I opened my e-mail today and read the sad news. Linda Kichline, the heart and soul of ImaJinn Books, my publisher, passed away after having a stroke. While I hadn’t known Linda for that long, the time I did interact with her was incredibly meaningful to my growth as an author. I queried with ImaJinn last year, and Necromancer’s Seduction released this past July. I decided to submit to ImaJinn because of their focus on Urban Fantasy/Paranormal, and they were publishing one of my favorite vampire Urban Fantasy series by D.B. Reynolds.

Ultimately, whatever drove me to hit send, I felt I’d made the right decision. Linda was always supportive and great to work with and her editing of my manuscript definitely elevated my writing. Both Linda and my editor really liked my story and writing style. I’ve heard, often, at a bigger publishers, the person who edits your manuscript is not always vested in your story or may not even like your writing. For a new author, still building my confidence, it was a great boost to have someone like Linda in my corner.

Linda wrote and had published a witch/warlock series under the name Carin Rafferty, and as Allyson Ryan for Silhouette Books. She also wrote for Harlequin. She started ImaJinn to publish the type of paranormal books not being picked up by many of the larger publishers at the time. If you can imagine. I’m not sure exactly when Linda started ImaJinn, but I think it was 1999, before this explosion of small presses, showing her as a pioneer in the industry and in paranormal romance. If you look at her Goodreads profile, an editor from Penguin commented that Linda had a great grasp of paranormal romance long before it really took off.

I write this blog with great sadness, but Linda left behind a wonderful legacy and I feel so fortunate that she saw something in my writing worth nurturing and investing in. In fact, it makes me very proud. I wish I would have had more time to work with Linda, but am grateful for the time I did share with her. Thank you Linda and rest in peace.