Why do you write the genre that you write?
My favorite genres to read are mystery and romance, as well as romantic suspense. They’ve become my favorite to write, too. A relationship? A mystery to solve? I enjoy creating them!

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?
In my current mystery series, Alaska Untamed, my protagonist Stacie Calder is a naturalist who gives tours off boats in Alaska. She loves to watch all the wildlife there and point the animals out to the tourists on the boat. I suspect she likes those animals, and her own dog Sasha, more than she likes most people, although she interacts with them all to some extent. The first in the series, Bear Witness, was published this year.

How did you come up with your pseudonym?
In my Alaska Untamed books, I use the pseudonym Lark O. Jensen. When I was told I needed to take a pseudonym, I was also informed I could tell the world that person is me, too. I decided to choose a name that resembles my own: Linda O. Johnston.

Tell us how you got into writing?
I’ve always written! I started a novel about a girl and boy roaming the world for adventure when I was a teenager. I didn’t finish that one, but I studied journalism in college and got into advertising and public relations. Then I became a transactional lawyer, and I’ve always said that contracts are another form of fiction! While in those careers, I started writing novels in earnest and eventually got my first ones published. There have been 57 traditionally published novels since then.

What jobs have you held before, during and/or after you became a writer?
Aha! I’ve answered that one: advertising, public relations, and lawyering. I also wrote feature articles for a small newspaper for a while. They all involved writing of different sorts.

Where do you write?
Right now, I use a computer at a desk in my dining room. I have an office on the same floor, where I used to write all the time, and I do prefer being there. However, I have a lot of things stored there—and I can’t let my puppy Roxie in while I’m writing since she’ll try to eat everything! She demands that I play with her, and with our other dog Cari, when I’m writing in the dining room, but she otherwise behaves. Sort of.

What is your favorite deadline snack?
Not sure what a deadline snack is, but I nibble on dark chocolate whenever possible when I’m writing.

What are you reading now?
I’m reading a Harlequin Romantic Suspense book—another author’s, even though that’s the line I write the most for. Or maybe because that’s the line I write the most for.

What is next for you?
The third Harlequin Romantic Suspense book in my Shelter of Secrets series, Undercover Cowboy Defender, is being published in February 2023. I also have another Alaska Untamed mystery being published in 2023: Cry Wolf, in September. And my Colton NYC book for HRS will be a November 2023 release.

Where can we find you?
On my website at lindaojohnston.com, on Facebook and my weekly blog at Killer Hobbies.

Now to have some fun . . .

Vanilla or chocolate
Definitely chocolate, the darker the better.

Ice cream or cake
Ice cream, again dark chocolate.

Broccoli or squash
Broccoli.

Pizza, burgers, or pasta
Pasta’s my preference.

Breakfast, lunch, or dinner
Dinner—a good way to begin to end the day.

Mountain or beach
Mountain. I tend to love the views. Although I do like seeing the ocean from a beach, too.

City or country
City. I like to sightsee.

Introvert or extrovert
Introvert, although over time I’ve come out of my shell a bit.

And even more fun . . .

You are stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
My two dogs—my babies! And my husband, if that was possible. Okay, more than three. I’d want a computer so I could write, although I’d need some kind of electrical connection. Of course, it would make more sense to have my phone along if I could somehow connect to the rest of the world and have someone save me!

My bio:
Linda O. Johnston, a former lawyer who is now a full-time writer, will have published 57 books as of May 2022, including mysteries and romantic suspense novels. Her new mystery series is Alaska Untamed, starting with Bear Witness, for Crooked Lane, under her first pseudonym: Lark O. Jensen. She also has a new Harlequin Romantic Suspense story being published in May, Guardian K-9 on Call. Most of Linda’s current stories involve dogs!