Author Interview with Morgan Leshay

Morgan Leshay, a Georgia native, resides in the North Georgia mountains - with her husband, six kids, and a chihuahua named "Pocket". When not otherwise engaged in generating new and exciting romance novel concepts she spends her time catching up mountains of housework neglected while writing!

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Okay, that just sounds stuffy, don't it? Who am I really?

Most days, I'm just a mom, housewife, teacher, and a dreamer...maybe some of you can relate to that. :-) I'm a normal person just like anyone else, except my "bad hair days" are usually "atrocious hair days" and my schedule is a little backward to the rest of humanity. While the rest of the world around me sleeps, I work. When they are working, I sleep...about one level above dead, LOL.

Author Interview with Morgan Leshay

It's rare today to find an author who does nothing but write for a living. Do you have a 'real' job other than writing, and if so, what is it? What are some other jobs you've had in your life?

Morgan Leshay: Nope, nothing but writing. A mom of six couldn't possibly have time for anything else, right? Kidding. I do have time cause my kids are great, but I don't have a job outside the home.

What compelled you to write your first book?

Morgan Leshay: I saw a vision. Seriously. I was sitting in the parking lot outside my local Walmart, and I saw this...woman...or angel.... It was a warm, early fall evening, and the wind was blowing leaves across the pavement, making that eerie whispering sound you hear and this ... vision... pops into my mind. And I hear a name, just the echo of a whisper, really, in my mind. One word. Tian. I went home and started writing. Three days later (about 72 hours), the story (first draft, yeah) was done.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Morgan Leshay: No. Well, if you count life after teen-agerdom as “always”, then the answer would be yes, but before then, I didn't really think about it. Sure I wrote. Won awards for essays and such in school, but I didn't consider myself a “writer” or think I was going to be a writer someday. Then when I was 16-17 (and heavily hooked on reading romances) I decided, “Yeah. I'm gonna be a romance writer. I could write one of these in my sleep...and a lot better than some of them I've read lately, too!”

Scheah, right.

I then set about “learning the craft”.

Tell us a little bit about your book/s.

Morgan Leshay: My latest release is The Legacy Of Sleepy Hollow, and it tells the story of what happened in Washington Irving's Sleepy Hollow 25 years after the Headless Horseman's famous midnight ride. A new romantic twist on an old horror legend, The Legacy Of Sleepy Hollow is a tale of intrigue and suspense, yet at the same time, a journey to happily-ever-after for the lead characters Katherine Van Brunt and Icharus Crane. Here's the back blurb, so you know what the story's about:

"...25 years after the Headless Horseman's famous midnight ride..."

Katherine Van Brunt, daughter and only heir to the infamous Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt and Katrina Van Tassel, brings back the dead and loses her heart to the son of her father's nemesis in her quest to save the legacy of Baltus Van Tassel in...THE LEGACY OF SLEEPY HOLLOW.

To me, The Legacy Of Sleepy Hollow is a story of renewal, of growth and rebirth. I enjoyed writing it so much I cried when it was time to type “the end”.

My debut romance novel was called Redemption, and between the pages of that story, you'll learn what happens when an angel meets the devil and is tempted to sin. I am proud of this story, as an author tends to be of “first books”, but I'm not so attached I don't realize it could have been better. A lot better.

Are you currently working on any writing projects our readers should watch for release soon?

Morgan Leshay: I am in the planning phase of a new story, yes. But all I can say about it is that you should look for it around the holidays in 2009, and that I'll be posting an announcement about it on my blog at http://www.morganleshay.com/musings in December 2008.

What type of music, if any, do you listen to while you write?

Morgan Leshay: Usually I listen to an eclectic mix of music, but while writing The Legacy of Sleepy Hollow, there was only one song I listened to and I listened to it repeatedly...so much so, I now call it the “theme song” for The Legacy of Sleepy Hollow, lol. Which song inspired me so during the writing of The Legacy Of Sleepy Hollow? “Say My Name” by the gothic rock band Within Temptation (www.within-temptation.com). I must have played it a million bajillion times while writing The Legacy. I even included a special thanks to the band in my book!

How long did it take you to write your most recent (or first) book? When you started writing, did you think it would take that long (or short)?

Morgan Leshay: I wrote my first book (the first draft, lest anyone become overwhelmed) in 72 hours. I wrote my second book in about 120 hours (this was the final draft). When I started writing the first book, I thought it would take longer...a lot longer. With the second, I was a bit lazy...not writing every day, so naturally it took longer. And of course there were a lot more words in the second book than there were in the first, so...

But this isn't something everyone can necessarily do or even believe can be done. I frequently offer prayers of thanks that I can write so quickly.

Now, use this space to tell us more about who you. Anything else you want your readers to know?
I want to hear from you! Seriously, waiting for reader response to The Legacy Of Sleepy Hollow has been one of the hardest things I've had to do in my writing career to date. Stop by my blog at http://www.morganleshay.com/musings and let me know what you think of the story.

Oh, where can you get it? Right now, one of two places:

Amazon.com

Or...

LBF Books

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Michy's note: I contracted with the publisher to work with Morgan Leshay on her first romance novel, REDEMPTION. I was honored to get to contract with her new publisher to work with her again on The Legacy of Sleepy Hollow. We had a blast editing this novel together. I always enjoy Ms. Leshay's work. I highly recommend picking this one up, but will admit to being a tad biased, because I enjoyed working on it so much. I will have my official review of this book up soon.

If you'd like to see what a few others are saying about The Legacy of Sleepy Hollow, by Morgan Leshay, on my writers forum, you can visit this thread.




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