Unspoken Words by Linda Joyce
Award-winning author Linda Joyce writes contemporary romance, women’s fiction, and she’s also working on a cozy mystery series. Her short stories appear in multiple anthologies, most of which are charity fundraisers.
Her most daring exploit was learning to fly a small plane. Now, her piloting is reserved for ziplines. Her weaknesses include Cajun food and sushi. She enjoys her organic garden but hates bugs.
Linda is passionate about words and books. In addition to being an author, she served as Vice President and Creative Director for Whispering Prairie Press, a nonprofit that produces Kansas City Voices literary magazine. She also volunteers at most every writing conference she attends.
Linda married her college sweetheart, and together they are dog parents for Jake, Max, and Sugar. She and her husband travel with the pups in their RV. She has served as the corporate secretary for a regional, nonprofit pointing dog club. She was also a contributing writer to a national, dog rescue’s newsletter.
While New Orleans is her hometown, Linda has lived across the United States and in Japan. Europe is on her travel list.
A little bit about Author Linda Joyce…
Growing up, I moved a lot. By the time I was twelve, I’d been in seven different schools, across the US and in Japan. Books became my friends. I loved words. I penned a short story when I was nine years old, which was rejected by a children’s magazine. I had many, many starts of stories, but it wasn’t until 2009 that I decided to focus on learning the craft of writing. My husband and my first writing mentor will tell you, I was OBSESSED.
I took classes through a writer’s group and participated in critiques. Sometimes, the feedback was downright painful. However, my middle name is perseverance—so I pressed onward. I won some awards for short stories and short memoir stories. Then in 2012, I attended a writers conference and had a story receive honorable mention. I pitched that story to an editor and after I sent her the full manuscript, she offered me a contract. My first book was published in 2013. The memory of the thrill of receiving that phone call with the offer of a contract is a cherished one.
You can find me at www.linda-joyce.com
This is Author Linda Joyce’s writing and publication journey in her own words…
Inspiration to start writing…
Imagination; we think of it as something we pluck from our minds, like picking cherries from a tree. For me, the cherries were real. My mind existed in two modes: what I perceived as reality and that which was my imagination. However, in the world of my imagination, it was like opening a book and climbing inside to meet and live and journey with the characters there.
I am comfortable writing contemporary fiction. I started with romance, which is truly a love of mine—I like the guarantee of a happy ending. I LOVE it when a story has a line or a scene that “bookends.” For example, at the beginning of the story when one character tells the main protagonist something they don’t want to hear, and then as the protagonist grows, they repeat that phrase, only then, the phrase has a much greater meaning because of a lesson learned.
I also write women’s fiction because I like the growth arc of a woman when she is independent of a partner. A character that must face her own challenges and demons, she recognizes her decisions in her life have brought her to a precipice, and now only she can decide which way to turn. She also learns the consequences of her past decisions.
However, my fertile imagination has me entering the world of magical realism and of cozy mysteries. In my book, Holiday Hearts, the first story is my first foray into magical realism. I’m working on a cozy mystery series, which will begin releasing later in 2025. That series has a touch of magical realism, and some touches of supernatural. I prefer cozy mysteries because I can’t unsee/read when there is pain or violence or death. In cozy mysteries, that kind of trauma takes place off the page.
Linda’s works…
My romance series is the Fleur de Lis series. There are four books in that collection, each featuring a different couple: Bayou Born, Bayou Bound, Bayou Beckons, Bayou Brides.
Each of the heroines are related, so they continue to show up in the other stories, usually adding to the conflict.
Then there is the Fleur de Lis Brides series. This series is a continuation of the Fleur de Lis series and tells the struggles each couple goes through to try to get to “I do.”
The first three books in the Fleur de Lis series finaled in contests. One, Bayou Beckons, received “Best of Women’s Fiction” from Authors on the Air.
I have some other stories that have been published in anthologies, which support charities. I also have five books published through Word Works Press, LLC. Holiday Hearts was published in November of 2024.
My most recent publication, and the one I’m most proud of is Unspoken Words. It released as #1 New Release in Women’s Fiction in April 2025.
My cozy mysteries series, Marcèline’s Mysteries, will launch later in 2025.
My books are available via:
Amazon
Unspoken Words Blurb
What happens when the truth you’ve hidden becomes the key to your greatest fear—and your greatest hope?
For years, Jane Landry has carried a secret that could break hearts and heal them all at once. Her son, Christopher Marcus, is the light of her life—but he’s also the boy no one knows about. Not his father, her ex-husband Mark, nor his wife Maggie, or his sister Suzanne, Jane’s best friends from childhood. Now, with a cancer diagnosis threatening her future, Jane must summon the courage to confess her secret. She prays they’ll embrace Christopher as family before time runs out.
But just as Jane takes the first step, tragedy strikes—Mark is killed in an accident after learning he has a son. The devastating loss leaves Jane grappling with how to face Maggie and Suzanne, the two women she’s avoided for years but now desperately needs. Her truth risks alienating them, yet the stakes are higher than ever. Christopher needs a home. Jane needs to know her boy will be loved when she’s no longer there to protect him.
As Jane uncovers the secrets Maggie and Suzanne have been hiding, she realizes she’s not the only one carrying the weight of the past. Old wounds, unexpected betrayals, and the search for forgiveness weave together in a story about love, loss, and the lengths we’ll go to for family.
Set against the vivid backdrop of New Orleans, Unspoken Words explores the messy, beautiful journey of redemption and the bonds that hold us together—even when stretched to their breaking point.
Get your copy today and discover a story that will break your heart, heal your soul, and stay with you long after the final page.
One of Linda’s favourite scenes from Unspoken Words…
Suzanne laughed. “A pool-house girl. There’s a small cabana in the back.”
“Maybe just us girls can take a midnight swim?” Maggie suggested. “Get bucky for old times’ sake?”
I gave her my you’ve-got-to-be-kidding eye roll. “We never got bucky. You talked about it. And that night ended badly.”
“I wonder if they ever found old Claude.” Suzanne locked the door.
“We’ll talk about that later.” Maggie’s sharpness surprised me.
“Momma.” Sonny tugged my hand. “What’s bucky?”
“It’s when—” Maggie started.
I covered my son’s ears, then squatted in front of him. Moving my hands away, I whispered, “It’s like when you streak around the house after your bath.”
Sonny Boy twisted his mouth from one side to the other. “You and Auntie Maggie and Miss Suzanne are gonna do that?”
“No.” We all spoke at the same time.
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