Welcome back, readers. Today, I'm hosting Leanna Sain, author of romantic suspense and, I suspect, a kindred spirit. Leanna's newest book, HALF-MOON LAKE, is out today! Let's take a peek inside Leanna's writing life.
1) How did you get started in writing?
I'd never written more than short stories until the Fall of 2005. We were at a friend's house for a Halloween party and after dinner, we all grabbed flashlights for a moonlit hike to a spooky graveyard on a gravel road behind their house. It was when we were walking back that my flashlight landed on a gate to the right of the trail. This was a farm, so a gate wasn't an unusual sight, but this gate had no fence. It was just the gate, sitting all by itself at the edge of a pasture, and it struck me as odd.
"What's up with your gate?" I asked my friend, Lisa.
She shrugged. "Dunno. It was here when we bought the farm."
"Dum, dum, duuuummmm." I mimicked scary music, then spoke in my most mysterious voice. "The gate to nowhere..."
"Sounds like the name of a book. Why don't you write it?"
"Hmmm. Maybe I will."
That's how it started. My mind took off with the idea and when it was complete, I had my first novel, GATE TO NOWHERE, a time-travel story where the protagonist, Emma Franklin, steps through a rusty iron gate on a farm she'd just inherited from her grandmother, and winds up in 1827, where she changes history around. And the stories just keep coming….
2) What interests/excites you most about your genre?
I love romantic suspense with a bit of magical realism. I love the fact that I can take something that isn't real, can't possibly happen, and make it believable. Add in a love story, sprinkle liberally with mystery and suspense, and it can't get any better than that!
3) Who or what is your favorite inspiration when writing?
My latest "inspiration" is my new series: GRITS (Girls-Raised-In-The-South). It's not your typical series with the same characters showing up in subsequent books. No, each of these books are "stand-alone stories," but each one is set somewhere in the South and features strong, creative GRITS in some sort of suspenseful situation. I like to try to somehow tie the books together with one or more of the characters from others I've written, intriguing readers rather than confusing them. And for those who have read the previous books, it creates a nice little "remember?" touch.
4) Tell us about your latest book.
HALF-MOON LAKE
New from Leanna Sain
When Kathryn Dorne is summoned to Half-Moon Lake for the reading of her father's will, she discovers a shocking truth: everything in her life—including her name—is a lie.
Learning that her name is Katelyn Eubanks is only the first surprise. Second, she had an identical twin sister who drowned at the age of nine. Since Katelyn can't remember anything prior to that age, it seems more than mere coincidence. The biggest surprise is that her father, a man she never knew existed, left his entire estate to her, enraging other would-be heirs.
With her unremembered but closest childhood friend, Levi, as well as help from the estate's deaf-mute gardener and the outspoken cook, Katelyn searches for answers to questions that have plagued her all her life, but doing so opens the proverbial Pandora's box. As her memories return, so does the terrible danger she escaped fifteen years earlier.
5) Please share with us the first paragraph of your latest work.
I awakened to the sound of my own scream. Breathless, heart pounding, pajamas drenched in sweat, I was desperate, clawing at the tangle of sheets wrapped around me.
About Leanna Sain
North Carolina native Leanna Sain earned her BA from the University of South Carolina, then moved back to her beloved mountains of western NC with her husband. Her “Gate” books have stacked up numerous awards, from Foreword Magazine’s Book-of-the-Year to the Clark Cox Historical Fiction Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians. Sain’s fourth novel, WISH, is a stand-alone YA crossover.
Her Southern romantic suspense or “GRIT-lit,” showcases her plot-driven method of writing that successfully rolls the styles of best-selling authors Mary Kay Andrews, Nicholas Sparks, and Jan Karon into a delightfully hybrid style that is all her own. Regional fiction lovers and readers who enjoy suspense with a magical twist will want her books.
She loves leading discussion groups and book clubs. For more information or to contact her, visit the links below.
Buy HALF-MOON LAKE at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, or The Wild Rose Press
Find Leanna on the Web:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Leannasbooks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LeannasBooks
Website and Blog: http://leannasain.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/LeannaSain
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