Writer to Writer and Poeti italo-americani e italo-canadesi. She is also the author of Journey of a Returning Christian: Writing Into God.

Up At the Villa: Travels with my Husband By Linda Dini Jenkins

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