It's Linda Sands Baby! Part Two!

Ok Here we go again. We are back and we are live (sorta) with the always lovely and certainly no b.s.

Linda Sands.

JB: This next question is one writers often tire of being asked but some inquiring minds want to know so...do you outline or 'pants'? (write by the seat of your pants)

Sands: I'm half and half. I never truly outline and I never truly run by the seat of my pants. I'll get the idea, hear the voice and roll with the protag or antag as my co-pilot until I know the twist and or the ending, then I make some notes to make sure I get there without getting too lost along the way. I have one book I wrote the outline for and now I'm too bored to write it.

JB: What's your favorite alcohol beverage? Do you have seasonal drinks? i.e. rose´ in the summer and bourbon in winter?

Sands: I like most alcohol. God that sounds bad. Right now I'm on a botanical vodka and indigo gin kick. Not together. One or the other with club soda, tonic or seltzer. There is definitely a lighter, fresher call at my bar in summer, reserving Old Fashioneds and Manhattans for cooler whether , though I did pick up a peanut butter whiskey that the gas repairman and I decided was a nice in betweener.

JB: Haha that loaded answer kinda makes me want to get loaded! (although I don't do that...moving on). Do you listen to music when you write? Or ambient waterfall sounds? Or do you need total silence?

Sands: I listen to jazz, classical, accoustic guitar or movie soundtracks and musical scores, trying to fit them with the scene I'm writing to keep my head in the same place. I can't write in busy or noisy places or if music has vocals, but I suffer from tinnitus so I need some underlying sound. Lately it's been clucking chickens.

JB: In Precious Cargo one of the topics you take on is very heavy: sex trafficking. The research had to be extremely draining and heart breaking to say the least. Tell us about your research. What do Hollywood movies get right or wrong about the subject?

Sands: That was very hard to research—not because it doesn't exist—but because it does. I live near Atlanta, one of the largest hubs for sex trafficking. I even found a tour led by a woman who was lucky enough to get out of the life who now helps educate the public on how to thwart traffickers, teaching the importance of if you see something, you must say something. Profits from the sale of Precious Cargo benefit Wellspring Living, a local group that transforms the lives of those victimized  by sex traffickers.

JB: What project or projects are next for young Sands? More JoJo anytime soon?

Sands: I'm putting JoJo on the back burner for a bit while I finish three projects I'm working on. I've been (for a year now) putting the finishing touches on a psychological thriller that takes a satirical look at the publishing industry. Working title: Get Cozy.

JB: Ooh you cheeky girl...but keep going.

Sands: My second project is expanding a short story to novel form while introducing a new kind of detective—a luxury lines insurance investigator, Sadie Martin. Working title: Bad Faith.

JB: Dig that. Number 3?

Sands: Project three came about during Bouchercon when I joked about remaking a children's book series into an erotic graphic novel.

JB: Well, if I buy that one I'll be sure and use my wife's credit card. And on that note, I can't thank you enough for stopping by Linda Sands, baby! But if you could just quickly help me out on a flash fiction piece I'm working on, especially since I won't see JoJo for awhile, I'd really appreciate it. Here we go.

Brock McRocket pulled his tractor-trailer into the Chevron truck stop and powered down. His boots hit the pavement with a thud. He was exhausted. The automatic door chime chirped its obnoxious sound. All heads turned. Brock stopped in his tracks.

"Son of a—"

"Smooth move dude, ya just walked in on a robbery. How 'bout ya haul out yer wallet n toss it over here?" The gunman said. His grill was missing both canines.

Brock made a slow move to his back pocket but a knockout of a broad with long brown hair said, "don't do it."

"Shoot, JoJo Boudreaux is that you?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, it's me," she said not taking her eyes off the gunman. The gunman looked over at his partner then back to JoJo. His gun hand had a slight tremble to it.

"So," he swallowed. "You're Jo, JoJo Boudreaux?" he said pointing his Glock 17 at her head. A bead of sweat rolled from his acne covered forehead down his cheek.

"Did I stutter the first time?"

**Ok, that's all I've got. Please take it from here Sands!!!

JoJo looked at Brock. "I just came in here to see if they had any hand sanitizer, and this asshole decides he's gonna rob a fucking gas station in the middle of Bumfuck Idaho. A gas station that clearly states it keeps no money in the safe." She tips her chin to the sign behind the counter.

"Is that right?" Brock said, turning to look over the heads of the gunman and his partner. "That sign over there with the tiny writing?"

"Yep," JoJo said.

The gunman's hand dropped a bit as he and his partner twisted around to read the non-existent sign. JoJo kicked the back of the knee of Asshole Two and dropped him to the floor with an oof while Brock grabbed Asshole One's Glock, spun it cowboy style and jammed it in the would-be robber's crotch.

The store clerk popped his head up from the counter with a phone to his ear, "Cops are on the way."

Brock and JoJo exchanged a look. "I'll stay," he said.

With a nod she called to the clerk, "Sanitizer?"

"All out. But you can have this," he said and pushed the big pump bottle on the counter toward her.

JoJo grabbed the bottle and two packs of gum, tipped her ball cap to Brock and backed out of the store as sirens got closer.

JB:Ok, Sands that did it. Thank you. This has been an absolute blast. Can't wait to sip a cocktail with you soon...whatever the season.

Lindasands.com
Wellspringliving.org
jonathanbrownwriter.com