Linda Richards

Linda L. Richards is a journalist, photographer and the author of numerous books, including three series of novels featuring strong female protagonists. She is the former publisher of Self-Counsel Press and the founder and publisher of January Magazine.

Richards's new novel is Exit Strategy.

Recently I asked the author about what she was reading. Richards's reply:

Considering the type of fiction I write, this may sound odd. But. I’m very careful with my diet of media. I currently find myself in a place where I feel the need to be mindful of what I think about. Mindful about the things I dwell on and the dark corners I visit in my thoughts. I think it was Buddha who said: “We are what we think, all that we are arises with our thoughts, with our thoughts we make the world.”

If that is true — and my heart believes it is — then we need to be clear with ourselves about what we immerse ourselves in. Especially since, when crafting works as densely dark as my current series, you are required to spend some time going down pretty dark roads.

With that in mind, I supply myself with a strongly positive diet of material. The music I listen to is upbeat and positive (currently loving "Alright" by KYTES, "4 Mains" by Wim Mertens, "Soulfight" by The Revivalists and a whole lot of music you would describe as Ambient). The shows I watch are bright and fuel my soul (recently binged Emily in Paris and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). When it comes to literature, with the exception of books I’m reviewing or reading for “work,” the choices I make are meant to feed me brightly, as well.

Right now I am gorging on Brené Brown’s very lovely Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience. Whatever you are expecting, this book is more. First it is beautiful. You want to clear your coffee table so it fits there properly. It is rich and glossy. Part scrapbook, filled with illustrations, plus visual pieces from Brown’s own life along with all the wit and wisdom we have come to expect from this researcher.

Atlas is about connection and emotion. “If we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another,” Brown writes, “we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and be stewards of the stories that we hear. This is the framework for meaningful connection.”

Will you learn things? You might learn things. But also, you will swim in beauty from all sides. And that will feed your soul.

Visit Linda L. Richards's website.

My Book, The Movie: Endings.

The Page 69 Test: Endings.

Q&A with Linda L. Richards.

--Marshal Zeringue