Good morning, Leann. Thank you for blogging with me today. Let's kick off with this question: How did your writing career begin?
Who is your favorite author? What kind of books do you read?
Who is your favorite author? What kind of books do you read?
23 comments:
Good morning, Leann, I look forward to following your interview. I wish you every success!
Sincerely,
Diana Cosby
Romance Edged With Danger
I started when my youngest child went to kindergarten. I'd quit teaching when I had my first baby. When my second child started school, I wanted to do something for myself. I've always had stories running around in my head, so I sat down and wrote what I knew. My story was about a deaf girl in Colorado in 1876. I grew up in Co. and taught deaf kids.
Hi, Diana. Thank you so much for posting.
How many books did you write before being published?
How did you become interested in deaf education?
Tell us about Guarded Secrets.
What kind of writing turns you off? What stops you from writing? How have you shocked your readers?
How do you get your ideas? What is your writing day like?
Hey, Leann, thanks for answering questions. I want to know more about your journey when your first agent retired. Were you discouraged or did you take it in stride?
Also, did you find that writing changed after you sold? That is was no longer just for you?
Thanks in advance.
Excellent questions, Liz. And thank you for posting. We'll have to do an interview, too!
I don't know what happened to my last post. I wrote 7 books before I got published. 5 historicals, 1 furtistic and 2 contemporaries. The second contemporary was in the Golden heart and finale.
I home from college when I was a man signing in church. He told me the only two places to get a deaf ed. degree was Texas Tech and UT Austin. I was in school at UT.
What stops me from writing is myself. If I don't make time to write and discipline myself, then I don't write.
Where most of my ideas come from are the newspaper. The story I just sold was an article in the Dallas Morning News
I had my first agent for 17 years. He got into TV and movies. We separated as friends.
I wasn't discouraged. I wanted to look around and see who was there.
I went for about a year until I found my current agent at a conference.
The way writing changed after I got published was the problems chanced. It's like when you are engaged. There are problems. After you get married you face entirely new set of challenges.
Sorry about that garble post. I am dog sitting for my daughter and her husband. Maila is a lab and a handful.
I was home from college when I saw a man signing at church.
I am also dyslectic and hire a proofer for all my books.
I watch the Cesar Milan, but Maila doesn't. I'm obviously doing something wrong. My doggie was a Boston Terrier. He was a lapdog. Maile isn't.
Guarded Secrets is about two wounded people who find each other. My hero Jonathan Littledeer is a man who has been through the wringer. He lost both his daughters to a genetic disease. After his second daughter died, his wife committed suicide.
He buried his grief in alcohol and nearly lost his job with the police department. One morning after a binge, he woke up on his partner's couch. His partner's 4 year old daughter told him he needed Jesus. That was the beginning of Jon's recovery.
This part really got to me:
His partner's 4 year old daughter told him he needed Jesus. That was the beginning of Jon's recovery.
What is coming up next for you?
The next book involves equine therapy. My hero is ex-Army. He lost his right leg to a roadside bomb. When he comes home, his sister takes him the ranch where her college roommate works with Downs children. She is ex-Army, too, and wants to help vets readjust through horseback riding.
The second book sounds so interesting. I bet you did lots of research for it.
Finally, fill in this blank:
Your ideal fictional hero would think you gorgeous if you ____________________.
How much do you love cake?
I'm still doing research. I'm going out the Equest and talking to people about their program.
He would think I was gorgeous if I could smile and take command of his horse/dog.
I'm a sucker for wedding cake. If I go to a wedding, I taste the bride and groom's cake.
Both of my adult children had great cakes. I helped my daughter finish up hers.
Wow - both stories sound fascinating - I can only imagine the reaction a drowning man would have to the innocence of a four year old.
I'm also impressed that you've become so accomplished being dyslexic. My son is dyslexic and I can't begin to fathom how you do it - kudos to you!!
Hi Leann,
Interesting journey. I love your comparison of getting published to engagement and marriage. So true. Just different problems. But having my first book out in 2009, suddenly I have so much more invested. Just like getting married.
Pamela Stone
I'm a sucker for wedding cake -- no, really all cake. Had strawberry shortcake tonight.
Thanks, Leann for blogging with me. Good luck with the second book.
Hi, Pam. I like Leann's analogy, too. Thanks for posting.
Chris! thanks for stopping by. I agree, both stories are fascinating as is how Leann works with her dyslexia.
My dyslexia is mild, and I didn't know I had it until high school. To be accurate, it is dysgraphia, which means what is in my head doesn't always make it to the page. I'm also a terrible speller and rotten typist.
So how to I write? Determination. I have stories burning in me. I can proof my stories and I catch most of the mistakes. I also have someone else proof for me. What is important is the imagination.
I would encourage any parent who has a child with dyslexia or dysgraphia not to get discouraged. It can be overcome.
Vicki, thanks for having me. I've enjoyed chatting with y'all.
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