Booked and Introduced: Linda Sienkiewicz
Want a good story with quirky characters living on the island of Ocracoke? Then let me introduce you to Linda Sienkiewicz and her novel, LOVE AND OTHER INCURABLE AILMENTS. This fantastic book was released last week and will introduce you to Serenity (and a lot of other fabulous folks). For me, this book was like being dropped into an episode of Northern Exposure (for those who remember that show) and getting a happily-ever-after.
Tell us a little about yourself and the kinds of books you write.
I’m a novelist, poet, artist, crafter, and klutz with just enough ADHD to keep it all spinning. I grew up in Ohio and now live in Michigan. I’ve worked as a graphic artist and conservation picture framer, taught art, founded an adult ADHD support group, and participated with my Chocolate Lab in Pet-a-Pet therapy. Today I volunteer for a local nonprofit and serve as Director at Large for Detroit Working Writers. I have a corgi that could be an agility champion if only he didn’t stop to pee in the tunnel.
In addition to novels, I also write and publish essays, poetry and short stories. The theme that pops up most often in all my work is that of an outsider trying to find a sense of belonging, which comes from my own feelings of being diagnosed late in life with ADHD. By then, I’d already spent half my life feeling out of sync with the world.
Where did the idea for your current or most recent book come from?
I wanted to write about a marginalized, quirky woman who finds acceptance, community, and love in an unexpected way. In Love and Other Incurable Ailments, an overanxious overthinker finds a box of discarded love letters, and her fixation on the stranger who wrote them draws her to a rustic island where she's swept into chaos, heartbreak, and the inconvenient unraveling of her carefully constructed life.
The idea for the letters came from a song by Jim White about finding a suitcase of love letters and wondering who wrote them and why. The song ends with him admonishing us not to spend our days loving that which we might be better off letting go. That’s exactly what my main character has to do.
What kinds of books do you reach for when you are reading purely for fun?
I'm drawn to literary and women's fiction that explores unconventional lives. I love novels about people who don't quite fit the mold—a woman with an obsessive fear or desire she can't explain, an atheist who accidentally becomes a church secretary, a young mother who makes impossible choices just to survive. I'm fascinated by characters living on the edge of belonging, trying to figure out who they really are. Those are the stories that stay with me.
I read across genres, though, because every good book teaches me something about storytelling.
What is a book you never get tired of recommending?
Ever since I read The Accidental Tourist, I will read anything by Anne Tyler. She excels at everyday people in strange situations, or rather eccentric people trying to navigate extraordinary emotional circumstances. This book taught me about characterization and dialogue, especially how what’s not said reveals more than you think. Both Macom and Muriel in Accidental Tourist are wonderfully flawed people who stumble through family, grief, and change to eventually find love.
What are you working on now, and where can readers find you and your books?
I’m putting together a manuscript of haikus written in the voice of my corgi titled “Don’t Call Me Short Stuff.” I also plan to do the illustrations.
Here’s one of my favorites:
SAD NEWS
I will never be
the stud my momma hoped.
I don’t have the balls.
Connect with Linda Sienkiewicz here:
Website and blog: https://lindaksienkiewicz.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindaksienkiewicz
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lindasienkiewicz.author
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lindaksienkiewicz
“Witty and raw” —FOREWORD REVIEWS
Serenity Tomczyk isn’t dying—she just has anxiety, a WebMD habit, and a cat named Margaret Thatcher. After breaking off her engagement and losing both parents, she retreats into a predictable life of retail shifts, group therapy, and the safety of solitude.
Then a box of passionate letters appears in a dumpster behind her aunt’s home décor shop, and Serenity becomes captivated by the mysterious man who wrote them. Soon, she’s chasing a fantasy 900 miles from Michigan to Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, in search of the stranger she knows only as “Birdy.”
Thrown from her carefully padded comfort zone, Serenity discovers unexpected friendships, uncomfortable truths, and the possibility of love. But when her imagined happy ending begins to unravel, she must decide if holding on—or letting go—is the bravest thing she can do.
With wit, heart, and irrepressible warmth, Love and Other Incurable Ailments is a story about connection, courage, and becoming yourself—just when you thought it was too late.
Linda’s books are available anywhere you buy books online:
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/LindaKSienkiewicz
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Linda-K.-Sienkiewicz/author/B00JNEX4T8