Meet author Linda Summerford
Linda Summerford is the award-winning author of The Glider, a tribute to her parents who adopted Linda and her younger sister together. She speaks to churches throughout the South working toward foster care reform because of the separation and suffering she and her siblings experienced. Linda was a mentor with Epworth Children’s Home for many years and worked with her husband in children’s ministry for over 30 years. Linda is the President of a writing critique group, Word Weavers of Maggie Valley, NC. She now lives in the beautiful mountains of western NC.
Tell us about your newest book.
My debut book, The Glider, brings awareness of the plight of children falling through the cracks of a broken foster care and adoption system. When a sister I had no memory of appeared we were determined to find answers to what caused our separation. Our search leads us to discover the atrocities we endured at the hands of that broken system. Will we find answers or realize that it’s still happening?
What inspired you to write your story?
Mine is a true story of my life in foster care and adoption. While serving on a foster care review board, I realized the system still needs reforms even today.
What genre do you focus on.
This book is nonfiction. I am working now on a fiction novel and children’s books.
Why do you write?
I must be obedient to God’s calling to work toward reforms and share my message of God’s grace, intervention and love in my life.
Who is your main character, and how did you choose that name?
My novel I’m writing now, Mending Olivia’s Heart, is about my adoptive mother whose middle name is Olivia.
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing a book?
I’m a night owl so I love to write late at night when the house is quiet with my cat snoring nearby.
What is the hardest part of being an author?
The hardest part for me is overcoming imposter syndrome. I’m aware that I’m a beginner and there are much more experienced writers, but still I must be obedient to what God has called me to do and not compare myself to others.
What’s the best part of your author’s life?
When I hear someone say that the message in my book changed their heart and caused them to understand foster children and the great need for reform.
What’s one thing your readers should know about you?
I love meeting new people and sharing what God’s done to change circumstances in my life.
How have you changed or grown as a writer?
I’m getting braver in public speaking, especially in recognizing it’s not about me, but rather about children who need an advocate standing up for them.
What is your favorite pastime?
I love long walks around the lake near our neighborhood and volunteering at local children’s homes.
Do you have other books? We’d love to know.
I’m in the process of writing my first novel, Mending Olivia’s Heart, about my adoptive mother and her life before and after adopting me and my younger sister. I discovered after her passing that she was married before my father and had a stillborn baby. She never spoke about it to either of us.
What are you working on now?
I’m working on children’s books from the viewpoint of the foster and adopted child along with my first fiction book.
Website: www.authorlindasummerford.com
Link to book: https://a.co/d/2kPFjin
Social media links:
IG: @lindasummerford
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