My guest this week is award-winning author Leisl Leighton, who describes her work as ’emotional, pacey and suspenseful’. Read on to find out what Leisl wishes she’d been told before she became a writer and what she’d do differently if she were starting out now.
Leisl is a tall redhead with an overly large imagination. As a child, she identified strongly with Anne of Green Gables, and like Anne, is a voracious reader and born performer. It came as no surprise when she did a double major in English Literature and Drama for her BA and Dip Ed, then went on to a career as a performer, script writer, script doctor, stage manager and musical director for cabaret and theatre restaurants.
After starting a family, Leisl stopped performing and began writing the stories plaguing her dreams. She is addicted to the Syfy channel, her shelves are full of fantasy, paranormal, Sci-fi and romance books and DVDs, she sometimes sings in a choir, has worked as a swim teacher, loves to ski and horse ride, and was president of Romance Writers of Australia from 2014-2017. She now has a Graduate Diploma in Publishing and Communications (Advanced), continues to write novels and also helps other writers make their manuscripts shine with her manuscript assessing and mentoring services.
Leisl is the author of the paranormal Pack Bound Series, romantic suspense novels, Dangerous Echoes (Book 1 in the Echo Springs Series), Climbing Fear and Blazing Fear (Books 1& 2 in the CoalCliff Stud Series.) Most recently, she has been a finalist in the 2019 RUBY Awards (for Moon Bound) and a finalist in the 2019 ARRA Awards (for Climbing Fear).
You can catch up with Leisl at: www.leislleighton.com, Facebook, Goodreads and on Twitter @LeislLeighton
AUTHOR INSIGHT
Why do you write? I write because I have to. I’ve always been a creative person – acting, singing, performing, writing scripts, musical direction etc – but after kids, these were much harder to do in a way that satisfied my creative needs. I turned fully to writing novels and haven’t looked back. If I don’t write, I don’t feel right.
What would you be doing if you weren’t a writer? Acting, singing, performing, writing scripts, musical direction and/or teaching.
What was your toughest obstacle to becoming published? Realising that just because writing is something you do by yourself, it doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. It wasn’t until I embraced a writing community and opened myself up to learning from and sharing with them, that I started to learn what I truly needed to do to become published. And they also helped to keep up my spirits and persist – because alongside improving your craft, persistence is a major factor in getting published.
How involved have you been in the development of your books? If you mean, have they all come from me and only me, no. They start off with an idea or a character and then I start to write and see where that takes me, letting the characters speak for themselves. Then I also run ideas and workshop with trusted writing friends and with my agent who help me to solidify the tricky bits and head me in the right direction. Then of course, my editors help to polish and refine my ideas. So, while probably 75% of it is me, the rest is done with help by my community of writing pals and the professional people in my life.
Then there was the Echo Springs series which came from an idea from my editor at the time who got together myself and three other authors to write a continuity. She had the base idea and then myself and the other three authors – Daniel deLorne, Shannon Stein and TJ Hamilton – workshopped the series and our ideas together then went away and wrote our individual story, then with the editor to make sure they all hung together as a cohesive whole. That was a really amazing project to have been a part of and I learned so much.
What’s the best aspect of your writing life? Losing myself in the world of my characters. It can be exhilarating.
—the worst? Having to constantly work at making others respect the fact I am a writer and that I’m not just home doing whatever and can drop what I’m doing and come to do whatever they want to do. It is a constant effort to have to make family and friends respect my working day.
What would you do differently if you were starting out now as a writer? Find a writing group to be a part of and join RWA right away (or some other writing organisation to suit my genre). I floundered for years on my own before doing those things and it wasn’t until I did join writing communities that I started to make the improvements and build the networks that led to me getting published. Also, my writing friends are some of the best people in my life.
What do you wish you’d been told before you set out to become an author? Getting that first contract is amazing, but it doesn’t mean it’s all roses from there. There’s an increase in the hard work to come and that the ebbs and flows in the publishing industry mean that you can never be ‘secure’ – but that’s normal and has nothing to do with you. You just need to keep getting out there and trying and writing the best you can if you want the next step to be forward and not backwards. That and start building an author profile immediately – SM may be a burden at times but it can also be a joy and it certainly helps you to connect with authors and readers and stay informed and helps with publicity and marketing which are increasingly important for an author to take command over whether traditionally published or self-published.
What’s the best writing advice you were ever given? Join RWA, enter contests, get a critique partner, volunteer, go to the conferences, improve your craft and persevere.
What’s your top tip for aspiring authors? All of the above, but also make sure you get your work critiqued by someone who isn’t just a writing buddy or family member. That’s why going in contests can be so invaluable because you often get really great feedback that can help you improve. You can also find people who do author mentoring and manuscript assessments.
How important is social media to you as an author? Very. See my above comment about building an author profile.
Do you experience ‘writer’s block’ and if so, how do you overcome it? Not really. There are times when I know what I’m writing isn’t working and I can feel a bit stymied, but that’s when I workshop with my writing friends to help me break through that. Even then, I don’t stop writing. I believe that getting something on the page that I can fix is better than getting nothing down – you can’t fix what’s not there.
How do you deal with rejection? I let myself feel the sting of it but then remind myself that I’m here because I love writing and I concentrate on that and move on. If there is advice in the rejection about my work, I take that onboard, workshop it with writing friends and keep going. I also know that a rejection is not always an indictment on my work – there are so many factors that go into a ‘no’ that have nothing to do with if my novel is good or not. So, remembering that helps me not take it too personally. Also, wailing to my writing friends helps – they’ve all been in the same position and empathise in a way that’s meaningful but then also buck me up.
In three words, how would you describe your writing? Emotional. Pacey. Suspenseful.
What do you hope readers will take away from your stories? A sense that family can be made up of anyone who cares for you and you care for and that asking for help can be a person’s greatest strength. And also, that love is something we should all aspire to.
What do you read for enjoyment? Favourite books/authors? I love reading what I write – paranormal and romantic suspense. I also love reading fantasy and historic romance. My favourite authors are Nalini Singh, Sherrilyn Kenyon, JD Robb/Nora Roberts, Raymond E. Feist, Anne McCaffrey, Anne Gracie, Mary Balogh, Amanda Quick, Julia Quinn (and many, many more!)
If you had the chance to spend an hour with any writer of your choice, living or dead, who would it be and what would you most like them to tell you about living a writing life? Probably Nora Roberts. I would like to ask her about balancing family life with writing life. Also, how to balance all the necessary business side of writing with the creative side and still living a life that includes fun time doing things that you love with family and friends.
BOOK BYTE
Blazing Fear
Leisl Leighton
Fire stole his past – now it is threatening to burn everything, and everyone, he loves. All over again…
Flynn Findlay likes everyone to think he’s in control, but the death of his wife during the bushfires six years ago changed everything. Now, even though it feels like a betrayal, Flynn can’t seem to escape his growing feelings for the beautiful new doctor in town. He’s never felt as truly alive as when he is with Prita – even his fear of fire doesn’t seem as bad.
Dr Prita Brennan is ready for a fresh start in Wilson’s Bend with her adoptive son, far from her overprotective family. It would be perfect, except some of the locals don’t like the changes she’s making to the practice. One of them is even making harassing calls. The handsome local horse stud owner, Flynn, is a further complication she doesn’t need right now.
But when harassment escalates to arson, to save the horse stud and their children, Flynn and Prita must work together to figure out who is after her – and why they are trying to burn to the ground everything she touches.
Buy Links for Blazing Fear
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2pGOWyK
Apple Books: https://apple.co/2Nj5rtY
Kobo: http://bit.ly/34FjLTt
Google Play: http://bit.ly/34saJcf
Romance.com.au: http://bit.ly/36y19GC
In Their Own Write 