Linda Maria Frank
Author Interview - Linda Maria Frank
Author of The Mystery of the Lost Avenger
This fourth book in the Annie Tillery Mystery series falls into the genre of young reader, between children's chapter books and young adult. However, older women who grew up reading Nancy Drew love this book. The story works on several levels, a ghost story, a romance, the technical side of weaving clues to solve a mystery, the history of women in WWII and the espionage that happened in that war.
The wreckage of a World War II plane is found in the mountains of Appalachia in 2014. It mysteriously crashed in 1943 on its way to a naval base. Inside the plane is a note, written by Annie Tillery’s great grandmother, Charlotte, who was in love with a fighter pilot. Young Charlotte tested the planes and flew them to naval bases; her fiancé flew the planes in battle.
While investigating the crash site, NCIS finds the note in the plane, which they trace to Charlotte and then to her surviving family members, Annie and her mother Carol. Annie struggles with Carol's new sobriety with her addiction to alcohol, which in the past, caused an estrangement between them.
The mystery begins. Why did the plane crash, and what does Charlotte’s note mean? Annie and her mother decide to dig into Great-Grandmother’s past by way of the family attic.
There, they find love letters written by Charlotte and her Navy pilot fiancé. A code to be broken in those letters hints of sabotage. As they explore, Annie suspects Charlotte’s ghost is reaching out to tell her something, but what? She enlists the help of her boyfriend, newly licensed pilot Ty Egan, but Annie feels she may be the key to her great-grandmother’s top-secret life. She means to find out how.
Author Interview - Linda Maria Frank
Author I draw inspiration from:
I am a lover of WWII stories, especially the ones that showcase the bravery and ingenuity of women. The Nightingale, The Lost Girls of Paris, The Alice Network, even though that was WWII, All the Light We Cannot See, The Masie Dobbs series by Windspear. That's me as a reader.
As a writer I have the luck to be living on Long Island, known as the Cradle of Aviation. During WWII specifically, Grumman Aviation with the help of many Rosie the Riveters cranked out war planes, sometimes in a matter of hours. This was the inspiration for The Mystery of the Lost Avenger. We have a museum on the site of the old Mitchel Air Base called The Cradle of Aviation Museum. I was there one Saturday with my family. They went to the space exhibit. (Grumman built the lunar lander) and I toddled off to see the older planes. I came upon a large blue plane called the Avenger. In front of the plane was a plaque describing how the plane was built at the Grumman plant, and then flown by the WASPS (Women's Air Service Pilots) to the West Coast where they were put on aircraft carriers to fight the war in the Pacific. Their job was to drop torpedoes on Japanese ships. This by the way, was the plane the George Herbert Walker Bush crashed in an survived.
As luck would have it, this was one of those days that visitors to the museum could climb into the planes on display. So, try and stop me from doing that. I managed to get into the cockpit and sat in the very uncomfortable seat. The dashboard, unlike modern planes, had only a few dials and I couldn't see out the windshield, probably because I wasn't sitting on a parachute. I looked around me and tried to imagine one of the WASPs testing the plane and then flying to the West Coast. What pluck! What patriotism! Was she doing it for a beloved brother or sweetheart? I had to write their story.
My experience teaching forensic science enabled me to come with a credible plot. I also wanted my main characters, Annie Tillery and Ty Egan to be invested. So, I had Ty take flying lessons. This required much research. The research was another surreal experience. The museum had not digitized much of their archives, enabling me to go into the old Mitchel Field hangers where they stored boxes and file cabinets full of stuff. I was actually able to unfold the actual blueprints of an Avenger aircraft. The dusty, unairconditioned building brought me back in time and helped me to create the atmosphere in the chapters dealing with my WASP characters as they pursued what was going on in that Grumman plant. The story takes place in two times, today and 1943. Annie gets in touch with what a brave and tragic figure, great grandmother, Charlotte, was, and how very brave the women of WWII were.
Author Interview - Linda Maria Frank | Author I Draw Inspiration From
Favorite place to read a book:
I have a Kindle. It goes everywhere with me. In the summer I love my front porch. In the winter, curled up on the couch with Max and Lola, my cats, and every night in bed before going to sleep.
Book character I’d like to be stuck in an elevator with:
Claire Beecham Randall Fraser, of the Outlander Series. Since she was in an elevator with me, I assume she just time traveled back to the future from the 1700's, maybe just to take a long hot shower. I would like her to tell me more about the experience of time travel because no one has really been able to explain what happens, and I want to put it in my next book. So, I would invite her for coffee, pull out my note pad and ask her share what she knows. How did I get her to accept my invitation? I explained I was a writer and she just couldn't resist, as long as I put her name in the acknowledgements in the new book.
Author Interview - Linda Maria Frank | Book Character I’d Like to be Stuck in an Elevator With
The moment I knew I wanted to become an author:
I taught chemistry, biology and forensic science. I liked to play games with my students just to keep things interesting. I wrote crime stories for my forensics students to solve by making a list of clues from the story, researching how they would be analyzed by the crime lab, how the prosecution would present the case, and culminating with an actual dramatization of the court case in class. They could bring in friends who were free that period to act as expert witnesses, actual witnesses, etc. I was the judge, the class was the jury. Great fun!. I became attached to some of the stories, and one day, while on library duty, staring at the snow coming down, I decided to try my hand at writing a YA mystery. Inspired by my knowledge, my students and Nancy Drew, I now have four Annie Tillery Mysteries.
Hardback, paperback, ebook or audiobook:
Hardback books are a work of art. I like the look, the smell and thinking about the process that brings them to life. They are also heavy, and hard to keep open when reading in bed or while having lunch, not to mention the grease stains.
Paperbacks are cheaper, mostly attractive but don' stand up to time as well as hardcover. They are easier to travel with and I don't feel so guilty when I drop my tuna fish on a page. Also, I am sentimentally attached to them, since it was most of what I read for years.
eBooks are my choice these days. The electronic options you have to highlight, annotate, etc. make them ideal for book clubs. The reader is light, travels well, and if you are a prolific reader, you don't have the problem of storing the books.
Audio books go anywhere with you. If the narrator is captivating, it's just lovely to lister to the book. I love to listen as I drive. Sometimes, I just get in the car and take a drive to the beach just to clear my head while escaping into the story. But, if you like the printed word, audiobooks are locked away in the ether somewhere. You can't run your fingers over the words.
The last book I read:
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon. I loved it. It was my favorite theme, women in a time when they were not allowed to be themselves except when men couldn't do what the women could. It also was a lovely mature love story, and the mood was well developed, as the plot was too., It inspired me to read another of Lawhon's books.
Author Interview - Linda Maria Frank | The Last Book I Read
Pen & paper or computer:
I write all my books on yellow pads. The pad does not have to be plugged into a power source. And it goes anywhere with me. I also believe that the brain likes long-hand writing. It allows it to process things slowly enough to let ideas gel. I wish someone would do a study on the effects of cursive writing on brain processes.
When I'm done with the yellow pad, I go to the computer and type the story. It is my first edit. I don't write the original on the computer because I find the word processing program on the computer distracting. I'm trying out an idea and the computer wants me to fix the grammar and spelling and formatting. Ye gods! Give me my yellow pads.
Book character I think I’d be best friends with:
There is a lot that goes into creating plot, setting and characters. You draw from life, from the books you've read, and if you're writing a series, you better be comfortable with that main character you create. Many folks, young and old, who read my books, ask me if Annie Tillery is me. I tell them that she is the teenager I would have loved to have been. So, to answer your question, Annie Tillery, especially in The Mystery of the Lost Avenger, is my best friend. She finally accepts her mother's addiction problem and works with her to uncover the past of Charlotte Wheeler, Annie's great grandmother. She goes on a journey that let's me see her as a caring, inquisitive and adventurous friend.
If I weren’t an author, I’d be a:
I was a teacher, taught every grade from 5th to grad school. I loved my subject and my students. I wanted to be a doctor but it was not a profession at that time that was cordial to women. Today I would like to be a nurse practitioner and work with Doctors without Borders.
Favorite decade in fashion history:
We're back to WWII. The skirts were just short enough. The hair was beautifully styled. The shoes and hats were feminine. The suits were tailored to flatter, and the evening wear was satiny, glittery and brought out the best in a woman's face and figure. Styles brought out the best in a time when it wasn't easy to get nylons, shoes and other items. I even like the ankle socks with high-heels, that have become sort of popular today.
Place I’d most like to travel:
I'd like to see more of our National Parks in the USA. I've been to all the places I wanted to see overseas but would love to see the Parks in the Pacific Northwest and California. On the Atlantic coast, I'd like to visit Nova Scotia.
My signature drink:
I love a good cup of tea, Earl Grey or Prince of Wales, if you have it. And in the summer, iced tea, brewed fresh.
Favorite artist:
John Singer Sargent, The Beatles
Number one on my bucket list:
Spending New Years Eve with friends and family at The Rainbow Room, atop 30 Rock.
Anything else you'd like to add:
Thanks for the interview. Writing books has been an eye-opening experience. To anyone who wants to write a book, it would be a good idea to take some courses in writing, publishing and marketing. You need to have knowledge and be dedicated to learning all you need to know about the process. On my YouTube show, The Writer's Dream, I have attempted to have my guest authors showcase their efforts in a way that informs watchers about the process. I feel this interview will do the same.
Find more from the author:
https://www.facebook.com/annietillery16/
https://www.facebook.com/AnnieTilleryMysteries/
@annietillery123
https://www.instagram.com/annietillerymysteries/
About Linda Maria Frank:
Author Interview - Linda Maria Frank
With the introduction of the Annie Tillery Mysteries, Linda Maria Frank has been launching her career as author. Inspired by a childhood passion for Nancy Drew mysteries and the popular television series, CSI, she successfully married an appealing heroine (Annie Tillery) with gripping story plots to create a new fiction series. The Madonna Ghost, Girl with Pencil, Drawing and Secrets in the Fairy Chimneys and The Mystery of the Lost Avenger will have you turning pages, fascinated by the background stories and forensic science that make these books a must read for mystery fans. Frank has also written Making a Mystery with Annie Tillery: The Madonna Ghost, the author’s notes on the story behind the story.
Her latest books, The Buccaneers of St. Frederick Island, and The Buccaneers of St. Frederick Island: Sibby’s Secret, comprise a new series, about a group of eight graders, who form a secret society called The Buccaneers and get themselves involved in their St. Frederick Island-home mysteries.
Frank’s first love was teaching science, her assignments ranging from Middle School to graduate level courses at Hofstra and Adelphi Universities. It was the forensic science courses she taught in both high school and college (Hofstra University) that gave her the story lines for her heroine, Annie, who is based on a composite of former students. Frank won an award from the American Association of University Women for inspiring girls to go into science studies and careers.
Frank also produces “The Writer’s Dream”, a local access TV show, interviewing authors about their craft. See it on YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/user/lindamariafrank .
Currently she belongs to Long Island Authors Group and Long Island Children’s Writers and Illustrators where she assists in creating school book fairs and other book events. She lectures on Topics in Forensic Science, as well as doing workshops on Mystery Writing for 5th grade to high school.
Web sites: www.lindamariafrank.com, and Facebook pages: Official Fans of the Madonna Ghost, and The Writer’s Dream.
