Elsewhere in my website you can read of my fondness for fantasy fiction. This helps explain why of all the wonderful short stories Linda has written, Mirror, Mirror... is my favourite. She has not avoided the nasty side of the mermaid legend, while fashioning a poignant modern story of a man-mermaid romance.

The story also has a hometown ring for me. I was born in Paignton, Devon, on England's southwest coastline along the English channel. So a few years later was Linda, but she has lived her life in Paignton, and does her writing there.

In Mirror, Mirror... Linda was inspired by a local sight, not far away on the River Dart, a statue of a lovely mermaid set on a rocky ledge in the water.

The statue of Miranda is by Brixham (just six miles down the Devon coast) sculptor Elisabeth Hadley in 2005. Mermaid Miranda quickly became a landmark and tourist attraction in the area, and also the inspiration for Linda's touching story.

Paignton is noted for its beach. Linda's beautiful story From Russia With Something Like Love uses that kind of scene – seagulls, ice cream booths, and all – as the backgound for a short lived romance between a restless teenage English girl and a Russian sailor from a ship anchored in the bay.

The picture shows a view Gregor might have seen as the liberty boat brought him from his Russian naval vessel anchored in Tor Bay for a spot of shore leave at Paignton.

But that was in the nineteen-sixties, and the cold war was also in the background. What about later? Was there an aftermath for the two?

Prodigious as Linda's output of short stories has been,
it is beginning to be eclipsed by her production of novels.

Linda's Grand Designs is now available in paperback.

Linda's novels are published in England by Choc Lit Limited. For their listing of her works go to Choc Lit Linda

Linda's books are also available through Amazon. Check out Linda on Amazon

Linda is also available on Facebook Facebook Linda