An Interview with Linda Goodman

L.J. Goodman’s writing career spans many decades, firstly as an award-winning advertising copywriter, journalist, and public speaker, then as an award-winning animal welfare campaigner, and now as an award-winning author.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I’ve been an advertising copywriter since I was eighteen and, like most copywriters, I’d always dreamed of writing a novel. Having been a lifelong sci-fi buff, I knew that this would be my genre. I actually started writing The Last Advocate about twenty-five years ago. It ended up in a box with a load of other half-finished manuscripts until the end of 2022 when a friend discovered it, read it, and urged me to finish it. A lot of what I’d written had already come to pass, so I really had to start from scratch. It was truly a labour of love, and when it was published in October 2023 I felt a great sense of achievement. The feedback and reviews it’s been getting since then have been quite overwhelming—it seems I’ve touched a nerve.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

Although I’ve lived in the UK for forty years, I was actually born in Sydney, Australia. When I left school, I went to work for a large record company and was fortunate to mix in some exciting celebrity circles like Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo, and Elton John. I then took up a post at an advertising agency as a copywriter. Over the years I climbed the ladder and eventually became Creative Director at three different agencies. It’s a career that has taken me from Sydney to London, New York, Paris, Amsterdam, and Dubai, and I was fortunate to win awards along the way.

I’ve always been a huge animal lover and after adopting an ex-puppy farm breeding dog, I was horrified at the life she’d been forced to endure for seven years, so much so that I started a campaign to change the law. I realised that the route to market for the puppies of these abused dogs was the pet shop trade and third-party dealers. It took eleven hard-fought years with other like-minded individuals, but we managed to change the law in England, Scotland, and Wales, banning the selling of puppies in pet shops and by dealers, called Lucy’s Law. As a result I received a prestigious Animal Hero Award.

I’ve adopted and rehabilitated many dogs that have come from puppy farms over the years, and this is something I will continue to do.

After my whirlwind careers, I finally decided to take time out and work on my novel—a story that had been in my head for so many years. I realised that I’d finally lived a sufficient amount of time and seen enough change in the world, to tell an important story.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

I knew that I wanted the title to be The Last Advocate once I’d finished writing the first chapter. It’s the only chapter that has remained intact from the original manuscript. In that respect, the title came easily.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

The designer did an amazing job with the cover and I was absolutely blown away by it. There’s something quite thrilling about seeing the culmination of all your efforts, reflected in a book jacket with the title and your name on it. That’s when it starts to feel real. The next big thrill was holding the finished product in my hands.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

I’m told that I’m a very visual writer and many people have said it’s a story that’s “made for film.” I come from a musical background, my father was a concert pianist, so I’ve gone through life setting everything to music in my head. There are two songs that I feel reflect the tone of The Last Advocate — “Ordinary World” by Duran Duran, and “Praying for Time” by George Michael.

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

My perfect reader will be open-minded and willing to negotiate the complex world that I’ve created, seeing it as a cautionary tale of what our future could look like if we don’t change our ways.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

An author can believe that they’ve written a great book, created characters that are relatable and empathetic, and developed a gripping storyline. However, it’s only when people who don’t know you, buy and then review your book, and you see that they actually ‘get it,’ that you feel genuinely rewarded for all of your efforts.

What new writing projects are you currently working on? Or, other projects that are not writing?

I’m in the early stages of developing two new ideas for novels, both sci-fi, and I’m not sure which one I’ll take forward yet. I wish I was capable of writing two novels at the same time, but hey, I’m only human 🙂

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